A bipartisan panel of New Mexico lawmakers is pressing a fuller inquiry into Zorro Ranch, the roughly 7,600-acre estate south of Santa Fe that Jeffrey Epstein owned for decades. The House created the Survivors’ Truth Commission in February 2026 on a unanimous vote, gave it subpoena power and about $2 million, and directed it to examine alleged abuse at the ranch and why it went unaddressed for so long.
Critics say the original response was incomplete. State prosecutors closed a 2019 inquiry at the request of federal authorities in New York. Newly released files indicate federal agents never searched the property during Epstein’s lifetime; the first search came in March 2026, nearly seven years after his death in federal custody. Attorney General Raúl Torrez has reopened a criminal investigation and sued the Justice Department for unredacted records. An unverified 2019 tip that remains of two people were buried near the ranch has drawn calls for a closer look at nearby public land, though no such discovery has been confirmed.
The commission’s interim report describes failures by federal and state agencies to pursue New Mexico leads and return evidence. It is also weighing a sex-offender registration loophole that let Epstein avoid the state registry. A final report is expected by the end of 2026. Whether new scrutiny will produce charges is uncertain, but survivors and lawmakers say the effort is meant to document what earlier investigations left undone.
