A Santa Fe sexual assault center says about 45 people sought help in 2019 over experiences linked to the former Zorro Ranch.
SANTA FE, NM — New Mexico officials are trying to determine how many local women and girls were allegedly abused at Jeffrey Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch after a Santa Fe support center said dozens sought help tied to the property in 2019.
The new accounts add pressure to a reopened state inquiry into the secluded ranch, a property long cited in civil claims and criminal proceedings involving Epstein’s sex trafficking network. State lawmakers have formed a truth commission, and the New Mexico Department of Justice has been working with investigators as officials review whether any living associates of Epstein could face charges.
State Rep. Marianna Anaya, a co-sponsor of the truth commission, said the panel has heard from New Mexico residents who say they were abused at the ranch. “I can confirm that we have been reached out to by local alleged victims,” Anaya said. The statement marked the first public acknowledgment by the commission that local alleged victims had contacted the panel. Until now, former Santa Fe massage therapist Rachel Benavidez had been the only publicly known New Mexico resident to say she was abused by Epstein. Several other people have said in court records and public accounts that they were flown to the ranch and abused by Epstein or people around him.
Maria Jose Rodriguez Cadiz, who leads Solace Sexual Assault Services in Santa Fe, said about 45 people contacted the center in 2019 seeking information, therapy or other help connected to alleged sexual abuse at Zorro Ranch. She estimated that between one-quarter and one-half of those contacts came from women who said they had been abused there, though she said the center did not keep detailed records. “Dozens of people who were in need of information or direct services related to the Epstein-ring sex trafficking crimes were coming forward,” Rodriguez Cadiz said. She said none of the women who contacted the center in 2019 filed police reports at that time.
The renewed attention follows the release of millions of federal Epstein-related files and New Mexico’s decision in February to reopen its child sex trafficking investigation. The files included an email from a person claiming to be a former ranch employee who alleged Epstein buried the bodies of two girls in hills outside the property. Officials have not said whether that claim has been verified. Many questions also remain about what federal investigators did with earlier tips and why the New Mexico property did not face the same level of public law enforcement scrutiny as Epstein’s homes in New York, Florida and elsewhere.
Epstein bought the ranch near Stanley, about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Gov. Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion and private runway. The property, later known as Zorro Ranch, covered roughly 10,000 acres. Epstein owned it for more than two decades, a period during which multiple women have alleged that abuse took place there. Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico. He died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges that he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez reopened the state investigation after earlier state efforts were halted in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York. State investigators searched the former ranch in March with help from state police and the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office. The current owners cooperated with the search, according to state officials. The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 to the family of Don Huffines, a Texas businessman and Republican political candidate. Officials have not released detailed findings from the search.
The truth commission is expected to work through 2026 and has authority to seek testimony and records as lawmakers examine what happened at the ranch and who may have known about it. Anaya said the commission is working with the New Mexico Department of Justice to help survivors who may have viable criminal cases pursue charges against Epstein co-conspirators. No new charges have been announced in New Mexico. Officials have said the inquiry remains focused on facts, survivor accounts and records that could support any future prosecution.
The Santa Fe center’s account also highlights why the number of alleged victims remains uncertain. Rodriguez Cadiz said the wave of contacts in 2019 came after Epstein’s arrest and during a wider public reckoning over sexual abuse by powerful men. The center is co-housed with the Santa Fe Police Department’s Special Victims Unit, but advocates said survivors may still decline to make police reports because of trauma, fear, mistrust or uncertainty about what authorities can prove years later. Officials have not identified the local women who contacted the center.
The inquiry now stands at two tracks: a criminal investigation led by state justice officials and a legislative truth commission gathering records and testimony. The next public milestone is expected as investigators and lawmakers decide what findings can be released and whether any alleged Epstein associates can still be charged.
Author note: Last updated April 29, 2026.