Tipster claims to have seen ‘grave-like plots’ at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch

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EXCLUSIVE

Member of the public shares photos with lawmakers, speculating they are dug-up burial sites, emails show.

A member of the public claims to have seen “grave-like plots” at Jeffrey Epstein’s former ranch in New Mexico and has shared photos of the purported burial sites with lawmakers investigating the late American sex offender.

The tipster shared the images with the two state lawmakers last month amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s activities at the Zorro Ranch.

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The claims, which have not been independently verified, have not been previously reported and do not appear to be included in the Epstein files publicly disclosed by the United States Department of Justice.

The department had releases millions of pages related to criminal investigations of the financier in late January, some of which referenced Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.

Al Jazeera obtained the tipster’s correspondence and photos via a public records request with the New Mexico Department of Justice.

In an email on February 16, a member of the public whose name has been redacted told Democratic Representatives Andrea Romero and Marianna Anaya that he or she had broken into Epstein’s former ranch in 2020 and come across multiple plots that “were dug up”.

The tipster, who included two photos of purported plots with the email, speculated that bodies had been “removed” from the sites.

“I realize this might be illegal,” the person wrote, referring to their act of venturing onto the property, “but men like that don’t deserve the protection of the law.”

Epstein ranch

The tipster also shared photos of the exterior of Epstein’s mansion and a white yurt located on the grounds of the property, as well as pictures of a defibrillator and a statue of a man of African appearance purportedly taken from inside the tent.

“In the White Yurt, they must have been doing rituals where they felt like they needed a defibrillator,” the person wrote.

Romero, who is leading a bipartisan commission looking into Epstein’s activities in New Mexico, forwarded the correspondence to Kyle Hartsock, the director of special investigations at the New Mexico Department of Justice, who assured the lawmaker that the tip was “being looked into”.

When contacted, Romero said she could not provide further information about the credibility of the claims.

“We will get details on the veracity of any claims as we conduct our investigation,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I cannot provide any additional context or clarification regarding the email you’re referencing.”

Anaya and Hartsock did not respond to requests for comment about the claims, which Al Jazeera was unable to verify.

Last month, New Mexico State Attorney General Raul Torrez ordered authorities to reopen inquiries into the Zorro Ranch after the US Justice Department’s latest tranche of files surfaced unverified claims about Epstein’s time at the property.

The tips included an anonymous email from 2019 that claimed the bodies of two foreign girls had been buried outside the ranch on the orders of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

The anonymous tipster, who claimed to be a former Zorro Ranch employee, also offered to provide videos of Epstein abusing minors in exchange for a payment of one Bitcoin, worth about $8,000 at the time.

It is unclear if there is any connection between the person behind the more recent tip and the person who sent the 2019 email.

State authorities began searching the Zorro Ranch last week, saying in a statement that investigators would “follow the facts wherever they lead”.

Epstein owned the ranch, located about 50km (31 miles) south of Santa Fe, from 1993 until his death in prison in 2019 after his indictment on sex-trafficking charges.

Nearly a dozen Epstein accusers have said they were abused at the property, although he was never charged with any crimes in New Mexico while he was alive.

New Mexico closed an initial probe into Epstein in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors, who indicted the financier that July on charges of trafficking minors for sex and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex.

Epstein, whose death in a Manhattan jail cell a month later was ruled a suicide, had been facing up to 45 years in prison for allegedly abusing dozens of girls, some of them as young as 14.