New Mexico authorities are investigating claims that Jeffrey Epstein ordered two foreign girls buried near his ranch, following the release of US Justice Department documents.
NEW MEXICO: The state’s Department of Justice is investigating an allegation that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ordered the bodies of two foreign girls buried near his remote ranch.
The claim emerged from documents recently released by the US Department of Justice. New Mexico DOJ spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez confirmed the state had requested an unredacted copy of a 2019 email containing the allegation.
“We are actively investigating this allegation and are conducting a broader review in light of the latest release,” Rodriguez said in an emailed statement. The US Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the FBI declined to comment.
The redacted email was sent to New Mexico radio host Eddy Aragon a few months after Epstein’s death. The sender, claiming to be a former Zorro Ranch employee, requested one bitcoin in return for videos allegedly showing Epstein having sex with minors.
Aragon said he believed the email was legitimate and immediately forwarded it to the FBI. He stated he did not receive payment or have further contact with the sender.
The email alleged two foreign girls were buried “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro” after dying “by strangulation during rough, fetish sex.” A 2021 FBI report confirmed Aragon visited an FBI office to report the email offering seven videos and the burial location.
A Reuters search of other disclosed documents found no further references to these specific allegations. The Justice Department has previously warned that some released files “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” that investigators did not corroborate.
New Mexico State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard found the email during a recent review. She has called on federal and state officials to fully investigate allegations of criminality on Epstein’s ranch and adjacent state lands.
Epstein leased around 1,243 acres of state lands around the Zorro Ranch starting in 1993. Garcia Richard cancelled the leases in September 2019 after determining the land was used as a privacy buffer, not for ranching or agriculture.
The investigation follows the state legislature’s launch of a comprehensive probe into accusations Epstein sexually abused girls and women at the ranch for over two decades. Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019, with his death ruled a suicide.
