New details uncovered in last year’s shocking Burning Man homicide

Moe Duke wasn’t supposed to see the body. It was Saturday night during last year’s Burning Man, and thousands of people were streaming into the center of the event to watch a 50-foot-tall effigy burn. Music pulsed through the air, and elaborate art cars had formed a giant circle as everyone eagerly awaited the event’s climax. Duke had planned on being in the center of the action, but as fireworks began to go off signaling the start of the show, he was still stuck at his camp on the outskirts of Black Rock City as his friends tried to pick their outfits.

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Duke and his group finally left their camp at 9:24 p.m., just minutes before the man was set ablaze, only to see something that froze them in their tracks. In the camp across from them, a man’s body was lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. 

“There was something hanging from his neck. Maybe a knife or something,” Duke said. “So we were like, ‘Wait. That’s a murder.’” He pulled out his phone and started to record. 

The body belonged to 37-year-old Vadim Kruglov, a Russian immigrant who was attending the event for the first time and on Aug. 30, 2025, became the first homicide victim in the history of Burning Man, according to Pershing County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Nathan Carmichael. 

The case remains unsolved, but new details published here for the first time are shedding more light on the final days of Kruglov’s life. His time at Burning Man was both ecstatic and anxious. He arrived early and improvised a beloved art piece, and developed a short-lived romance. But he also spent much of his time in a state of paranoia, begging his friends to track him with Apple AirTags and fearing someone was trying to hurt him. He also checked into Burning Man’s hospital clinic and was killed just hours after leaving.

For many people, it seems like an unsolvable crime: A man stabbed on the outskirts of an event while nearly everyone’s attention was turned toward the massive statue burning in the center of the playa, and in a crime scene that would disappear just hours after the stabbing, as the more than 70,000 attendees packed up camp and headed home. 

Among those making their way through the gates toward the highway in the mass exodus was the killer.

An immigrant’s journey

Kruglov faced adversity early in his life. He was born and raised in Omsk, Russia, a city with a population of 1 million in the southwestern part of Siberia near the Kazakhstan border. Kruglov’s mother died when he was 11 years old, and his father Igor said he struggled to raise Vadim and his sister Olga on his own.

“We enjoyed playing hockey and tennis together,” Igor said through the help of a translator. “He was a very active kid with many friends. He did well in his studies, despite the difficulties of our life.”

Kruglov studied marketing at Omsk State Transport University, graduating in 2013. He worked for a couple of years as a flight attendant for Transaero, one of Russia’s largest airlines.

In 2016, Kruglov decided it was time for a change. He moved to New York City, where he lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He gave tennis lessons and worked as a driver for a ride-hailing service, according to multiple friends. He also started the process of getting his pilot’s license. 

Kruglov’s New York friends say that religion played an important role in his life. He became closely involved in the Russian Orthodox cathedral community, on the upper east side of Manhattan. Through the church, he met and socialized with other Russian immigrants.

“Vadim was a pillar of the community,” said Denis Carey, one of Kruglov’s best friends. “During the holidays, he would dress up as Santa Claus for the kids. He was very cheerful with a great sense of humor. He would always go out of his way to help people. He was just a really, really good soul.”

In 2024, Kruglov moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he worked odd jobs, including a seasonal stint on a fishing boat for Pacific Star Seafoods in Alaska, before landing a job as a cable installation technician. According to work documents and interviews with his friends, he was optimistic about a high-paying government job laying underground fiber optics in Michigan after Burning Man.

Arrival at Burning Man

Greg Cherney, one of Kruglov’s friends from Washington, said the 37-year-old was “very sociable” and it made complete sense that Kruglov attended Burning Man, the annual music and art event in the Nevada desert that describes itself as a “global cultural movement advancing a more creative, connected and thriving society.”

“It was in his character to be in the moment and be up for whatever,” Cherney said. “I think that’s kind of how he ended up at Burning Man.”

