As the giant effigy of the \u201cMan\u201d burned in the Nevada desert, a festival-goer approached a sheriff\u2019s deputy.<\/p>\n
A man was lying in a pool of blood, the individual reported about 9:14 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n
When the deputy, along with rangers from the Bureau of Land Management, found the man at a campsite, he was dead. <\/p>\n
Since then, investigators have been swarming the scene, collecting evidence and interviewing neighboring campers at the nine-day Burning Man festival, which draws tens of thousands each year to a desolate area about 120 miles north of Reno for a celebration of \u201ccommunity, art, self-expression and self-reliance.\u201d <\/p>\n
The death is believed to be a homicide, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in a news release Sunday. The remains of the man, who has not been identified, are with the Washoe County regional medical examiner\u2019s office. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough this act appears to be a singular crime,\u201d Allen wrote, \u201call participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Burning Man Project, the nonprofit that organizes the festival, said in a statement on its website<\/a> that it was cooperating with law enforcement and that peer support counselors were available on the grounds. <\/p>\n Last year, Kendra Frazer, 39, died at Burning Man<\/a> after emergency personnel were unable to revive her. It was found that Frazer had died in her sleep after an asthma attack<\/a>. <\/p>\n In 2023, Leon Reece of Truckee died at the festival<\/a> after he was found unresponsive, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported. Drug intoxication was suspected in his death, according to a preliminary investigation by the Washoe County regional medical examiner\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Other fatalities at the festival over the years included a man who ran into the Burning Man fire in 2018, a woman struck by a car in 2014, another woman struck by a car in 2003 and the pilot of a plane that crashed while landing at the festival\u2019s airstrip in 2003, according to the Gazette-Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before Saturday\u2019s grim discovery, this year\u2019s Burning Man was punctuated by unexpected joy when a 36-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl.<\/p>\n