Burning Man's first homicide remains unsolved one year after festivalgoer's stabbing death

One year after Vadim Kruglov was found dead in a tent at Burning Man 2025, his killer remains unidentified in the festival's first known homicide. The 37-year-old Washington resident was discovered in a pool of blood on August 30, 2025. Kruglov was stabbed in the neck with a knife left lodged in the wound, showing no defensive injuries, according to Pershing County Sheriff's Sgt. Nathan Carmichael. Investigators face a four-hour gap between his discharge from a medical facility around 5pm and his body's discovery at 9.14pm. The weapon yielded multiple DNA profiles, and two unidentified men seen with Kruglov earlier that morning have not been found despite hundreds of tips. Friends reported his paranoia before the attack, possibly drug-related, and his father in Russia has pleaded for answers.