So when Kruglov’s friend Roman Lurie, whom he’d met in New York City in 2018, offered to sell him an extra ticket, Kruglov jumped at the chance. Neither of them had attended the event before. 

They decided to stay with Luminary Love, a camp composed of Russian speakers from around the world. Luminary Love shared infrastructure with Tree of Life, a Ukrainian camp with international members.

After Kruglov’s killing, rumors spread online that the war between Russia and Ukraine may have caused tensions between the two nationalities at Burning Man, and perhaps a political argument escalated into Kruglov’s killing. However, interviews with several Ukrainian and Russian attendees dispute this narrative, claiming there was very little conflict between the two groups, despite the war raging abroad.

Nine days before Kruglov was killed, he arrived at Burning Man with Lurie at the tail end of build week, the weeklong period before the official event begins, when camps and infrastructure are set up across the desert site, called the playa. The pair offered to help construct the Luminary Love camp in exchange for a discount on the cost of camp dues. Kruglov was also tasked with transporting fellow campmates from the Reno airport to the playa in a rented RV. 

The camp faced a major problem when an art installation created for their camp was not delivered to the playa in time due to international shipping problems. Kruglov stepped up and improvised. He took out a pen and paper and conceptualized a piece of art they dubbed “The Mirror Heart.”

A fabrication shop based in Reno helped bring Kruglov’s idea to life during build week, according to his friend Lurie. The Mirror Heart became a successful and popular attraction on the playa and was widely photographed. Kruglov seemed energized by the successful installation. A friend took a video of Kruglov with a huge smile as he wrote “Do not take selfies” on the artwork.

“It was his idea to promote love and peace. It’s  very important for me that everybody knows that [the Mirror Heart] was his idea,” Lurie said.

Regina Kim, a woman who met Kruglov on the playa, described him as being positive and having “good vibes.” Kim said, “ He was telling me things like, ‘I just love it here, you’re going to love it, too.’ He felt very grateful to have been able to put his art there.” 

Like many participants, Kim did not realize there was a homicide at Burning Man until after the organizers had closed the gates and people had gone home. The following week, she was scrolling on Facebook and was shocked to discover a photo of herself posing with Kruglov in front of the Mirror Heart circulating online with the announcement of Kruglov’s killing.

“My jaw dropped on the floor,” she said.

The burn begins

Burning Man 2025 opened in a chaotic mess. On Saturday, the day before the gates were set to open to the general public, one of the worst storms to ever hit Black Rock City brought 50 mph winds that destroyed structures and created a brutal dust storm. The gates opened on Sunday only for a torrent of rain to hit the playa, turning the endless expanse of sand into impossible-to-navigate sludge. 

Burning Man celebrates self-reliance as one of its core principles, but Burners also embrace helping others even as they keep themselves safe. Kruglov had that same spirit, according to Lev Kazakov, who had just met Kruglov during the build week. He said Kruglov gave him a protective face mask right before a sandstorm: “That’s the move that saved my entire Burning Man.”

Kruglov spent Monday largely sheltering in place because of the rain. 

On Tuesday, Kruglov’s friend and fellow Luminary Love campmate Alex Baranov said they tried to find some drugs. They obtained cocaine and a substance that Baranov believes was methamphetamine.

Baranov said Kruglov took the drugs and was hit with an episode of what Baranov assumed to be drug-induced paranoia. “He told me that someone was watching him and that people didn’t like him and wanted him to leave the camp,” Baranov said. Baranov and other camp members rallied around Kruglov to calm him down, and offered him tea, but Kruglov refused to drink it, fearing it was poisoned. Baranov said that Kruglov slept off this episode and by Wednesday morning seemed fine. 

On Thursday, two days before he was killed, Kruglov met a woman from Mexico named Giulia Chambers at the D’Jungle camp. Kruglov used his artist pass to drive her around in a truck owned by Luminary Love and showed her the art installation he helped design. She described Kruglov as having a great sense of humor, and always cracking jokes. “We had a beautiful connection,” she said.

