A blogger who calls himself “This Will Hold” wrote a startling post about Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. The sprawling ranch was bought by a Trump ally. Unlike Epstein’s other properties, Zorro Ranch was never searched by the FBI. Why not?
In 2023, four years after Jeffrey Epstein suspiciously died in federal custody, one of the most controversial properties in modern criminal history quietly changed hands.
Zorro Ranch, Epstein’s sprawling New Mexico estate in southern Santa Fe County, was sold to San Rafael Ranch LLC, a limited liability company created just one month before the purchase. The final sale price has not been publicly disclosed. The property was originally listed for $27.5 million before the price was reduced to $18 million.
Public records have revealed that San Rafael Ranch LLC is tied to the family of Don Huffines, a Trump-aligned former Texas state senator and current candidate for Texas Comptroller. Tax protest filings obtained through a public records request list Huffines’ wife as an owner of the ranch and son Colin Huffines, as manager.
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, in those filings the family sought to reduce the property’s taxable valuation to approximately $13.4 million, citing the “notoriety” of the estate as a factor affecting its value.
There is also a direct line into Trump’s current political ecosystem: Russell Huffines, Don Huffines’ son, serves as Associate Director of Agency Outreach in the Trump administration.
Those facts are documented.
What remains less clear is why Zorro Ranch—unlike Epstein’s other properties—was never subjected to a federal search.
The Allegations That Should Have Triggered an Excavation
In November 2019, months after Epstein’s arrest and death, the U.S. Department of Justice documented an email that, if credible, should have required immediate forensic action.
The email, included in newly released DOJ files, was sent from an encrypted ProtonMail account by someone identifying themselves as “a former staff at the Zorro.” The sender attached six videos of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and alleged that “two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G” in the hills outside Zorro Ranch.
The email claimed the girls “died by strangulation during rough, fetish sex.”
“Madam G” is widely understood to refer to Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year federal sentence for sex trafficking. It’s noted that one of the videos is a suicide attempt confession from a girl in the Bay Area.
A note on another of the videos: 7 mins 31 secs underage girl (Matthew Mellon video).
Matthew Mellon, yet another billionaire in the Epstein class, dined with Donald Trump in March of 2018 before flying to Mexico in April to check into a rehabilitation clinic. But the 54-year-old banking heir never made it to the treatment facility—according to one report, Mellon was experimenting with ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink, and died from a heart attack after taking it.
Matthew Mellon isn’t the first member of the Mellon family to appear in the Epstein files. As we previously reported, Paul Mellon showed up on Epstein’s flight logs—and Timothy Mellon, his son, donated $126 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign. Perhaps to protect the family name?
The allegations in the email—involving sex crimes against minors and claims that girls were buried on the property—remain unsubstantiated, which is not surprising given that the ranch was never subjected to a forensic search.
How Thoroughly the Other Properties Were Searched
The absence becomes more striking when compared to the aggressive and highly visible searches conducted elsewhere.
The contrast is stark.
Across nearly two decades—from the original Palm Beach investigation through the 2019 federal case—Epstein’s other properties were searched extensively.
Palm Beach Mansion
Epstein’s waterfront Palm Beach estate was the epicenter of the original criminal investigation that began in 2005.
Palm Beach Police conducted a months-long investigation that included:
- Execution of search warrants
- Collection of massage tables and physical evidence
- Statements of multiple survivors
- Review of phone records and financial documents
- Noted that computers were missing and that he was “tipped off”
The investigation ultimately led to Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea agreement.
Manhattan Townhouse
In July 2019, shortly after Epstein’s arrest, federal agents executed a sweeping search warrant at his Upper East Side brownstone.
According to court filings and contemporaneous reporting, agents:
- Seized hard drives, computers, CDs, and other digital storage devices
- Collected binders containing labeled photographs of young women
- Removed large quantities of cash
- Catalogued thousands of pieces of evidence
- Sawed into the safe and searched multiple floors room by room
The Manhattan search was methodical and exhaustive, forming the backbone of the federal prosecution.
