A sealed universe: South African survivor recalls Jeffrey Epstein’s desert fortress

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 room I slept in at Zorro Ranch. Epstein monitored my every move.

“Yet he no longer focused on sexually assaulting me in the way he had before. It was as though I was being primed for something even darker,” she says.

Bryant remembers the ranch as a closed world where movement was tightly restricted, the settings choreographed and every corner controlled.

The concentric circles of the heli­pad and surrounding compounds struck her as ritualistic. Elsewhere on the property, a cowboy-themed village had been erected, complete with a Wild West saloon and cabins – a theatrical set inside a sealed universe.

Pseudoscience and the social web

Zorro Ranch was not only a site of abuse. It was a salon of influence, drawing political figures, royalty, scientists and cultural elites.

Those linked to visits include:

• Former prince Andrew, present in the early 2000s, and named in survivor testimony in connection with alleged sexual abuse at Zorro Ranch.
• The late Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor. Bryant recalls being taken to his mansion. She has not accused him of sexual assault.
• Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, cited in investigative reporting as guests. Al­­though Allen’s daughter, Dylan Farrow, has accused him of child molestation, no allegations have been made against him in relation to Epstein’s trafficking network.
• Hollywood director Michael Bay, recalled by Bryant as being present at the ranch. She has not accused him of sexual assault. Bay has not responded to Daily Maverick’s repeated emails, phone messages and telephone requests for comment.
• Epstein’s staff recall the Clintons visiting, but no flight logs or public documentation confirm their presence at Zorro Ranch, and their office denies it.

The ranch was also fashioned as a hub for Epstein’s pseudo-philanthropic and fringe science ambitions. Steven Pinker, a Harvard cognitive psychologist, said he was invited to “salons and coffee klatsches” during which Epstein would hold court.

Some of Pinker’s peers hailed Epstein as brilliant, but Pinker described him as an “intellectual impostor… a kibitzer [meddling spectator] and a dilettante”.

Credible reporting indicates that Epstein told scientists and businessmen about his bizarre idea to turn Zorro Ranch into a baby farm where he would impregnate women with his DNA to “seed the human race”. Public records do not show whether any scientists ever tried to enable his perverse plans.

Tools of control

Central to Zorro Ranch’s logistics was Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner in crime. Court records, survivor testimony and troves of documents from the Epstein archives confirm that Maxwell – a licensed helicopter pilot – coordinated transport and personally ferried guests and trafficked girls to Zorro Ranch. But unlike Epstein’s Lolita Express flight logs, there are no extensive flight records for the helicopter flights.

New Mexico truth commission

It is because of this omission in the historical record – the absence of flight logs and the secrecy surrounding arrivals and ­departures – that New Mexico state senators, including Andrea Romero and cosponsor Marianna Anaya, are advocating the establishment of a truth commission.

Consisting of a bipartisan five-member panel, supported by investigative staff and legal counsel, its 18-month investigation would cost up to R50-million. The commission would be empowered to subpoena ­documents and compel testimony, examine gaps in oversight and state policy, and produce a vetted timeline of visits, alleged ­abuses and institutional failures.

The truth commission is envisaged as a corrective to decades of silence – a state-­level reckoning in a landscape where federal transparency has often failed.

Despite the 2025 Epstein Transparency Act, the federal reaction has been marked by deflection, distraction and derailment. Heavily redacted documents, emails and images have trickled out, stripped of context, while the Department of Justice acknowledges that more than a million files remain un­­reviewed. What is known is that President Donald Trump’s name is mentioned most often in the Epstein files.

Life after Epstein

“The documents, emails and Epstein’s image are thrown in our faces every day, which is retraumatising,” Bryant says. “And what makes this even more horrifying is that at least three victims – Virginia Giuffre, Carolyn Andriano and Leigh Skye Patrick – have died as a consequence of his abuse.”

She adds: “Their deaths become more ­sinister when we realise how many people directly connected to Epstein have died.

“Hopefully, as more information comes out, people are finally starting to understand that there was more going on than ­sex trafficking.”

Zorro Ranch was sold in August 2023 to a newly formed company. The price and the identities of the owners remain unknown.

The mask may be slipping, and the work to uncover the truth continues. But for survivors, the hardest labour lies ahead: sifting through the emotional wreckage for an­­swers, and rebuilding their lives from the rubble of stolen years. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.