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The death of a man found in a “pool of blood” as a giant human-shaped effigy began to burn on Saturday at the annual Burning Man art and music festival in the northwestern Nevada desert is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said.
The body was discovered just before 9:15 p.m. when a festivalgoer flagged down a deputy at the desert gathering and reported seeing a man “lying in a pool of blood,” the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday.
Deputies and rangers with the Bureau of Land Management immediately responded to the campsite and “found a single White adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities are investigating the death in the Black Rock Desert, about 110 miles north of Reno, as a homicide.
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Dancers at the Burning Man festival create patterns with fireworks in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada just prior to burning a five-story, neon-lit effigy of a man on the last night of the week-long festival on Sept. 6, 1998. (Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images)
Investigators began interviewing several participants who were in the immediate area and created a perimeter around where the body was found in the makeshift encampment, which is called Black Rock City.
The dead man was taken to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office. His identity was not immediately known, the sheriff’s office said.
No further details were immediately released.
An aerial shot of the annual Burning Man festival in 2024. The festival attracts tens of thousands of people each year who camp out in the makeshift Black Rock City. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)
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The sheriff’s office said it appears to be a singular crime but urged everyone at the festival to be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances.
Burning Man officials said in a statement that they are cooperating with law enforcement and asked participants in Black Rock City not to interfere with their investigation.
In this Sept. 4, 2004, photo the crowd of thousands cheer as the Burning Man is burned to the ground, at the 18th annual Burning Man Celebration, at Black Rock Desert. (Lacy Atkins/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)
Authorities described the investigation as “complicated” as they work to preserve a crime scene in a city that “will be gone by the middle of the week.”
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The Burning Man festival ends on Monday. The festival combines wilderness camping with a weeklong art celebration, attracting tens of thousands of people each year. The gathering is highlighted by the burning of a large wooden effigy of a man.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.