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A French model recruiter, Daniel Siad, who had a long-standing connection with Jeffrey Epstein, was found deceased at his residence in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. His body was discovered on Monday, and the deputy public prosecutor at the Nanterre Judicial Court, Marie-Céline Lawrysz, confirmed the news to a media outlet on Wednesday. An autopsy is currently underway to ascertain the cause of death, and an investigation has been initiated to explore the circumstances surrounding it.

Despite Epstein's 2008 conviction for sex crimes, Siad continued to engage with him, inviting Epstein to various fashion events and maintaining his association with his businesses. Siad had previously stated that Epstein assured him he had atoned for his past actions and promised that nothing similar would occur with any women Siad introduced to him. Siad expressed his trust in Epstein, believing him to be a legitimate professional, and claimed he never received complaints from any women he connected with Epstein.

Documents released by the US Department of Justice reveal that Epstein compensated Siad with substantial sums over the years. In one instance, Siad described a woman in Marrakesh to Epstein, indicating she would be eager to meet him. Additionally, Siad mentioned Epstein's request for assistance in finding an assistant, and in a 2018 email, he noted he was on the lookout for an attractive young assistant for Epstein.

Siad even sent Epstein a photo of a woman he deemed polite and promising for modeling or assistant roles, to which Epstein bluntly replied that she was too old. In a 2014 email, Siad likened his work to fishing, describing times when he would quickly find women and other times when he struggled. He remained one of Epstein's most frequent correspondents, maintaining contact until just months before Epstein's death, and received payments that seemed to cover travel expenses related to his search for women.

Reports indicate that Siad's name appears over 2,000 times in the Department of Justice's files concerning Epstein. He also worked on commission for Jean-Luc Brunel, a prominent modeling agent who passed away by suicide in prison in February 2022 while awaiting trial on charges of raping minors, which he denied.

At the age of 69, Siad was under investigation by French authorities specializing in human trafficking, facing serious allegations including rape. One of the accusations came from former Swedish model Ebba Karlsson, who claimed Siad scouted her in Stockholm in 1990 when she was just 20 and later raped her in France. Karlsson stated that Siad used a different name at that time and only recognized him after seeing his photo in the Epstein-related coverage. Earlier this year, she filed criminal charges of rape and human trafficking against Siad in Paris. His lawyer, Ménya Arab-Tigrine, stated that Siad denied the allegations.