Murder at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene

The murder investigation rocked the man’s last day on fire after the man was found dead “lying in a pool of blood” on Saturday night, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. The harsh discovery occurred around 9:14pm, just as the festival’s iconic wooden “man” statue began to have traditional burns, according to The New York Times.

The victim was found by festival participants who flagged their aides, called a white man whose identity remains unknown. Sheriff Jerry Allen confirmed that deputies, the Bureau of Land Management and local rangers quickly secured boundaries while the Wash County Sheriff’s Office forensic team was gathering evidence.

The murder comes as a man on fire long ago evolved from a counterculture gathering into a networking hub of Silicon Valley’s tech elites. Tesla CEO Elon Musk once declared “The Man on Fire is Silicon Valley,” while Mark Zuckerberg welcomed a helicopter to serve grilled cheese sandwiches. Jeff Bezos of Amazon also made a pilgrimage to the desert.

But perhaps there is no tech leader with a deeper connection to the festival than Sergey Brin, who has been dedicated for years to years, than Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Their connections reportedly run so deeply that before Google Doodles became known for celebrating the holidays, the first Google Doodles was released on August 30, 1998, informing users that Page and Bryn were absent from Burning Man.

The murder investigation is the latest in a series of strange incidents at a festival that surrounds 38 years of history. In 2017, the man died after throwing himself into a burning statue, but since the 1990s, deaths have occurred in motorbike crashes and vehicle accidents. Last week, with another strange twist, a baby named Aurora was born at a festival to parents they didn’t know they were expecting.

The investigation faces unique challenges as Sheriff Allen described it as “a complex investigation into crime in the city that will disappear later this week.” The festival is scheduled to close Monday, and with the traditional departure of 70,000 participants beginning, authorities may face pressure to extend their timeline or limit departures to maintain crime scenes and conduct interviews.

“The law looks like a singular crime, but all participants should always be wary of their surroundings and acquaintances,” the sheriff’s office warned as temporary desert cities prepare for their annual demolition.