Police are treating the death of a man at the weekend’s Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert as a suspected homicide.
The man, described as a white adult, was discovered “lying in a pool of blood” and “obviously deceased” shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. A statement posted by authorities said a deputy was alerted to the body by a festivalgoer.
The body was discovered around the time the wooden man effigy was in the process of being burned down. As part of a festival ritual, the 100-foot-tall effigy is set alight each year on the Saturday night before Labor Day, followed by the burning of the temple.
Officials created a perimeter around the area to investigate the crime scene, with a “heavy law enforcement presence” in place. Burning Man 2025 is due to finish on Monday.
The event is held in the Black Rock Desert, 120 miles north of Reno, Nevada, and attracts around 80,000 people each year.
The Forensic Science Division of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office attended to process the scene and collect evidence, with the festival’s on-site law enforcement officers interviewing “several participants in the immediate area.”
The Sheriff’s Office admitted there would be difficulties in “preserving the integrity of the complicated investigation of a crime in a city which will be gone by the middle of the week.”
“Although this act appears to be a singular crime, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances,” the police statement said.
Burning Man released a statement asking those on site not to interfere with investigations, noting, “The safety and well-being of our community are paramount.”
While there have been at least eight deaths at the festival since moving to its current site in 1990, this is believed to be the first homicide.
The tragedy follows the festival’s “Orgy Dome” being blown down after dust storms tore through the festival site last week before the event got underway.
