A modeling scout with ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his Paris home. Daniel Siad, 69, was discovered on Monday in Colombes, a northwestern suburb of Paris, according to the Nanterre prosecutor's office.
An investigation into the cause of death was launched Monday evening, and a post-mortem examination is scheduled. Siad's name was mentioned thousands of times in documents released by the U.S. government related to Epstein. He had previously denied any knowledge of the harm Epstein posed.
Siad's lawyer stated that his client had never been prosecuted, despite facing several complaints in France, including allegations of rape. "He is dead and he was innocent," lawyer Ménya Arab-Tigrine said in a statement.
One accuser, identified only as Anya, told the BBC that Siad had introduced her to Epstein, describing him as a "professional trafficker." In one released email, Siad wrote to Epstein, "In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish."
In a recent interview with CNN, Siad asserted he was unaware that women were being abused by Epstein, stating, "I trusted him, I believed this guy is a professional person."
Lawyers for a former model who filed the initial complaint against Siad expressed dismay at his death. They stated that alleged victims are "denied a criminal trial" and accused the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office of "scandalous" inaction in its investigation into Epstein's French accomplices. "It is yet another way for the leads to go cold," said another former model who gave a deposition, adding that Siad's death meant any information he might have possessed about Epstein was now lost.
Another associate of Epstein, French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, died by suicide in his Paris prison cell in 2022. Brunel, 76, was under investigation for alleged rape and trafficking of minors and denied any wrongdoing. He had founded MC2 Model Management with Epstein's financial backing and was suspected of facilitating girls and young women for Epstein. Epstein himself died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.