Southern New Mexico — [Editor’s note: This story is from a press release issued by Battalion Search and Rescue.] As New Mexico lawmakers move forward with a bipartisan truth commission examining decades of alleged abuse connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, humanitarian search volunteers are calling for the commission to include in their review a concentrated pattern of female dead bodies found in southern Doña Ana County, New Mexico.
[Editor’s note: The 7,600-acre Zorro Ranch, about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, was owned by the financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from the early 1990s until his death in 2019, and it was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023. New Mexico State Rep. Andrea Romero recently told the Santa Fe New Mexican that Epstein survivors had told her that “among the things that were happening with Jeffrey Epstein and his whole operation in various states, that New Mexico was basically the worst.” The New Mexico House of Representatives authorized the “truth commission” in the recently-concluded legislative session, and the New Mexico Department of Justice said earlier this month it was reopening its criminal investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch.]
According to data compiled strictly from public records maintained by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) and law enforcement agencies, over 100 women and young girls were found dead in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, in under two years, said James Holeman, founder of Battalion Search and Rescue (BSAR). BSAR is a volunteer humanitarian search group operating in southern New Mexico.
Holeman said the average age of the decedents found in Doña Ana County is 29. The youngest were two 16-year-old girls.
A significant concentration of these bodies were found within a defined 5×10 mile corridor west of Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, New Mexico — a historic trafficking route. “This concentration warrants formal inclusion in the truth commission’s review,” said Holeman.
“This is about whether every woman received a thorough recovery and forensic review,” said Holeman. “If New Mexico is undertaking a comprehensive examination of abuse, coercion, and institutional oversight failures, it would be incomplete to exclude this documented concentration of female deaths.”
Documented Patterns
Based on publicly available OMI and law enforcement records, as well as field reporting:
•Over 100 confirmed female decedents in under two years in Doña Ana County, New Mexico
•A defined geographic concentration of deaths of women and young girls within a narrow corridor west of Sunland Park and Santa Teresa
•Multiple reported sites that have never been visited and remain unrecovered
•Instances where remains were partially recovered, with additional material later located at the same site
•Repeated classifications of deaths as “exposure”
•Side-by-side or clustered deaths, including multiple women found in the same location weeks or months apart
BSAR emphasizes that it is not alleging direct linkage between any specific property and these deaths, said Holeman. The organization’s position is that any comprehensive state review of systemic abuse or investigative gaps should include examination of this corridor.
The current truth commission has subpoena power and a multi-million-dollar budget to examine patterns of abuse and institutional response connected to Zorro Ranch.
BSAR states it is prepared to provide mapping data, case summaries, and documentation compiled from public records to the commission or any authorized investigative body.
“The public deserves clarity,” Holeman said. “Over 100 women and young girls have been found dead in this county in under two years. That fact alone warrants comprehensive review.”
Learn more about Battalion Search and Rescue at www.battalionsar.com.
Bob Lee is a professional journalist, writer and editor, and is co-editor of the People’s Tribune, serving as Managing Editor. He first started writing for and distributing the People’s Tribune in 1980, and joined the editorial board in 1987.
