Zorro Ranch

Zorro Ranch is a property of roughly 7,600 to 10,000 acres near Stanley in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, that Jeffrey Epstein acquired in 1993 from the family of the former New Mexico Governor Bruce King. Epstein built a large hilltop mansion there along with a private airstrip and outbuildings, combining deeded land with state grazing leases that extended his control over the surrounding terrain. Victims alleged that abuse occurred at the ranch, the New York Times reported in 2019 that Epstein discussed using the site to seed the human race with his DNA, Epstein was relieved of any obligation to register as a sex offender in New Mexico two days after registering in 2010, and the state reopened a criminal investigation and launched a legislative inquiry into the property in 2026.¹²³

Acquisition and the King Family

Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993 from the family of Bruce King, the longest-serving governor in New Mexico history, in a transaction reported at around 12 million dollars. The King family had used the property for cattle ranching, and in 1993 Bruce King and his son Gary King, who later served as New Mexico Attorney General, were in financial difficulty, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. Epstein retained ties to the prominent King family for years afterward.⁴

The acquisition combined deeded land with state grazing leases that Epstein obtained, giving him effective control over a wider expanse than the land he owned outright and adding to the property's isolation, with the nearest neighbors miles away and Santa Fe about 30 miles to the north. Reported acreage figures vary, with sources citing roughly 7,600 acres, about 8,000 acres, and figures up to 10,000 acres depending on whether leased land is included.⁴

The property's remoteness and the combination of owned and leased acreage gave Epstein a secluded compound far from any town. The same isolation later featured in victim accounts and in the questions New Mexico investigators raised about how activity at the ranch escaped earlier scrutiny.²⁴

The Compound and Airstrip

Epstein had a large hacienda-style mansion built on a hilltop at the ranch, with county records placing the start of construction in 1999. The main house was reported at roughly 26,000 to 33,000 square feet, and the construction was carried out by Bradbury Stamm Construction, a major New Mexico contractor whose work has included facilities at federal sites in the state. Reporting noted that the contractor's phone number appeared among the entries in Epstein's contact directory.⁵

The compound included a private airstrip with a hangar and a helipad, a ranch office, a firehouse, and a seven-bay heated garage, alongside a sprawling courtyard. The airstrip allowed direct private-aircraft access to the property, consistent with the pattern of movement Epstein maintained across his network of homes.⁵

Photographs of the interior released after Epstein's death showed eccentric and elaborate furnishings. Some later reporting described unusual features of the construction, and various claims about hidden or underground structures circulated; claims sourced only to unverified outlets are not reproduced here, and the documented record covers the mansion, airstrip, and outbuildings built by Bradbury Stamm.⁵

The DNA and Eugenics Reporting

The New York Times reported in 2019 that Epstein had told scientists and associates of a plan to use Zorro Ranch as the site of a project to seed the human race with his DNA, describing an idea in which numerous women would be inseminated with his sperm and give birth at the ranch. The reporting attributed the account to people familiar with Epstein's thinking and noted no evidence that the plan was ever carried out.⁶

The same reporting connected the idea to Epstein's stated interest in transhumanism, a movement combining genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and other technologies to alter human beings, and to his cultivation of scientists. The plan as reported was a scheme Epstein discussed rather than an executed program, and it remains attributed account rather than an adjudicated finding.⁶

Allegations later compiled by New Mexico investigators and survivors connected the ranch to claims of forced births and eugenics, drawing on survivor accounts, diary entries, and files released by the federal government. These allegations are victim testimony and contested claims, and the state's 2026 inquiries were framed in part around examining them.²

Victim Allegations of Abuse

At least ten girls and young women have alleged that they were groomed or assaulted at Zorro Ranch, with accounts beginning in the late 1990s, according to reporting and to New Mexico officials. These accounts are victim testimony and allegations, and Epstein was never charged with any crime in New Mexico.⁷

New Mexico prosecutors confirmed in 2019 that they had interviewed possible victims who had visited the ranch, and survivors and investigators later described allegations including rape and sexual assault of minors at the property. The allegations drew on survivor accounts, diary entries, and documents released from the federal Epstein files. Some uncorroborated claims, including a 2019 email alleging that bodies were buried near the ranch, also circulated and were noted by investigators as unverified.²⁷

Epstein did not remain on New Mexico's sex-offender registry despite his 2008 Florida conviction and registration elsewhere, a gap that later drew attention from state officials examining whether the ranch's activity escaped scrutiny. New York's July 2019 federal indictment concerned conduct in New York and Florida and did not charge conduct in New Mexico.²⁷

The New Mexico Investigations

The New Mexico Attorney General's office opened an inquiry in 2019 under then-Attorney General Hector Balderas, interviewing possible victims, but halted the effort in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York to avoid a parallel investigation. In 2026 the office, under Attorney General Raul Torrez, reopened the criminal investigation, stating that revelations in previously sealed FBI files warranted further examination.²⁸

On March 10, 2026, state investigators from the New Mexico Department of Justice began a search of the former Zorro Ranch with the cooperation of the current owners, examining allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The department's spokesperson confirmed the search in a public statement tied to the reopened investigation.⁸

