Foul play not suspected in two Burning Man deaths, authorities say

Casey Harrison, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sep 7, 2026

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Foul play is not suspected in the deaths of two men who died at this year’s Burning Man festival, authorities said Monday.

Sampson Tshombe was pronounced dead by a doctor on festival grounds Thursday, and another man, Craig Mann, was found dead inside a trailer on Saturday, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in a news release. Festival officials previously reported the death of Craig Mann, 60, on Saturday.

Although foul play is not suspected in either death, Allen said both men were transported to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s office to undergo autopsies and toxicology screenings.

Allen said in an email accompanying the release that he received information about a third person who died “in transit to a hospital in Reno,” but did not identify the person. He deferred to the Washoe County Sheriff’s office and the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s office for further details.

“This is the information I can share at this time,” Allen said in the email. Neither the Washoe County Sheriff’s office or medical examiner’s office could immediately be reached for comment.

Allen said sheriff’s deputies Thursday evening responded to the Rampart temporary hospital, located on festival grounds, where they found Tshombe dead.

A preliminary investigation revealed Tshombe was found on a street inside the festival, and that emergency personnel performed CPR on Tshombe for several minutes until he was pronounced dead by a doctor, the release said.

The Burning Man Project described him as a man in his mid-50s in its initial report.

On Saturday, Mann was found dead inside a trailer he was sharing with significant other, Allen said. The trailer was located in Black Rock City, a temporary city that pops up for the duration of the annual festival.

No additional information about the victims will be released by the sheriff’s office until autopsy and toxicology findings are finalized, Allen said, which could take between six and eight weeks.