Daniel Siad, the French model scout whose name flooded the Epstein files and who spent years funneling young women toward the disgraced financier, was found dead at his home in the Paris suburb of Colombes on Monday.
An autopsy has been ordered. His lawyer suggested his body simply gave out under the pressure. French prosecutors confirmed the discovery but said the broader investigation into trafficking networks linked to Epstein will continue without him.
Siad, 69, appeared more than 2,000 times in the Department of Justice files released earlier this year. For over a decade he arranged introductions between Epstein and models, sending photos, descriptions, and travel updates.
Model recruiter Daniel Siad, who introduced young women to Jeffrey Epstein, found dead at his home in France. https://t.co/C7WDLbVLOq
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 22, 2026
In one exchange Siad floated a “cute French girl in Marrakesh.” In another he hunted for a “good looking young assistant.” Epstein replied to one candidate with a curt “Too old.”
Files show Epstein paid Siad tens of thousands of dollars. Siad later claimed he believed Epstein was a legitimate casting director for Victoria’s Secret and the MC2 agency and insisted none of the women he referred ever complained to him.
French authorities opened an investigation in February into organized human trafficking and criminal conspiracy after the files dropped. Twenty-four women came forward or were identified. At least sixteen have been interviewed.
Prosecutors said special investigative techniques, including phone intercepts, produced no evidence justifying Siad’s immediate arrest. Criminal proceedings against him terminated with his death, but the probe into the wider network continues.
Siad’s lawyer, Ménya Arab-Tigrine, stated that her client “had been willing to subject himself to the grueling media spotlight…to see the truth come to light” and that “We must await the autopsy results to confirm whether his body simply gave out.”
She emphasized he had never been prosecuted or “formally implicated in any legal proceedings” and was innocent. One victim, Russian-born model Svetlana Pozhidaeva, who said Siad introduced her to Epstein and that she was later abused, told CNN: “If it wasn’t for him, my life would have unfolded completely differently.”
She added that his death meant she could not achieve the justice and closure she sought: “I wanted for justice to be served, for there to be some kind of investigation and achieve some closure.”
The pattern is familiar. Jean-Luc Brunel, the powerful French modeling agent who co-founded MC2 with Epstein’s money and faced charges of rape of minors and trafficking, was found hanged in his Paris prison cell in 2022.
French Epstein scout Daniel Siad found dead. Siad is the second French modelling figure tied to Epstein to die before facing trial, following Jean-Luc Brunel, who was found hanged in a Paris prison cell in 2022. #OpDeathEaters… pic.twitter.com/EQhjXLOeie
— Anonymous (@OpDeathEaters) July 23, 2026
An inquiry later ruled it a suicide, citing depression and prior self-harm attempts, with no foul play established. Siad had worked on commission for Brunel. Now another French figure tied to the same modeling pipeline is gone before a single day in court.
Jean-Luc Brunel named the scout. A May 2016 email to a federal prosecutor quotes Brunel describing Daniel Siad as a "scout" or recruiter of girls and women for Epstein. EFTA01324971 pic.twitter.com/ssNwSBDY1y
— Epstein File Search (@epsteinsearchin) July 23, 2026
George Galloway captured the widespread cynicism with characteristic brevity.
His suicide was a great surprise. Especially to him https://t.co/vxktTocksF
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) July 22, 2026
This latest death lands as former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas dropped a fresh bombshell about federal obstruction of Epstein-related probes.
Balderas detailed how, in 2019, the Southern District of New York persuaded his office to halt its investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in exchange for a promise to return New Mexico-related materials once the federal case concluded.
That promise was never kept. Evidence was handed over. Nothing came back. Current New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has waited more than 130 days for unredacted files identifying survivors, witnesses, and co-conspirators while agents recently searched the vast desert property for possible remains of foreign girls allegedly buried on Epstein’s orders. Balderas said the feds “burned” his office and are now burning the current one.
The financial tentacles of the Epstein network reach even deeper into the elite circles that still shield their own. In February, Victoria’s Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner testified under oath in a House Oversight Committee deposition that he had vetted Epstein in part by confirming the financier was running finances for the Rothschild family in France.
Wexner stated he spoke directly to Élie de Rothschild, saying, “Specifically, I spoke to Élie de Rothschild. I mentioned that earlier. So he represented their whole family.”
Epstein himself boasted in an email to Peter Thiel, “As you probably know, I represent the Rothschilds.” Documents further showed Epstein facilitating a $45 million DOJ settlement involving Ariane de Rothschild and the Edmond de Rothschild Swiss private bank, with the pair exchanging emails dozens of times a month.
Wexner insisted he was “conned” by Epstein, revoked power of attorney in 2007, and answered “Absolutely not” when asked if Epstein ever provided a woman for sexual entertainment. His attorney was caught whispering during the deposition, “I’ll f***ing kill you if you answer another question with more than five words, ok?”
The deaths and near-misses keep stacking up. In February, reports circulated that former Norwegian Prime Minister and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland had attempted suicide after Norwegian police charged him with aggravated corruption tied to Epstein contacts spanning 2011–2018.
The files showed stays at Epstein properties, travel for multiple adults, discussions of “extraordinary young girls,” and efforts to secure introductions to high-level Russian officials.
Jagland’s lawyer firmly denied any suicide attempt, stating he was hospitalized due to the intense pressure and health risk but was cooperating fully. Immunity was lifted. The investigation into whether gifts, travel, and loans were linked to his official positions continues with no final resolution yet reported.
Survivors have long warned that the body count around Epstein is no coincidence. After Virginia Giuffre’s death in Australia was ruled a suicide, Epstein survivor Juliette Rose Bryant stated: “I am not suicidal, and I never, ever will be. I also do not do any drugs. I met Epstein when he was in Africa with Bill Clinton. We all know about the Clinton body count.”
She stressed she was speaking out for the safety of other victims because media coverage remains selective and incomplete.
Lawmakers including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Sen. Mike Lee publicly rejected the suicide narrative surrounding Giuffre, with Lee declaring “Virginia Roberts Giuffre didn’t commit suicide. No chance.”
Giuffre herself had posted years earlier that she was not suicidal and that any claim otherwise should be investigated to protect her family.
Siad’s death, like Brunel’s and the contested circumstances surrounding others, removes another living witness who could have filled gaps in the public record.
Prosecutors in Paris say the network investigation will press on. Victims who came forward now face the reality that one of the men they named will never answer questions under oath.
The files continue to surface new names and new questions. Accountability remains elusive for the powerful figures who moved in the same circles, while the people who did the recruiting and the arranging keep exiting the stage under opaque circumstances.
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