A year after Vadim Kruglov was found stabbed to death inside a tent at the Burning Man festival, his killer remains at large, and investigators are still working to piece together the events leading up to his death. Kruglov, a 37-year-old Russian-born man residing in Washington state, was discovered unresponsive in a pool of blood on Aug. 30, 2025, during the annual art and music festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.
This year's event is currently underway, and no arrests have been made in connection with the homicide. A year-long investigation by SFGATE, which included interviews with over 80 individuals connected to Kruglov or the festival, has revealed new details about the killing. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office stated that they believe Kruglov was killed inside the tent where his body was found. A knife was recovered from his neck, and an autopsy revealed no defensive wounds, suggesting he had little opportunity to resist.
"When you get stabbed in the manner that he was, you’re going to be out in seconds," Pershing County Sheriff’s Sgt. Nathan Carmichael told SFGATE. The recovered weapon yielded several DNA profiles, according to former Pershing County Detective Josh Nicholson. Kruglov's cellphone was also recovered, but it had not been unlocked at the time of Nicholson’s interview.
Unanswered Questions About Final Hours
A significant focus of the investigation is on the roughly four hours before Kruglov was discovered. Black Rock Rangers, festival volunteers who assist attendees, reportedly took Kruglov to a temporary hospital on the festival grounds on Aug. 30, where he received medical care. He was released around 5 p.m., but investigators have not publicly detailed his movements between then and 9:14 p.m., when he was found with the fatal wound.
Earlier on the day of his death, around 2 a.m., Kruglov was reportedly seen DJing with two unidentified men at a camp on the outskirts of the festival, not far from where his body was later found. Authorities have not identified these individuals despite receiving numerous tips.
Friends and campmates reported that Kruglov exhibited increasingly paranoid behavior in the days leading up to his death, which they attributed to his use of cocaine and possible methamphetamine. He expressed concerns that people were watching him and wanted him removed from the camp. One campmate, Alex Barnov, believed Kruglov's paranoia was drug-induced and stated that Kruglov appeared fine the following day. Another campmate mentioned that Kruglov was focused on using an Apple AirTag to allow others to track his location, though the remote desert environment made the device difficult to operate.
Kruglov's death marked the first homicide in Burning Man's history. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office was initially alerted by a witness who found Kruglov on the ground. Authorities established a perimeter around the scene while the festival continued. An anonymous witness later told The Hollywood Reporter that an older woman in a red dress flagged down her and her partner, calmly stating a man inside her tent was "bleeding out and might be dead," and that she had not checked his pulse for fear of touching him. The witness and her partner used Starlink to contact a Black Rock Ranger, who relayed the information to law enforcement.
Kruglov, originally from Omsk, Siberia, was identified through fingerprints by the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office. His father, Igor Kruglov, released a video from Russia appealing for justice, expressing pride in his son and a belief that he was a victim of injustice.
The sheriff's office has appealed for public assistance in identifying a suspect in what it described as a "heinous crime." The New York Post reached out to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office and the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office for updates but did not immediately receive a response.