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French authorities are investigating after the body of a modeling scout connected to the late sex offender and millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at his Paris home.
The body of 69-year-old Daniel Siad was discovered in his house in Colombes, a Paris suburb, on Monday, July 20, Nanterre Judicial Court Deputy Public Prosecutor Marie-Céline Lawrysz confirmed to USA TODAY.
The cause and manner of his death were not immediately known.
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Authorities opened an investigation Monday night to determine how Siad died, Lawrysz said in an emailed statement Wednesday, adding that an autopsy was pending in the case.
Siad is one of a slew of men named in the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice. The modeling recruiter's name appears nearly 2,000 times in the files.
Epstein, convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor, died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of child sex trafficking.
According to French media, at least five women accused Siad of rape and human trafficking, allegations he denied. Siad's attorney told Reuters that his client was "never formally the subject of judicial proceedings."
Whose names are mentioned in Epstein files?
Throughout Donald Trump's second term as U.S. president, both Democrats and Republicans have criticized his administration’s handling of files related to Epstein – with many of the distributed pages largely redacted.
The Justice Department's Jan. 30 release of additional Epstein files provided new details on Epstein's ties to many powerful men, including former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. None of individuals had been charged with crimes connected to Epstein.
A onetime associate of Epstein, Trump met the financier in the 1990s when both were celebrities in high finance. Trump said he broke ties with Epstein decades ago, but their relationship has dragged down the president, who later reversed his stance on releasing the files.
Although the case was considered closed after Epstein's death, as well as the 2021 conviction of his former girlfriend and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, it remained in the spotlight after people called for transparency and congressional awareness, prompting the DOJ to release millions of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law on Nov. 19.
Contributing: Reuters
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daniel Siad, modeling scout linked to Epstein, found dead in Paris
