Jeffrey Epstein's former Zorro Ranch searched after revelations in FBI files, New Mexico prosecutors say

State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on
Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained
guests, following allegations that the property may have been used for
sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women. 

The office of state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the
search was being done with the cooperation of the current ranch owners. 

A spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Justice said the
department initiated the search with help from the New Mexico State
Police and Sandoval County Sheriff's Office, whose jurisdiction includes
the ranch. 

Torrez reopened an investigation in February into the ranch and activity
that allegedly took place there prior to Epstein's 2019 death. The state
attorney general said in an announcement at the time that the decision
was tied to the then-recent release of the Epstein files. 

New Mexico's initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal
prosecutors in New York, and state prosecutors say now that "revelations
outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further
examination." 

Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico,
about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Democratic Gov.
Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion with a private runway. 

The property was sold by Epstein's estate in 2023 — with proceeds going
toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a candidate in Texas
for state comptroller who won the Republican primary last week. 

"The New Mexico Department of Justice appreciates the cooperation of the
current property owners," the agency said in a statement. Prosecutors
"will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the
survivors, and follow the facts wherever they lead." 

Additionally, New Mexico state legislators have established a new
commission to look into past activities at the ranch. 

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019
on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage
girls. 

Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, but the state attorney
general's office in 2019 confirmed that it had interviewed possible
victims who visited Epstein's ranch. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-former-zorro-ranch-searched-
after-revelations-in-fbi-files-new-mexico-prosecutors-say/