Not only did Zorro Ranch isolate his victims, it also hosted scientists and celebrities flown in to listen to his warped and grandiose ambitions. Now state senators are calling for a truth commission.
Beneath the sun-scorched wilderness of northern New Mexico, roughly 24km northwest of Dulce and 320km from Roswell - both hotspots for UFO sightings and fringe science - Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch hid a world of secrecy, influence and control.
Bought in 1993 for about R120-million, the 3,200-hectare estate became a fortress of observation and restriction, hinting at Epstein's fascination with archaeology, ancient civilisations, futurist societies, fringe science and environments meticulously engineered to impress - and intimidate - those who stepped inside.
The property and its props also seemed to be an amalgam of artefact and fiction. Zorro was the masked superhero bandit of Spanish folklore - an identity built on disguise, fantasy and subversive power.
Fractured memories
"Things happened there that scared me so deeply I still can't even talk about them," recalls Juliette Bryant, a South African survivor of Epstein's sex-trafficking network, who was recruited in Cape Town between 2002 and 2004.
Her memories of Zorro Ranch are fractured: being subjected to an invasive pelvic examination by Epstein, waking up in a laboratory, people in hazmat suits, disorienting gaps in recall.
"Unlike my time on Epstein's island, of which I still have acute memories, I can't even remember the...
