The dark secrets of Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico are finally being uncovered, but the worst may be yet to come. Allegations of sexual assault and drugging at the sprawling Santa Fe location have been aired in a new documentary, but with claims of trafficking, eugenic experiments, and even murder, this may be just the tip of the iceberg.
Reopened Investigation and New Testimonies
Until recently, Zorro Ranch, in the high desert south of Santa Fe, remained a peculiar blind spot in media coverage and law enforcement investigations of Epstein's crimes. This is changing. In an episode of 60 Minutes Australia, New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury said one alleged victim described multiple young men being raped at the ranch after being drugged. The testimonies aired as state authorities pressed on with their reopened probe into abuse at the compound.
Authorities in New Mexico have been working to determine how many local women and girls were abused at the ranch, amid a spate of fresh allegations from locals. To date, only one resident was known to be from the state. Rumors have circulated for years that Epstein used the ranch to conceal his child sex-trafficking operations, along with a never-proven story about a plan to impregnate multiple women to spread his DNA as a eugenics experiment.
Disturbing Claims of Murder
One of the most disturbing claims in the recently released Epstein files comes from a witness who alleged that two foreign girls died at the ranch during rough sexual encounters. The message, purportedly from a former staff member, offered to trade incriminating videos in exchange for one bitcoin. The sender claimed the girls were murdered and buried in the hills surrounding the compound, having died during rough, fetish sex involving strangulation.
Truth Commission and New Ownership
Last month, New Mexico lawmakers voted unanimously to create a bipartisan Truth Commission to investigate the ranch's history. Shortly after, the state attorney general reopened an investigation that had closed abruptly before Epstein's death by suicide in 2019. The Epstein files released in 2026 revealed that the ranch was purchased in 2023 by Don Huffines, a Dallas real estate magnate and former Texas state senator, who renamed it San Rafael Ranch and is reimagining it as a Christian retreat.
For those tasked with uncovering the truth, the change in ownership presents a significant hurdle. While Huffines has pledged to cooperate, the passage of time raises fears that critical physical evidence may have been compromised or lost. Marianna Anaya, a Democratic legislator and central figure on the Truth Commission, understands the challenge. She notes that the high desert has always been a convenient place to bury dark secrets.
“New Mexico is always overlooked,” Anaya said. “Historically, New Mexico has had a lot of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and women of colour whose deaths have never been investigated. I would really like to know what happened to the women of New Mexico too.”
Eugenics and Strategic Location
Epstein bought the ranch in 1993 from the family of former New Mexico governor Bruce King. He had discussed plans to use it as a base to seed the human race with his DNA as early as 2001, pursuing a project focused on controlled breeding to improve the human population. The ranch was positioned close to Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, and Epstein hosted lavish think tank dinners to wrap his eugenics ambitions in academic legitimacy.
Anaya pushed for the commission together with Representative Andrea Romero after learning that a full investigation into Epstein's crimes in New Mexico had never been completed. “I credit the survivors themselves for continuing to come forward,” she said.
Federal Interference and Ongoing Efforts
The New Mexico Department of Justice acknowledged that the prior state investigation was ended in 2019 at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Anaya said the federal memo essentially told the state not to worry, but nothing happened. Now, special agents and prosecutors will seek access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and work with the Epstein Truth Commission.
Anaya is working with Representative Stansbury, who has access to the unredacted files. “We’re starting to put some of the puzzle pieces together,” Anaya said. She is concerned that some evidence has vanished but believes many witnesses remain. “There’s a total range of people or systems that end up enabling something this horrific. Our commission has subpoena power, so we won’t just be asking politely for cooperation.”
At the centre of the reopened inquiry is a disturbing electronic tip received in 2019 by Albuquerque radio host Eddy Aragon, containing the allegation that bodies were buried at Zorro. Although Aragon reported it to the FBI immediately, there is little evidence the Bureau aggressively pursued the lead. For Anaya, this is why the Truth Commission is vital: the desert has kept Epstein's secrets for three decades, and her mission is to ensure it does not keep them for a fourth.