Little St. James, U.S. Virgin Islands
On Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, federal authorities also conducted a search.
Aerial footage and court records show:
- Forensic teams on site
- Structures photographed and documented
- Computer equipment and records seized
- Controlled access to the island during evidence collection
- Excavation equipment brought in to examine areas of interest
The island became a focal point of the trafficking investigation.
Paris Apartment and Associated Business
French authorities executed search warrants at Epstein’s Paris apartment and the offices of MC2 Model Management—the modeling agency operated by Jean-Luc Brunel, a longtime Epstein associate later charged with rape and procuring minors before his death in custody.
Computers and records were seized as part of international cooperation efforts. The federal investigative net extended across state lines and international borders.
And stopped at the state lines of New Mexico.
The Property at the Center of the Silence
The estate spans nearly 8,000 acres of high desert terrain, plus an additional 1,200 acres leased from the State of New Mexico. It includes:
- A private airstrip
- Multiple residences and guest houses
- Remote hills and open desert land
- Secure entry structures
DOJ files include photographs labeled “Zorro Aug 2002,” showing unidentified young women with their faces redacted at the ranch. Flight logs show hundreds of trips to the ranch over two decades and survivor testimony places abuse there.
In August 2019, multiple survivors addressed the court during a hearing against Jeffrey Epstein before the case was dismissed following his death.
Chauntae Davies testified that she was flown to Zorro Ranch both on a commercial flight and on Epstein’s private plane on at least two occasions. She stated that she was raped both times.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleged in a lawsuit—later settled—that she was trafficked to the ranch as a minor. In her memoir, she recalled that Epstein brought in “foreign girls who couldn’t communicate in English,” and that “Epstein laughed about the fact they couldn’t really communicate, saying that they are the ‘easiest’ girls to get along with.”
As scrutiny of Epstein intensified, the ranch itself drew attention. In August 2018, Zorro Ranch was burglarized. A gun safe reportedly containing 30–40 firearms was removed.
According to reports at the time, the perimeter fence had been cut, and the intruders appeared to know the precise location of the safe. In addition to the weapons, a small number of antique lamps were also taken.
Several structures can be seen in aerial photo and video of the property, including what appears to be an industrial-grade landfill. In 2019 an FBI tip from a retired New Mexico State Police officer who lived near the ranch reported a newly constructed “suspicious barn” with what appeared to be a “sally port” (double-door entry system used in prisons) and a chimney.
He was “concerned the property could potentially have an incinerator concealed within the barn.”
A crematorium?
Individually, each detail might have explanation—but collectively, they form a series of investigative leads.
None resulted in a forensic search.
Political Proximity
Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993 from former New Mexico Governor Bruce King. His son, Gary King, later served as New Mexico’s Attorney General.
The late Governor Bill Richardson appears on Epstein flight logs, in victim depositions, and in DOJ communications referencing the ranch. And internal DOJ emails show Epstein’s continued communication with Richardson following his 2008 Florida conviction.
Virginia Giuffre, who sued Maxwell for defamation, provided photos of herself at the ranch in a 2015 court document. Giuffre said that Epstein trafficked her to powerful men at the ranch, including the late Bill Richardson, who served as New Mexico governor from 2003 to 2011.
After his 2008 conviction, Epstein was not required to register as a sex offender in New Mexico and the state continued leasing him public land attached to the ranch.
These are documented facts.
Does Epstein’s proximity to political elites explain the absence of a federal search?
When federal authorities brought excavation equipment to Little St. James and catalogued evidence floor by floor in Manhattan, why was nearly 8,000 acres of New Mexico desert left untouched?
If nothing is there, a search would settle it.
If something is there, the land holds the answer.
For now, Zorro Ranch remains the only major Epstein property tied to survivor testimony that has never been publicly examined with the same rigor.
And that distinction continues to raise questions.
Diane Ravitch's blog 