Another Suspicious Epstein Death on Monday

While he was under investigation...

Daniel Siad Is Dead

Daniel Siad, The primary model scout for Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at his home in Colombes, a suburb outside of Paris, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed this morning (Wednesday). He was sixty-nine years old.

He died of cardiac arrest, and the authorities are currently investigating his cause of death, announcing that they will conduct an autopsy. His body was discovered by his 28-year-old, female roommate, who had been in the house for a week and called the neighbors. Rescuers arrived and attempted to resuscitate Siad, but were unable to do so.

What’s incredible about this particular death is not only the identity of the man, but… the timing.

The Timing

Last week, a group of six victims filed a case against Gérald Marie — a longtime modeling industry executive and notorious predator — for rape and sex trafficking.

That filing received very little mainstream media attention, but a dedicated group of activists and journalists – Carré Otis, the model who initiated the case against Marie, the non-profit Innocence en Danger, who fights for child victims of trafficking and rape, and ourselves – had spent the last week explaining how this new filing represented a very real opportunity for taking down Epstein’s broader network. You can read our article about that critical moment here.

And that argument had direct ties to Daniel Siad…who is now dead. He was under investigation by the French authorities on allegations that he had materially supported Epstein in his trafficking of women and girls. The police had yet to question Siad before his death. Now, it is impossible.

The Daniel Siad Link

Daniel Siad was a “model scout” for both Jeffrey Epstein AND Gérald Marie. Siad traveled all over the globe to find teenage girls that he then recruited and delivered to both predators.

In the Epstein Files, as presently redacted and released by the Trump Department of Justice, there are thousands of emails between Daniel Siad and Jeffrey Epstein. The word “Siad” appears more than 2,000 times. And that is just the files that have been released.

One victim of Epstein named “Anya” told the BBC that Siad had introduced her to Epstein. “It was a complete set-up,” she said. “[Siad] was essentially a professional trafficker.” Siad sent photos and detailed descriptions of young women to Epstein, who one time advised Siad that the girl was “too old.” Luring them in under the guide of casting to find models, Siad facilitated the connection and introduction to Epstein. In other words, Siad was paid handsomely by Epstein to travel the world, hunting for prey.

We know that Siad also recruited for Gérald Marie, in part, because former model, Ebba Karlsson, filed a complaint in France alleging that Siad raped her in the south of France before bringing her to meet Marie, who then assaulted her in his Parisian office.

And this overlap between Epstein and Marie is critical.

It was – as we explained last week – what would allow a French “investigative judge” (a powerful and unique role that doesn’t exist in the American justice system) to take the complaints filed against Gérald Marie last week and then investigate not just Marie, but the entire network that enabled him, which included the network that enabled Epstein, as well.

In this way: Siad was the best known living link between Gérald Marie and Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex trafficking networks.

And now he is dead.

What Does This Mean for the Victims?

Exactly what this means for the future of the investigations, we don’t yet know.

Nothing has changed about the allegations – or guilt, as far as we are concerned – of Gérald Marie, himself, a man who has been accused of assault by dozens of women since 1988, when 60 Minutes put out an entire investigative report into Marie’s notorious predation.

But is there still some path to investigate Epstein’s broader network by way of Gérald Marie? It certainly just got more difficult with the death of Siad.

The Suspicious Circumstances of Siad’s Death

Was Siad murdered? This is, of course, the elephant in the room. Epstein died by alleged suicide in a Manhattan jail cell awaiting trial. Jean-Luc Brunel – a notorious predator and one of Epstein’s primary trafficking partners, who ran MC2, the modeling agency Epstein financed – also died by alleged suicide in a Paris prison cell awaiting trial two and a half years after Epstein.

And now Siad has died at home as well, just days after a filing that was built to open up this entire network to an investigating judge.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the causes of his death.

So it is impossible to ignore the idea that perhaps somebody wanted this broader investigation into Epstein’s network stopped, and by getting rid of Siad they eliminated the best link to that network that existed.

It is, however, also possible, of course, that Daniel Siad died of natural causes such as a heart attack from the stress induced from the new complaints filed last week, and from a separate investigation he’s been under in France – a case that had been handed over to the French police unit that specializes in human trafficking.

We will continue to get as much information as we can and keep folks updated as we learn more.

---

PSA: We are in touch with Innocence en Danger — the non-profit organization that initially got the investigation into Epstein’s French network launched — and their founder, Homayra Sellier, and lawyer, who represents many of the survivors mentioned here.

If you are a survivor of Gérald Marie, Ghislaine Maxwell, or other French abusers from the modeling world, your case could bring this network to justice. We are happy to discreetly connect you with the right people in France.