New Mexico authorities search Zorro Ranch formerly owned by Epstein

A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, on Sunday, March 8. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

Authorities in New Mexico launched a search this week of a sprawling ranch formerly owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has come under renewed interest after allegations surrounding the estate were included in files recently released by the US Justice Department.

The New Mexico Department of Justice announced the Monday morning search of the property, known as Zorro Ranch, in a brief statement posted to its website. It is part of the criminal investigation announced by state authorities last month into allegations of illegal activity surrounding the ranch at the time Epstein, who died in 2019, owned it.

The statement did not indicate whether anything of interest has been found during the search or how long it is expected to continue.

The ranch had previously not been subject to the same level of law enforcement scrutiny as Epstein’s other properties in New York, South Florida and the Caribbean. But following the release of troves of federal government files related to Epstein, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered the reopening of the state’s criminal investigation into the property, which he said closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors.

Included in the millions of files released by the Justice Department in late January was a 2019 email received by a local radio host that alleged that “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G.” That allegation is unverified, but it is also not clear to what extent it had been investigated by law enforcement before the recent renewed interest in Epstein.

The host, Eddy Aragon, previously told CNN that he believed the email was sent to him by someone who worked on the ranch but wouldn’t disclose who he thought the person was. He said he tried sending an email to the address, but it had bounced back. The files show he forwarded the allegations to a redacted email address four days after receiving it.

The radio host added that he went to the local FBI office with the email and forwarded it to a local FBI agent. Following the reopening of the state investigation, Aragon told CNN on Tuesday that he reached out to the New Mexico Department of Justice and had an approximately 30-minute interview.

The release of the email sent to Aragon prompted Stephanie Garcia Richard, New Mexico’s commissioner of public lands, to send a letter last month asking the state Department of Justice to investigate the claims. She told CNN in February that the special investigative office of the New Mexico DOJ later reached out to her for “background information” on state lands and her agency’s processes and documents it released in 2019.

Garcia Richard told CNN on Tuesday that the New Mexico State Land Office granted the state Department of Justice a right of entry to the state land portions of the property for 180 days, which can be renewed.

“I just feel very gratified that it seems like the New Mexico Department of Justice has been responsive to the mounting calls in our state for someone finally to go out to that property — both the state land and the private part of the, of the ranch — and, you know, look for evidence, gather evidence,” Garcia Richard said.

Apart from the criminal inquiry, the state’s House of Representatives last month voted to create a bipartisan “Truth Commission” looking into allegations of criminal activity surrounding the ranch. The commission has the power to issue subpoenas and compel the attendance of witnesses at its hearings.

In a statement Monday, the commission said it “welcomes” the search of the property, and applauded New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez for “taking long-overdue steps.”

“What should have been done years ago is now underway, and we are grateful that the people of New Mexico—and survivors everywhere—are finally being heard,” the commission said. “For years, this property has stood as a symbol of unanswered questions.”

The property is now owned by the family of Don Huffines, a businessman and former Texas state senator who is running for state comptroller. Huffines previously said he would cooperate with any law enforcement investigation surrounding the ranch. The New Mexico Department of Justice said in its statement that the owners and staff are cooperating with the search.

Authorities asked members of the public to stay away from the ranch, which is in a remote area about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, to avoid interfering with law enforcement.

By Michael Williams, Kaanita Iyer, CNN

CNN’s Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.