She described her experience with Kruglov as a Burning Man romance. Chambers said she had recently gone through a divorce and was not planning on pursuing anything romantic at Burning Man, because it was the one-year anniversary of her honeymoon with her former partner, who was not at the event. But when she lost her bike, Kruglov approached and comforted her.

Chambers lost track of Kruglov early on Friday morning when Black Rock City rangers asked him to move his truck from where it was parked. She tried to find him, but never saw him again, though she said he made attempts to find her at her camp.

“My campmates would tease me by saying, ‘The Russian was here looking for you,’” she said, but because of bad cell service, they were not able to connect again. 

Chambers said she did not learn of Kruglov’s death until she returned to Mexico after Burning Man. She described feeling a tremendous sense of sadness and loss after hearing about what happened to him.

“The connection was so real, it was so pure, and I wasn’t ready for that,” she said.

Last dance at the Pyramid Club

On Friday, Aug. 29, one day before he was killed, Kruglov was having bike trouble and asked his campmate Darina Jordan to help him find a new one. In a story posted on Facebook, Jordan said that Kruglov was preoccupied with an Apple AirTag and wanted to make sure people could keep track of him. However, they had difficulty getting the technology to work.

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That evening, Kruglov, Jordan and a third woman rode their bikes to the Pyramid Club at PlayAlchemist, one of the largest structures on the playa. They locked their bikes together and Kruglov told the group not to leave without him. The group then went to the bathroom, but Jordan said in her Facebook post that when they went back to their bikes, they found Kruglov had unlocked his bike and left without them. 

“The whole day I was thinking why he was so afraid of getting lost and in the end he left to get lost. When I heard about the murder, I already knew it was him,” said Jordan in a Facebook post. Jordan declined our request for an interview.

It’s not clear where Kruglov went after leaving Pyramid Club, but Joe Vaughan, another Burning Man attendee, said he saw Kruglov at around 2 a.m. on Saturday morning DJing with two other men at a camp on the outskirts of the event. Burning Man’s temporary city is built in a semi-circle with cross streets identified by the numerals of a clock face. Vaughan said he saw Kruglov at a camp at 8:30 and I, across the street from the red tent where his body would be found the following night.

Vaughan described Kruglov as cheerful. After a brief interaction, Vaughan moved on. Vaughn did not know the other two men Kruglov was playing music with.

It’s unclear what happened to Kruglov after Vaughan’s 2 a.m. interaction, but as the sun rose over the desert a few hours later, Kruglov stumbled into a nearby camp in extreme distress.

According to an interview conducted in June with the former lead investigator on the case, Pershing County Detective Josh Nicholson, on Saturday morning, Kruglov interacted with Black Rock City rangers who determined he should be brought to Rampart, a temporary hospital constructed in Black Rock City every year. Nicholson confirmed that Kruglov was in the care of Burning Man medical personnel for most of Saturday and had dinner at Rampart.

Kruglov was released from Rampart around 5 p.m. Saturday evening, according to Nicholson. Less than four hours later, he was found dead. 

No one knows what Kruglov did between leaving Rampart and getting stabbed, although one witness, Burning Man attendee Colleen Sullivan, said she spotted him near 8:30 and K on the outskirts of the city between 7:30 and 8 p.m. on Saturday. This is the last known sighting of Kruglov. Sullivan described him looking peaceful and contemplating a sunset. 

It’s unclear why he returned to 8:30 and I when Luminary Love, his home camp, was at 7:45 and F. 

Law enforcement sources say that the Burning Man Project and its medical staff are cooperating with the investigation. The organization has also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest; Secret Witness, a nonprofit that works on unsolved cases, also offered another $5,000 reward. 

When reached for comment, Leslie Moyer, a spokesperson from Burning Man Project, said in an email that the group has “cooperated fully” with the sheriff’s investigation.

“Burning Man Project has worked closely with law enforcement to support the investigation into the death of Vadim Kruglov,” Moyer said. “We remain committed to seeing this case resolved and are grateful to the participants, staff, and community members who continue to help seek answers for Vadim’s family and friends.”

