The FBI initially believed a mystery orange shape spotted near Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell the night before he died was possibly an “inmate,” newly released records show.
The feds offered up the description as they reviewed surveillance video from inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in the hours before the convicted pedophile was found hanged in his cell in the early hours of Aug. 10, 2019.
The logs, which were included in the latest trove of Epstein files released by the Justice Department, specifically noted that “a flash of orange” could be seen heading up a stairwell close to Epstein’s cell at 10:39 p.m. the night before his death.
An email that was included in the US Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files might uncover new details before his suicide. AP
Epstein’s arrest photo in 2019. New York State Division of Criminal
A screengrab from the night before Epstein’s suicide. Department of Justice
The cell where Epstein committed suicide. CBS 60 Minutes“A flash of orange looks to be going up the L Tier stairs — could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that Tier,” the observation log stated.
A separate review of the footage by the Office of Inspector General also noted the orange object but those investigators said inmates were on lockdown at the time, adding that it was “possible someone is carrying inmate linen or bedding up the stairs.”
The FBI’s initial analysis wasn’t included in the final report made public by the inspector general in 2023.
Instead, the review into Epstein’s death said the orange blob seen on the surveillance video was an “unidentified CO [corrections officer].”
