The New Mexico Department of Justice is investigating public land near what was once Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch after a newly released email alleged that two foreign girls were buried there.
Last week, New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said she requested the probe following a 2019 email from an alleged former Epstein staffer. The email claimed two girls were killed and buried on public land leased near the ranch, about 30 miles southeast of Santa Fe.
The redacted email was part of recently released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ investigation into Epstein. The deaths were allegedly at the direction of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Garcia Richard told Scripps News the New Mexico DOJ interviewed her team about its processes, including state leases and renewals. Following that interview, the state’s chief of criminal affairs sent a letter to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche requesting the complete unredacted version of the email, along with metadata, identifying information, attachments and other materials related to the allegations, Zorro Ranch or connected victims.
"I'm hopeful. It makes me hopeful," Garcia Richard told Scripps News. "It makes me think like, someone is, you know, pursuing this in the right manner. Now we'll see whether or not the feds turn anything over."
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Asked if the New Mexico DOJ can investigate without federal approval, Garcia Richard said “absolutely.” However, she noted federal cooperation is voluntary.
"In order to get like the contextual information around the allegation and the email that the allegation was in, they do need cooperation from the DOJ," she said.
Garcia Richard also said she may reach out to the new owner of Zorro Ranch — a former Texas state senator. Numerous Epstein and Maxwell accusers have said they were brought to the ranch and abused.
She added her team has already received tips from residents with stories about what happened there. But for now, she said, the full investigation remains a waiting game.
