A 69-year-old modelling scout with deep documented connections to the deceased convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his residence in the Paris region, French law enforcement officials have confirmed. Daniel Siad was discovered at his home in Colombes, a quiet northwest suburb of the French capital, on Monday, according to a formal statement from the Nanterre prosecutor’s office shared with the BBC.
Following the recovery of Siad’s body, local authorities have launched a full investigation to pinpoint the exact cause of his death, with a scheduled autopsy planned to gather critical forensic evidence, the prosecutor’s office added.
Siad’s connections to Epstein have been a focal point of ongoing scrutiny in the wake of Epstein’s crimes, with thousands of mentions of Siad’s name appearing in the trove of Epstein-related court documents unsealed and released to the public by the U.S. government. Siad had long maintained that he had no awareness of the dangerous criminal activity Epstein was engaged in, a stance he held through the years of growing public attention to his ties with the convicted offender.
One of Epstein’s accusers, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity under the pseudonym Anya, previously alleged that Siad was the person who first introduced her to Epstein, placing him directly at the center of the network that enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme.
Ahead of a BBC investigative report published on July 18, Siad’s legal representative confirmed that Siad would not be making any public statements or responding to media queries. That marked a continuation of his long-held position denying any knowledge of Epstein’s harmful, illegal conduct before Epstein’s arrest and death in 2019.