What They Found at Zorro Ranch: Inside the Search of Epstein's 7,500-Acre New Mexico Compound

State investigators have searched 49 Zorro Ranch Road in Stanley, New Mexico, as part of a criminal inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein's conduct at the property. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez reopened the investigation on February 19, 2026. Three days earlier, state lawmakers created a formal truth commission to document the abuse that occurred on New Mexico soil.

The search is the first law enforcement action at the property since Epstein's death in August 2019. During the seven years he used the ranch as a primary residence, no New Mexico prosecutor opened a criminal case against him. He was never required to register as a sex offender in the state, despite his 2008 Florida conviction.

The Property

Zorro Ranch spans approximately 7,500 acres of high-desert terrain southeast of Santa Fe. Epstein purchased the land in the 1990s. He used it to host scientists, politicians, and wealthy associates, and, according to multiple witnesses, to abuse minors.

The main compound includes a residence for Epstein, staff quarters, a private airstrip, and a building that architecture firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo designed as a "ladies' residence." WATG resigned from the project in 2018 after employees raised concerns about the client's background. The firm has said it was not aware of criminal activity when it accepted the commission.

In December 2011, according to the USVI v. Estate Complaint, ownership of the ranch was transferred to a shell corporation called Zorro Development Corporation. The transfer obscured direct ownership and complicated asset recovery proceedings after Epstein's death. Bank records in the EFTA database show wire transfers to and from the Zorro Development Corporation entity across multiple years, including a $75,000 transfer in one operating period.

WATG and the "Ladies' Residence"

The architecture firm's involvement at Zorro Ranch has become a focal point of the New Mexico investigation. WATG, which specializes in high-end resort and residential design, was retained to design what internal documents describe as a structure specifically intended to house young women at the compound.

When employees became aware of Epstein's criminal background, the firm resigned from the project in 2018. That resignation has become evidence in its own right: the firm's internal review concluded enough to prompt departure, but the designed structure had already been built or was substantially complete by that point. The New Mexico truth commission has sought communications between the firm and Epstein's staff from the period when the project was active.

The FBI File

The Complete 2006 FBI Case File, investigation number 31E-MM-108062, includes an interview with ranch manager Bryce Gordon. Gordon told agents he worked at the property for several years and described the regular flow of young women arriving at the airstrip. He said he was not informed about the nature of Epstein's activities, but that he observed patterns he found unusual.

The case file was opened in 2006 as part of the broader federal probe into Epstein that eventually collapsed under the Acosta plea deal. The New Mexico portion of that investigation was never fully pursued. The file was sealed until 2024.

A more recent document, an FBI FD-302 interview of a mother from Little Rock, Arkansas, was ingested into the EFTA database in early March 2026. The mother told agents her daughter began working for Epstein after meeting him at an art opening. The daughter later described being taken to Zorro Ranch and abused there. The mother said she did not learn the full scope of what happened for years, placing her in a pattern common across the Epstein file: parents who were not informed, or who were actively misled, about what was happening to their children.

Prince Andrew at the Ranch

Court filings in the EFTA database, originally from Giuffre v. Maxwell, place Prince Andrew at Epstein properties in New Mexico. A document in the database, dc-26086712, lists New Mexico among the locations where a victim traveled with Epstein and Maxwell, alongside St. Thomas, St. John, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Aspen. The same document lists Prince Andrew among the prominent individuals the victim met during this period, alongside President Clinton and the Sultan of Brunei.

Andrew's denial of sexual misconduct is on the public record. He settled a civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum without admission of liability. The question of what he did or witnessed at Epstein's New Mexico property has not been adjudicated.

Bill Richardson

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's name has appeared in several civil filings related to the ranch. He denied wrongdoing before his death in November 2023. Richardson, a Democrat who served as governor from 2003 to 2011, was in office during the period when Epstein was using Zorro Ranch most actively.

The truth commission has said it will examine state officials' interactions with Epstein regardless of their current status. That language covers Richardson, who is deceased, as well as any staff members or officials from his administration who may have had knowledge of Epstein's activities.

Testimony from the Ranch

More than 5,500 pages of OCR-processed documents in the Epstein file database contain references to Zorro Ranch. Victim testimony from multiple civil proceedings describes the property in consistent terms.

Testimony in the EFTA database places Epstein engaged in "sex with underage girls on a daily basis" during his stays at the ranch and identifies Ghislaine Maxwell as present during multiple visits and participating in recruiting victims there. Separately, a victim declaration places Dershowitz at Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, in "the massage room off of the indoor pool area, which was still being painted," a detail specific enough to be corroborated through physical inspection.

A second set of court filings corroborates the layout of the compound, including a building used to house young women separate from the main residence. The structure matches what WATG was hired to design.

The Registration Gap

Epstein's 2008 Florida plea agreement required him to register as a sex offender. He registered in Palm Beach. He registered in New York. He registered in the Virgin Islands.

He never registered in New Mexico.

New Mexico law requires registration within three days of establishing residency. Epstein spent months at Zorro Ranch every year. State records show no registration was ever filed. No New Mexico official pursued enforcement.

Attorney General Torrez's office said in a February statement that the registration failure would be part of the criminal inquiry. The office declined to provide details about the current search.

The Truth Commission

On February 16, 2026, the New Mexico Legislature established a formal truth commission to document Epstein's activities in the state. The commission has subpoena power and is authorized to compel testimony from former state officials who may have had knowledge of Epstein's conduct.

The commission is expected to release a preliminary report by late spring 2026. Its investigators have access to the full EFTA document set and have been working with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

The Property in Limbo

Zorro Ranch was listed for sale in 2021 for $27.5 million. No buyer emerged at that price. The estate has since been in legal limbo, tied up in victim restitution proceedings.

The search warrants executed in March 2026 have placed an additional hold on the property. Physical evidence recovered during the search has not been publicly described, and the attorney general's office has said it will not comment on the active investigation.

What is known from the documents already in the public record is that the ranch was not an incidental property in Epstein's network. It was a working hub, with staff, infrastructure, and a designed facility for housing women. The architecture firm that designed that facility quit. The manager who ran the airstrip talked to the FBI. The mother who reported her daughter's abuse did so years after the fact, because it took years for her to understand what had happened.

The truth commission exists because no one pursued those threads while Epstein was alive. Whether the current search produces criminal charges against living individuals depends on what the investigators find and, more critically, on whether prosecutors are willing to use it.