A top New Mexico official is calling for an investigation into public land near Jeffrey Epsteins Zorro Ranch after a newly released email alleged that two foreign girls were buried there.

Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said she requested an investigation after learning about a 2019 email included in recently released Epstein-related documents. The email, sent to a conservative radio host, claimed that two girls were buried on public land leased near the ranch. The act was allegedly done at the direction of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking.

There was a very disturbing allegation that came out that could potentially be linked to state land, Garcia Richard said. Because I am the manager of that land. Im the elected steward of that land and what occurs there and what the land is used for is of utmost interest and importance to us at the State Land Office.

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She said, to her knowledge, neither the state land nor Zorro Ranch has ever been searched as part of a criminal investigation.

From reviewing historical documents, Garcia Richard said it appears the leased state land may have been used as a buffer around the ranch.

It seems like the state land was used almost as a buffer, a shield to hide what activity was occurring on the ranch ... to insulate visibility to what was occurring there, she said.

Garcia Richard said she is concerned the land could be a potential crime scene.

If state land was used for criminal activity, that is definitely something New Mexicans need to know, she said. Those are answers that victims and survivors need to have.

Garcia Richard said she has the authority to cancel leases on state land and confirmed that any party associated with Epstein was removed from the property. The lease was canceled in 2019 and has not been issued to anyone else.

However, she said the State Land Office does not have law enforcement authority.

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"We are looking to partner with other agencies that do have that capacity to investigate the land," Garcia Richard said.

Garcia Richard said technology exists in New Mexico to conduct searches for possible unmarked graves, including ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.

The land in question is fairly large, she said, but investigators would likely focus first on a specific area referenced as the hills behind Zorro Ranch, which she said is state land.

Garcia Richard said she has asked the New Mexico Department of Justice and federal authorities to get involved and plans to pursue other state partnerships if necessary.

Garcia Richard also said she reached out to the attorney generals office in 2019 seeking an investigation, but nothing was done at the time.

The Department of Justice has not released a single document pertaining to its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell since Dec. 23, and survivors aren't holding their breath that they'll see more relevant documents released any time soon.

"I'm losing faith," Epstein survivor and advocate Lisa Phillips said, "I thought when the president signed the bill, whether he wanted to or not, that we were going to get answers and the files were going to be released at some point, but just seeing what's being released, I just feel like it's a joke."

Phillips tells the Scripps News Group she's felt an increase in nervousness and anxiousness since the deadline hit on Dec. 19.

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According to Phillips, the documents made public so far fail to tell a coherent or truthful story about Epstein's operation. She described the releases as superficial, where evidence has been omitted that could reveal how Epstein's trafficking network actually functioned.

"It doesn't take the audios, the videos, the emails and put it all together to paint a real picture," she explained.

The Department of Justice has said it is consulting with victims and their attorneys as it makes redactions. In repeated letters to federal judges, Attorney General Pam Bondi says her team is going through millions of documents and redacting information to protect victims. Phillips rejected that explanation, arguing that the redactions serve a very different purpose.

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"They've never been worried about the victims," she said, "They're worried about politicians and powerful people" who could be embarrassed or incriminated.

Phillips pointed to Epstein's extensive use of surveillance inside his homes, saying, unless it's been destroyed, authorities already possess far more evidence than they are willing to release.

"Epstein had, in his home, cameras everywhere," she said. "They have video of every person who walked into those houses, every person who went into a room with a minor or a young woman. They can see what happened before, during, and after."

She and another survivor recently joined Congressmen Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie in asking the judge overseeing Maxwell's criminal case to appoint an independent authority to oversee the review and release of the files. The request was denied.

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"It was really disappointing," she said. "The best solution would have been someone unbiased, nonpartisan, just going through the files and connecting the dots properly."

Those dots, Phillips said, stretch far beyond Epstein himself.

"Epstein had tentacles in all different areas, including academia, tech, universities, modeling agencies," she said. Phillips described Epstein as a calculated manipulator who tailored his grooming to each victim's ambitions.

"Nothing was random with Jeffrey Epstein," she said. "He worked on what you wanted."

Still, she says, even with a full release of the files, she doesn't expect to see every perpetrator behind bars.

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"We know how powerful these men are," Phillips said. "Justice doesn't mean everyone goes to prison. But it does mean the truth comes out."

Phillips is arguably one of the most outspoken of the survivors. Last fall, at a press conference on Capitol Hill, she said survivors might begin naming names themselves if the government failed to act.

When Scripps News asked her about the status of the list, she said pieces have already been released.

"I've been making that a reality," she said, noting that some individuals she has publicly called out have since resigned.

This time, Phillips says, the list came from survivors realizing many of them were sent to various universities on scholarships by Epstein himself.

Maxwell has filed a habeas corpus petition with the Court, where she reveals there are four potential co-conspirators and 25 men who allegedly settled their claims. All of their identities, Maxwell says, are known to the government.

Maxwell is expected to give a virtual deposition to the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 9.

"We don't want her releasing names so she's let out of prison," she said. "We want her in prison because she did abuse young girls."

Aside from the Committee's work, she concedes there's not much appetite on Capitol Hill to pressure the administration to release the files. "They're scared," she added.

Her ire lies with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Phillips said has not kept her word.

Bondi is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in February.