In February 2026 the New Mexico Legislature established a bipartisan investigative committee, described in reporting as a "truth commission," to examine activity at the ranch and whether local authorities looked the other way. The panel, led by Representative Andrea Romero, received subpoena power and a multimillion-dollar budget funded through a prior settlement with Epstein's banks, and by mid-2026 it had issued subpoenas to state agencies, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, and other entities and called on survivors to come forward.⁹

Listing and Sale

Epstein's estate listed Zorro Ranch for sale in July 2021 at an asking price of 27.5 million dollars, with a later report indicating the asking price had dropped to about 18 million dollars. The property did not sell at the listed price.¹⁰

In 2023 the ranch was sold through a public auction to San Rafael Ranch LLC, an entity tied to the family of the former Texas state senator Don Huffines, for an undisclosed price, with proceeds directed toward the estate's creditors. The property was renamed San Rafael Ranch in 2024.¹¹

Reporting in 2026 identified the Huffines-family ownership and connected it to Huffines's political activity in Texas. The current owners cooperated with the New Mexico Department of Justice search in March 2026. The 2021 listing did not sell at its asking price; the 2023 auction sale followed.⁸¹¹

The Registration Letters

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety wrote to Epstein in July 2010 informing him that he was required to register in New Mexico as a sex offender on the strength of his 2008 Florida conviction. On August 17, 2010 he appeared with his attorney at the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and registered with Detective Deborah Anaya. On August 19 the sheriff received a second letter from the department stating that he was not required to register. The department's analysis compared the Florida offense with New Mexico's statute on sexual exploitation of children by prostitution, which was, and remains, a registrable offense only if the minor is under 16; the department said the minor in Epstein's Florida plea was 17, while Epstein's New Mexico attorney wrote in 2010 that she was 16 and 17 over the course of the abuse. Epstein had been investigated in Florida for abuse of girls as young as 14. He was never listed on the New Mexico registry thereafter.¹²¹³

Alexander Acosta, who as U.S. Attorney in Miami negotiated the 2008 plea, defended it in 2019 by pointing to the registration requirement: "The world needed to be on notice that he was a sexual predator." The Department of Public Safety has since called the gap the "Epstein loophole." Bills to close it stalled in the legislature for years, and in September 2026 legislators on the Zorro Ranch truth commission and Representative Meredith Dixon said they would seek changes in the 2027 session.¹³

Gary King

Gary King, son of the governor whose family sold Epstein the ranch, was elected New Mexico Attorney General in 2006. That year he received 15,000 dollars for his campaign from an Epstein entity called The Zorro Trust, which he returned after Epstein's first arrest in Florida. In 2010, the year the Department of Public Safety told the sheriff that Epstein need not register, a staff member in King's office used official government email to arrange an afternoon meeting for Epstein "with AG Gary King" at a Santa Fe restaurant. The FBI had interviewed the ranch manager in 2007 and learned that Epstein frequently brought women to the ranch and invited local masseuses; whether the information was shared with state officials is one of the questions before the legislature's truth commission.¹⁴

King won the Democratic nomination for governor on June 3, 2014, with Deb Haaland as his running mate. Two days later Epstein's assistant told King's fundraiser that Epstein was ready to support him, and a June 18 email thanked Epstein for his "personal commitment to raise $50,000 for my campaign," noting that "each separate corporation is considered to be a separate giver." Epstein's lawyer Darren Indyke told Epstein that King's campaign website pledged to increase prosecutions of offenses against children and suggested giving through companies to avoid "additional press coverage regarding or accepting of your contribution"; Epstein told him to send the money through "co s or trusts." The campaign deposited 5,000 dollars from JEGE LLC, an Epstein aviation company registered in the Virgin Islands, on July 7, 5,200 dollars more from JEGE on September 1, and 5,000 dollars from Maple, Inc., the company holding Epstein's Manhattan house, on September 8.¹⁴¹⁵

On August 21, 2014 an email to Epstein said King "wanted to speak to you about possibly using your plane" to fly from Santa Fe on the evening of September 8 to a breakfast in Washington. A trip sheet shows King and Haaland among five passengers on a flight chartered by JEGE LLC from Santa Fe Municipal Airport to Washington on September 8; the campaign reported paying 22,060 dollars to the charter company Injet, and at 5:36 a.m. on September 9 a charter booker emailed Epstein's accountant Richard Kahn and pilot Larry Visoski that the plane was "on the ground at IAD." The same day King told the Santa Fe New Mexican he would return Epstein's donations; the campaign announced it would return more than 36,500 dollars, but its finance reports show no evidence that refunds were made. In February 2026 King said, "We didn't have any reason to know or believe that it was a plane that was owned by Jeffrey Epstein. My staff had told me that Bill Richardson was helping us to arrange for an airplane," and later, "I probably wouldn't have flown on it if I'd known it was a Jeffrey Epstein jet." A spokesperson for Haaland said she "never had any interaction with him and the way in which the plane was chartered was never communicated to her."¹⁴¹⁵

Estate Valuation

At Epstein's death his estate valued the ranch, held through one of his companies, at 72 million dollars, the second-highest figure among his residences after the combined 86 million dollars for Little St. James and Great St. James and above the 56 million dollars assigned to the Manhattan house. The asking price when the estate listed it in 2021 was 27.5 million dollars.¹⁰¹⁶