The sprawling New Mexico ranch once owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has found new owners in the Huffines family of Texas, who purchased the notorious property at public auction last year.
Four years after Epstein’s death, the Huffines family acquired the infamous Zorro Ranch through their company, San Rafael Ranch LLC, which was registered in July 2023. The auction proceeds went to benefit Epstein’s victims, according to family representatives.
“Four years after Mr. Epstein’s death, the Huffines family purchased property in New Mexico listed at public auction whose proceeds benefited his victims. Prior to the auction listing, they had never visited the property,” a spokesperson for the family stated.
No Prior Connections
The family has been quick to distance themselves from any association with the disgraced financier. A representative emphasized that the Huffines had no previous connection to Epstein or the ranch before the purchase, and confirmed they would offer “full and complete cooperation” to law enforcement agencies, though none have yet requested access.
What exactly attracted the Huffines to this particular property? The massive estate includes a 26,700-square-foot mansion, an airstrip, hangar, helipad, and various other facilities sprawled across the New Mexico landscape. Despite these amenities, the family’s LLC has challenged the ranch’s tax valuation, seeking to reduce it to $13.4 million by citing the property’s notorious history.
Dark History
That history is indeed troubling. A New Mexico House resolution claims the Zorro Ranch was an “instrumentality of serious criminal activity” that went largely uninvestigated by state and local officials until statutes of limitations had expired. The property has long been linked to Epstein’s pattern of sexual abuse and trafficking.
The ranch served as one of several properties in Epstein’s portfolio that prosecutors believe were used to facilitate his crimes. Unlike some of his other holdings, however, the New Mexico property has received comparatively less scrutiny from investigators.
For the Huffines family, the purchase represents a complicated investment. On one hand, they’ve acquired a sprawling estate with significant infrastructure at potentially below market value. On the other, they now own a property forever tainted by its connection to one of the most notorious criminal cases in recent memory.
The family spokesperson added that should law enforcement agencies request access to the property in the future, “they will be granted full and complete cooperation,” though no such requests have been made since the purchase.
As New Mexico grapples with this chapter of its history, the Zorro Ranch stands as a physical reminder of how wealth and influence can sometimes shield wrongdoing from proper investigation — until it’s too late for justice to be fully served.
