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July 22 (UPI) -- A French model recruiter who was under investigation for his work with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in home near Paris Monday.
Daniel Siad's body was found in his house in Colombes, a Paris suburb, said Marie-Céline Lawrysz, deputy public prosecutor at the Nanterre Judicial Court. There will be an autopsy to determine his cause of death.
Siad, 69, was a model recruiter who worked with Epstein recruiting women on his travels around the world. A criminal investigation in Paris is reviewing Epstein's connection to the modeling industry, and Siad's work was part of that investigation, Paris' chief prosecutor told CNN.
A model also accused Siad of rape from when she was working in France in 1990. Siad denied the accusation.
Siad was known in the modeling industry and also worked as a scout on commission for Jean-Luc Brunel, a leading modeling manager who founded MC2 Model Management. Brunel was accused of grooming and sex trafficking models for Epstein, including Virginia Guiffre, who wrote a book about her time as an Epstein victim.
Brunel died by suicide in prison in 2022 while awaiting trial on charges of rape of minors and sexual harassment. Epstein also died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
Siad told The Guardian via email in February that he believed he had been finding women for legitimate model casting sessions in Paris.
"He had a big apartment where he used to organize all his meetings, including casting for models I recruited, for Victoria's Secret and MC2," he wrote in an emailed statement. "The casting time would not last more than 10 minutes. I always left the place with the models immediately."
Siad told France TV earlier this year that Epstein had abused his trust, saying that he wasn't "in a position to know that this man was dangerous."
He said his connection with the models was always professional.
"With time, one discovers that this individual committed atrocities; fortunately, I never introduced him to any minor or non-minor who was abused. I have nothing to reproach myself for," he said in comments broadcast on French television.
In the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice, Siad's emails were frequent. Epstein paid Siad tens of thousands of dollars, CNN reported.
In one email, Siad wrote to Epstein, "Cute French girl in Marrakesh ... She said that she will [be] happy to meet you."
Siad also said that Epstein had asked Siad to find him an assistant.
Siad wrote in a 2018 email that he was looking for a "good looking young assistant" for Epstein.
In another message, he sent Epstein a photo of a woman, describing her as "very polite" and someone who has potential to be a model or assistant.
"Too old," Epstein replied.
Siad told CNN in a recent interview that he believed Epstein was a professional person, even after he was convicted of sex crimes in 2008. He said Epstein had assured him that he had paid for his crimes and that "this would never happen with anybody" that Siad had recommended.
"I trusted him and believed this guy was a professional person," he told CNN. "I never heard anything from anyone I introduced to him who came back to me that they had a bad situation. I believed this guy is a professional person."