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office has released photos of a lime green cooking knife that it says is the same model used in the homicide, but otherwise has shared few details.

Some Burners have expressed concern that the difficulty of solving Kruglov’s case could inspire other copycat homicides. “Burning Man is kind of the perfect place to murder someone,” said long-term Burner Dakota Snider, who camped near the crime scene.

That hasn’t stopped fear and sorrow in the wake of Kruglov’s death. Hayley Welsh was among the first people to see Kruglov’s body as she was packing up to leave the event early Saturday night. 

“I feel so upset,” Welsh said, “I was right there, and I wonder if I was alone, if my fiance wasn’t there, would the killer have come for me?” She added that she has gone to therapy and counseling to help cope with the experience of witnessing the crime scene.

‘Out in seconds’

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office has received hundreds of tips since Kruglov’s death, but it has not named any suspects or publicly confirmed any arrests related to the homicide. It has not released Kruglov’s autopsy report to protect the integrity of an active investigation.

However, in an exclusive interview, Detective Nicholson confirmed that multiple DNA profiles had been extracted from the knife recovered by law enforcement at the scene of the crime. Nicholson also confirmed that Kruglov’s phone had been recovered but not yet unlocked. 

Nicholson had been the lead investigator on this case, but earlier this summer he transferred to a different county, and Sgt. Nathan Carmichael is presently the officer in charge of the case. Carmichael says that Pershing County sheriff’s deputies believe that Kruglov was killed in the red and white tent where his body was found, and that his body was not moved there from another location. The tent’s owners could not be independently verified, although law enforcement said officials have made contact with the tent owners, and they have been cooperating with the investigation.

Carmichael, who has read the autopsy report, said the knife was found in the left side of Kruglov’s neck and no defensive wounds were found on his body.

“Things happened quickly and he didn’t have time to defend himself. When you get stabbed in the manner that he was, you’re going to be out in seconds,” Carmichael said.

The cause of death on the death certificate is listed as “stab wound to the neck.” The manner of death is listed as “undetermined.”

Carmichael said the county is not working directly with the FBI on the homicide. He urged witnesses to come forward with any information that could lead to a break in the case, as there are still major questions lingering around Kruglov’s last hours at Burning Man. 

What attracted Kruglov to the intersection at 8:30 and I, both on Friday night and the night of the homicide, remains unclear, along with the identities of the individuals who interacted with him there. 

Another mystery revolves around Kruglov’s mental state on both Wednesday night and Saturday morning. Was it simply drug-induced paranoia, or was his fear that someone was out to get him based in reality?

This story is based on interviews with over 80 people with connections to Kruglov or Burning Man. Earlier this month, we met with Sgt. Carmichael in Nevada and turned over new information regarding the case. “My confidence level, with what you provided today, I think it went up,” Carmichael said. 

We are withholding this new information from this story due to its significance to the open investigation, but we shared it with the Kruglov’s sister Olga Kruglov on a video call.

“I want to thank you for everything you are doing for our family and for Vadim’s case,” Olga Kruglov said in an Instagram message following our call. “I understand how much time, effort, and work you are putting into this. It is very important to us that you continue to work on this case and help us get answers. We are truly grateful to both of you.”

Igor Kruglov still has hope his son’s killing will be solved. “I understand very well that this is a very difficult case. The city is gone and there are no prints. There are no witnesses. It’s really difficult to get any information about this,” he said.

“From the bottom of my heart, I just hope that at some point the truth will come to the surface and the perpetrator will be found.”

Law enforcement has asked the public for any tips and information that could lead to the identification of Kruglov’s killer.

Tips directed to the family and the authors of this article can be sent to [email protected]. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 775-273-2641. Secret Witness can be reached at 775-322-4900. Reference Pershing County Sheriff’s Office case No. 25-318.  

Reporting for this article was conducted in the development of a six-episode podcast series about the Kruglov homicide that is slated to air in 2027.