Overview
- Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered the case reopened on Thursday after reviewing previously sealed DOJ and FBI materials that reference the ranch.
- The New Mexico Department of Justice will request immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and coordinate with a new bipartisan legislative Truth Commission.
- Investigators are pursuing a 2019 redacted email from an alleged former staffer claiming two foreign girls were killed and buried near the ranch, and the state has sought the unredacted email, metadata and related materials from federal authorities.
- New Mexico’s earlier inquiry was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors, and federal records indicate Zorro Ranch had not been searched by federal agents as of late 2019.
- The property was sold in 2023 to the family of Don Huffines, whose representatives say they have not been contacted by law enforcement and will fully cooperate, as the Truth Commission begins work with subpoena power.