Dad of Burning Man victim appeals to Trump and FBI to solve case

Ten days after a Russian man was mysteriously killed among a crowd of tens of thousands at Burning Man, Russian media is reporting that the man’s father has asked President Trump to have the FBI investigate.

Vadim Kruglov, 37, had been living in Washington state and, according to friends’ Instagram accounts, was making his first pilgrimage to the desert festival. He was killed on Aug. 30 sometime between 8 and 9:30 p.m., his body found “in a pool of blood” around the time the giant wooden effigy of a man was lighted on fire.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Black Rock Desert where the annual event takes place, is leading the homicide investigation but has made no public comments about what may have happened. The agency has issued public appeals for information about “any person who would commit such a heinous crime against another human being.”

The agency has also announced that Kruglov’s family has been formally notified of his death, and that “our sincerest condolences from the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office go out to Vadim Kruglov’s family for their tragic loss.”

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment on reports of the father’s appeal, or his criticisms of the pace of the investigation.

The Moscow Times reported Thursday that the pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published a video from Kruglov’s father Thursday.

In it, Igor Kruglov bemoaned that “ten days have passed” and yet the investigation is “being conducted by one local sheriff.”

“Evil must be punished,” the father continues, “therefore, I appeal to you, dear Mr. President, and ask you to order the FBI to immediately begin investigating the murder of my son.”

Kruglov’s friends have been pushing a similar message to their tens of thousands of Instagram followers.

One post claimed that Kruglov died “from a professional knife strike to the neck — a single fatal blow. This happened in a place where more than 80,000 people from all over the world were gathered.” The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the manner in which Kruglov was killed or say whether the friend’s post was accurate.

The Instagram post contained several photographs of Kruglov enjoying himself at the festival.

“A young and talented man, who made a big contribution to this world, has been killed,” the friend wrote. “And the person who did this is still walking free.” The post added: “We strongly believe a federal investigation is needed.”