On Saturday night at Burning Man, an annual festival that draws nearly 80,000 people to the desert in Nevada, an “obviously deceased man” was found lying in a pool of blood while the “Man” began to burn, police say. Since then, authorities have launched a homicide investigation. While police say the act appeared to be a “singular crime,” many details remain unknown, such as the identity of the deceased person. Authorities anticipate a difficult investigation ahead due to the unique conditions of the festival.
“The Burning Man Festival is like no other ‘city’ in Northern Nevada; it makes numerous investigations more difficult due to its transient and temporary nature,” Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen told Salon via email. “The very uniqueness of the ‘city’ is it is only fully active for approximately 9 days.”
A pilgrimage to Burning Man is an escape from what Burners call the “default world.” Festival goers wear outlandish, often provocative costumes which frequently include face masks. They adopt playa names like Fuzzypants, Sexy Bacon and Cactus, which provide an opportunity to be anonymous. “The playa,” a nearly six-square-mile patch on a 200-mile Pleistocene era lakebed, is what Burners call the festival zone. True to its name, every structure is temporary as many buildings, along with the effigy, are burned to the ground by the end of the festival. The location of the festival, Black Rock Desert, is over a two-hour drive from any major city that authorities would need to get to, like forensic services, to assist in their investigation.
“Our own home office is over two hours’ drive away from the playa,” Allen told Salon. “When we have a difficult investigation, such as a homicide, sexual assault, crime against children or other major or heinous crime, some of which occur annually, we must work quickly and diligently to obtain as much information and evidence as possible, because we cannot return to the scene next week, or sometimes even the next day, when the ‘address’ no longer exists.”
In a statement posted on their website, Burning Man said they are “cooperating with law enforcement.”
“If you are in Black Rock City, do not interfere with law enforcement activity,” the festival said in a statement. “The safety and well-being of our community are paramount.”
Moreover, the “transient nature” of the festival, Allen said, will be a challenge throughout the investigation.
“There are people from over 72 different countries, including the United States, who only come to the festival for the 9 days or less,” Allen said. “Potential witnesses, suspects, or accomplices could be on the other side of the world.”
Over the course of that time, there is an influx of over 80,000 people — some who are first-timers, and others who are regular attendees. When participants return home, it can be “extremely difficult” and “time-consuming” to track them down or even to communicate with them, Allen said.
On September 1, after news broke about the homicide, the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office sent out an official request for information from the public regarding the apparent homicide.
“We are specifically looking to identify the white male adult decedent, who is between the ages of 35 and 40, approximately 6’ and 200# with short brown hair and facial hair,” the statement said. “We are also currently seeking information regarding any suspect identifiers for any person who would commit such a heinous crime against another human being.”
No detail is too small to dismiss, the statement said, urging people to contact Pershing County Sheriff’s Office if they saw anything.
In 2019, Salon published an investigation about how the liberating environment of Burning Man has also become a playground for predators, specifically for sexual assaults on the playa. Notably, the festival has volunteer security agents known as Black Rock Rangers. But a system of self-policing has created a culture of under-reporting to law enforcement and a false sense of security for new festival goers. A separate investigation into Burning Man also found a high suicide rate among seasonal workers. Several former employees and volunteers for Burning Man painted a picture of a dangerous and stressful work environment and a toxic management culture. They recalled tales of labor abuse and on-the-job injuries, including permanent blindness.
For this homicide investigation, Burning Man said, “the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office will be the primary source of further information.”
This isn’t the first death at Burning Man, but it is the first homicide.
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