Burning Man is crazier than usual with a murder mystery, ‘demonic’ claims and a surprise birth
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- This year’s Burning Man festivities in the Nevada desert were stranger than usual with an unexpected birth, a death and a crazy windstorm.
- Burning Man’s famous Orgy Dome was brought down by the strong gusts.
Burning Man, the eclectic desert festival known for its art, music and spirit of “self-expression and self-reliance,” wrapped up one of the strangest annual celebrations in memory with a major dust storm, an unexpected birth, and an as-yet-unsolved slaying reported amid the festivities.
Known for drawing tens of thousands of visitors to the desolate Black Rock Desert in Nevada, about 120 miles north of Reno, the nine-day festival has a reputation for introducing the unexpected to revelers, and this year seemed to be no exception.
The event started out with its challenges right off the bat, as a major dust storm knocked down tents, damaged art installations and forced organizers to temporarily close the event gates and a nearby airport.
The intense winds reportedly injured four attendees and damaged some of the pieces of art displayed in what is known as Burning Man Playa.
The strong gusts also brought down Burning Man’s famous Orgy Dome, an enclosed, air-conditioned, 4,000-square-foot structure with mattresses and dozens of volunteers who monitor that all attendees are of age, sober and with a partner.
SFGATE reported that when the dome was brought down by the winds, a whiteboard was posted in its place, notifying visitors that it had been damaged, and that organizers were working to erect it once more.
“We got f— too hard,” the sign reportedly read. “We need help to reopen.”
Investigators have been swarming the scene at the Nevada desert festival, collecting evidence and interviewing neighboring campers.
The famous festival, which also draws millionaires and tech executives, was also the site of a surprise birth after a woman, who said she was unaware she was pregnant, delivered a baby Wednesday at Black Rock City on the Playa.
“It’s an absolute miracle,” the father, Kasey, 39, of Salt Lake City, told The Times.
His wife suddenly went into labor inside their RV last week and gave birth to a 3½-pound baby girl.
An obstetrician, pediatrician and a nurse who were nearby, also attending the festival, responded to the cries for help and assisted with the delivery and care of the newborn.
The couple and their new daughter were first cared for at Burning Man’s medical tent, until a helicopter arrived to take the child to a neonatal intensive care unit in nearby Reno.
Then, as the large wooden effigy known as “the Man” burned Saturday — symbolizing the culmination of the nine-day festival — a homicide investigation was sparked with the discovery of a dead man in a pool of blood.
A festival-goer flagged down a Pershing County sheriff’s deputy to report the death at a campsite. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.
On Monday, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen asked for the public’s help for information on the case.
“We are also currently seeking information regarding any suspect identifiers for any person who would commit such a heinous crime against another human Being,” Allen said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the victim was identified as Vadim Kruglov, from Russia.
“Our hearts go out to Vadim’s family and friends and we grieve the loss of a community member,” organizers of Burning Man said in a statement. “Burning Man Project is doing everything we can to assist the Sheriff’s investigation so the perpetrator can be caught and brought to justice.”
Officials have not released details in the case, or how the victim was killed, other than saying that the attack appeared to be a “singular crime.”
On Tuesday, Pershing County sheriff’s officials announced they had made progress on another crime with the arrest of a Southern California man on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman during the festival.
Deputies were contacted Monday by a woman who said she had been assaulted at the event. Deputies searched for the alleged assailant at the festival grounds and, on Tuesday, arrested 34-year-old Alessandro Boshant.
Boshant was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of burglary, according to the statement.
A surge of monsoonal storms brought instability across the American West this weekend, with severe winds, and lightning that sparked several fires. Officials say the pattern isn’t yet through.
The festival also drew attention from outside the desert after Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley attorney and former vice presidential running mate for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., pondered on social media whether the desert celebration was demonic.
“I used to be a devoted ‘Burner,’ having attended faithfully every year from 2014 to 2022,” Shanahan wrote in a lengthy post on X. Shanahan was formerly married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and has since questioned the safety of vaccines and proclaimed herself to be a “new Christian.”
In the post, she wrote that, in her previous visits to Burning Man, she saw that “thousands of people moved about with smiles, intoxicated by freedom, and joy, and navigating the city of Black Rock with an ephemeral air.”
“Yes, there are constant orgies,” she wrote. “Yes, drugs are consumed in staggering quantities. And yes, sexual assault and rape occur at Burning Man, along with tragic, often preventable deaths. Nudity is everywhere. Overdoses happen so frequently that they rarely interrupt a party or shut down a camp.”
She claimed the event was filled with “occult symbols” and ceremonies, calling it not just an eccentric festival but also “one of the most effective tools for Satan to misdirect souls away from our Heavenly Father.”
“I am a newbie to demonology, but there is clearly something dangerous at work here,” Shanahan said.
Organizers of the event did not respond to a request for comment on this year’s incidents but published a post on Instagram on Sunday — just hours before the burning of the Man — a message addressed to its attendees.
“Tonight the Man burns, a reminder of all you’ve endured and created through a challenging week,” the post read. “Weather shifts, unpredictability rises, yet this community thrives because of you.”
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