New Mexico Lawmakers Consider Investigating Jeffrey Epstein's Secluded Desert Ranch

Source: Huff Post/AP

Nov 7, 2025, 12:36 PM EST


SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A secluded desert ranch where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests is coming under new scrutiny in New Mexico, where two state legislators are proposing an investigative “truth commission” to guard against sex trafficking in the future.

Democratic state Rep. Andrea Romero of Santa Fe said several survivors of Epstein’s abuse have signaled that sex trafficking activity extended to Zorro Ranch, a sprawling property with a hilltop mansion and private runway about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of the state’s capital city. Yet not enough is known about what went on there for the state to take precautions against abuse in the future, she said.

“This commission will specifically seek the truth about what officials knew, how crimes were unreported or reported, and how the state can ensure that this essentially never happens again,” Romero told a panel of legislators on Thursday. “There’s no complete record of what occurred.”

The investigation, with a proposed $2.5 million budget, would thrust New Mexico into an international array of probes into Epstein’s associations that is roiling the U.S. Congress and prompted King Charles III on Thursday to formally strip brother Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of the title of prince.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nm-lawmakers-consider-inquiry-into-jeffrey-epsteins-ranch_n_690e2c36e4b0d142901efb07