The nearly-8,000 acres known as Zorro Ranch sit northeast of Albuquerque.
As federal investigators turn up evidence from Epstein’s homes in New York, Florida, and the Virgin Islands, New Mexico officials are probing Epstein’s property to try to turn up something.
“It is absolutely horrifying to discover that we have existing leases with an individual who has caused irreparable harm to so many women and girls. The best thing that we can do at this time is to provide the Attorney General with any and all resources at our disposal to assist with their investigation,” she said.
Asked if the land office should have known about Epstein being a convicted sex offender, Richard, who took office this year, said the office doesn’t formally vet people who lease land. “This has really caused us to take pause and consider who we’re doing business with,” Richard said.
Multiple girls have said they or someone they know were abused at the ranch.
Virginia Roberts, one of the girls who spoke to investigators in the 2000s when Epstein was accused of molesting over 100 minor girls, said she was taken to the ranch when she was 17 and gave at least two pictures to federal agents showing her on the land. Maria Farmer, who said Epstein abused her sister, said that Epstein flew the girl to the ranch in 1996.
“She was only 15 at the time and they directed her take off all of her clothes and get on a massage table,” Farmer said in the affidavit. “[Ghislaine] Maxwell and Epstein then touched her inappropriately on the massage table.”
People who lived in the area said they knew when Epstein was in town because lights from his mansion couldn’t be missed.
“The mansion lights drown out the stars,” Gene Peach, a Santa Fe photographer, told the Republic. Sina Brush, who lives in the area, told the New Mexican that the lights were visible for miles and were switched on every six weeks or two months. There were “caravans of glamorous women” that would arrive at the ranch’s entrance off of the local Highway 41.
An institute spokeswoman told the Republic: “Contrary to certain statements in Epstein’s bios, he was not actively involved at SFI other than as an infrequent donor.”
Gell-Man died in May 2018.