One year after a man was found fatally stabbed inside a tent at Burning Man, the annual weeklong art and music gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, authorities are still searching for his killer and say key questions remain about the final hours of his life.
Vadim Kruglov, 37, a Russian-born man who had been living in Washington state, was found lying in a pool of blood at about 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2025, as the festival’s iconic “Man” burned. With this year’s Burning Man already underway after beginning Sunday and set to end on Labor Day, investigators have not announced any arrests.
Fresh details about Kruglov’s death and the days leading up to it have surfaced through KTLA and a yearlong SFGATE investigation, which included interviews with more than 80 people connected either to Kruglov or to the vast desert event, which draws as many as 80,000 attendees known as “burners.”
Pershing County Sheriff’s Sgt. Nathan Carmichael told SFGATE that investigators believe Kruglov was killed inside the red-and-white tent where his body was later discovered.
Vadim Kruglov, a 37-year-old Russian national who had been living in Washington state, was identified as the victim found “lying in a pool of blood” at Burning Man 2025, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada. He was discovered stabbed to death on the evening of Aug. 30, 2025. One year later, no arrests have been made. (Siobhan McAndrew/Reno Gazette Journal via USA Today /@sofi.co__ via Instagram)
According to the outlet, a knife was still lodged in Kruglov’s neck, and an autopsy found no defensive wounds, indicating he may have had little or no opportunity to resist the attack.
“When you get stabbed in the manner that he was, you’re going to be out in seconds,” Carmichael told SFGATE.
The knife was recovered from the scene and produced multiple DNA profiles, former Pershing County Detective Josh Nicholson told SFGATE.
Kruglov’s cellphone was also recovered, but had not been unlocked at the time of Nicholson’s interview, the outlet reported.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office released a stock image of a kitchen knife they believe is similar to the weapon found near the victim of the Burning Man festival murder. (Pershing County Sheriff’s Office)
One of the largest unanswered questions centers on the roughly four hours before Kruglov was found.
Black Rock Rangers — fellow burners who assist others in need — reportedly took him to Rampart, a temporary hospital on the festival grounds, where he spent much of Aug. 30, and received medical care, Nicholson told SFGATE.
He was released at about 5 p.m., but investigators have not publicly accounted for his movements between then and 9:14 p.m., when he was discovered with the fatal neck wound.
Earlier that morning, at about 2 a.m., Kruglov had reportedly been seen DJing with two men at a camp on the outskirts of the festival, not far from where his body would later be found.
A person records during the annual Burning Man Festival on Sept. 4, 2023. (JULIE JAMMOT/AFP via Getty Images)
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Authorities have not identified those men, despite receiving hundreds of tips, according to KTLA.
Friends and campmates also described troubling behavior in the days before Kruglov’s death. They told SFGATE that he became increasingly paranoid after using cocaine and what may have been methamphetamine, at one point saying people were watching him and wanted him out of the camp.
One campmate, Alex Barnov, told the outlet he believed Kruglov’s paranoia was drug-induced and said Kruglov appeared fine after waking the next day.
Another campmate said Kruglov was focused on getting an Apple AirTag to work on Aug. 29, so others could track him, though the remote location made the device difficult to use, according to SFGATE.
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The sun rises behind a wood and neon statue, the centerpiece of the annual Burning Man festival north of Gerlach, Nev., Aug. 26, 2002. (AP Photo/Debra Reid, File)
Kruglov’s death unfolded as tens of thousands of festivalgoers gathered for the burning of “The Man,” the signature spectacle at the annual nine-day gathering dedicated to art, community and self-expression.
His death marked the first known homicide in Burning Man’s history, Carmichael told SFGATE.
A man initially alerted a deputy after finding Kruglov on the ground, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities secured the area and established a perimeter while the celebration continued around them.
An anonymous witness later told The Hollywood Reporter that she and her partner were leaving Black Rock City when an older woman in a red dress flagged them down and calmly said a man inside her tent was “bleeding out and might be dead.” The woman reportedly said she had not checked his pulse because she “didn’t want to touch him.”
Burning Man’s Orgy Dome launched a GoFundMe to raise money to cover the expenses associated with erecting the dome. (Julie Jammot/AFP)
The group contacted a Black Rock Ranger using Starlink, and the information was relayed to law enforcement, the witness said.
Kruglov, who was originally from Omsk, Siberia, was identified through fingerprints by the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office days after the killing.
His father, Igor Kruglov, later released an emotional video from Russia calling for justice.
“Words can’t express my feelings,” he said. “I’m proud of my son, now known worldwide. He felt injustice deeply and fought for fairness always. I believe a similar situation occurred here. I want those responsible to face consequences.”
In the days after the killing, the sheriff’s office appealed for any information that could identify a suspect in what it called a “heinous crime.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
News Outlet reached out to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office for an update on the investigation and Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office but did not immediately receive a response.
