One year after a man was found fatally stabbed inside a tent at Burning Man, the weeklong art and music gathering held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, authorities still have not identified his killer — and key questions remain about what happened in the hours before he died.
Vadim Kruglov, a 37-year-old Russian-born man who had been living in Washington state, was found lying in a pool of blood at the festival around 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2025, just as the event’s famous “Man” effigy was burning.
Now, with this year’s Burning Man already underway after opening Sunday and set to wrap up on Labor Day, the case remains unsolved and no arrests have been announced.
Fresh details about Kruglov’s death and his final days have surfaced through KTLA and a yearlong SFGATE investigation, which included interviews with more than 80 people tied either to Kruglov or to the vast desert festival, which can draw as many as 80,000 attendees known as “burners.”
Investigators believe Kruglov was attacked inside the red-and-white tent where his body was later found, Pershing County Sheriff’s Sgt. Nathan Carmichael told SFGATE.
According to the outlet, a knife was still lodged in Kruglov’s neck when he was discovered, and an autopsy found no defensive wounds — a detail investigators say suggests he had little, if any, opportunity to fight off his attacker.
“When you get stabbed in the manner that he was, you’re going to be out in seconds,” Carmichael told SFGATE.
The weapon was recovered from the scene and later produced several DNA profiles, then-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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Fox News Digital 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.
