As this year’s Burning Man festival comes to a close, authorities in Nevada are still searching for answers in the death of a man who was found “lying in a pool of blood” on Saturday night.
According to The New York Times, local authorities from the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene of the storied arts festival, which takes place in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, at approximately 9:14 p.m. on Saturday night. There, they encountered a festival-goer who was “obviously deceased,” according to Sheriff Jerry Allen.
Law enforcement’s arrival coincided with the beginning of the festival’s signature event, in which the “Man,” a large wooden effigy, is set ablaze. Several individuals who were in the nearby vicinity of the victim were interviewed by police.
Given that the festival takes place in a makeshift city that is constructed each year for Burning Man, which attracts an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people, the logistics of the crime scene posed a challenge for police. As such, the Times reported that law enforcement called in both the forensic science team from the nearby Washoe County Sheriff’s Office as well as rangers from the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that manages the land where the festival takes place.
“Although this act appears to be a singular crime, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances,” Allen said in a statement at the time. “There is no further information available at this time but it will be released as appropriate to provide for communication, while still preserving the integrity of the complicated investigation of a crime in a city which will be gone by the middle of the week.”
On Sunday, Burning Man’s organizers issued a statement to festival-goers in which they confirmed the death of a “single white male adult” whose identity has not yet been released. “Burning Man is cooperating with law enforcement,” the statement continued. “The investigation is ongoing and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office will be the primary source of further information. If you are in Black Rock City, do not interfere with law enforcement activity.”
Burning Man, which concludes today, continued on with its scheduled activities, though authorities did maintain a perimeter and are continuing to interview individuals.
