Topic:Crime
The entrance of the ranch previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein.(AP: Savannah Peters)
New Mexico state investigators have begun searching Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch following allegations the property was used in relation to the sexual abuse and trafficking of young women.
The state's Attorney-General Raúl Torrez says revelations related to the ranch "outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination".
The search is being undertaken with the cooperation of current property owners, the family of Republican candidate for Texas state comptroller Don Huffines.
New Mexico state investigators have begun searching a secluded ranch where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations the property may have been used for the sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women.
The office of state Attorney-General Raúl Torrez announced the search was being done with the cooperation of the current ranch owners.
New Mexico state legislators have established a new commission to look into past activities at the ranch.(AP: Savannah Peters)
Mr Torrez last month reopened an investigation of the ranch.
The US Department of Justice, the FBI and New York City forensic experts might have moved on from the possibility Jeffrey Epstein did not take his own life, but many have not, and now suspicions around his death have gone mainstream.
New Mexico's initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, and state prosecutors now say "revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination."
Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, about 48 kilometres south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Democratic governor Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion with a private runway.
The property was sold by Epstein's estate in 2023 to the family of Don Huffines, a Texas candidate for state comptroller who won the Republican primary last week, with the proceeds going toward creditors.
Prosecutors "will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the survivors, and follow the facts wherever they lead".
Jeffrey Epstein’s estate sold the property in 2023 to the family of Don Huffines.(AP: Savannah Peters)
