Despite being on public land, and protected by NM Statute, the memorials for the Epstein survivors and victims were destroyed during the last week of May, 2026. The beautiful blue butterfly memorial piece with the words “Love, Hope, Peace, Justice”, gifted on April 25, 2026, by Linda F and Karen W, was nowhere to be seen. The memorial I described on that day, which included five four-foot crosses set into concrete, and hundreds of tokens of flowers, painted rocks, tin ornaments, candles, stuffed animals, signs, prayers, and toys, was gone. Everything left by the vandals could be scraped into a small pile of shards, along with a broken cross from across the road.
On Saturday, May 30, two dozen people showed up to rebuild. With digging poles and pickaxes, rakes and shovels, new crosses were raised and the remaining and new tokens put back into place.
Representative Matthew McQueen, candidate Sara Boses, and MMIW activist Sarah F spoke about ways to hinder abuse and about the massive scale of ongoing abuse.
By Sunday, less than 24 hours later, the memorial had been deliberately destroyed and removed again. In the words of the organizer, Dr. Lisa C of NM Stronger Together:
The Descanso for Victims of Epstein at Zorro Ranch keeps getting vandalized by Huffines people. Is the SF DA or NM AG Torrez going to uphold NM law? Descansos are sacred and LEGALLY PROTECTED... well, only IF the prosecutors PROSECUTE.
The memorial will be rebuilt again on Saturday, June 6, 2026, starting at 11 am.
