French modelling scout Daniel Siad, 69, who had close ties to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead at his home outside Paris, prosecutors and his lawyer have said.
Issued on: 22/07/2026 – 16:44Modified: 22/07/2026 – 16:45
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Daniel Siad’s body was found on Monday evening at his home in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), near Paris, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office confirmed this Wednesday, corroborating a report by Le Parisien.
Under investigation in France, Siad was one of several French men accused of aiding the convicted sex offender to traffic and abuse women.
He had not yet been questioned by investigators, and had denied the allegations, saying he wanted to be heard and give his version of events.
‘An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery’, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said.
An autopsy will be carried out as part of the probe.
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Strong links to Epstein
French investigators had been investigating Siad over allegations including rape and human trafficking, as Siad was an alleged procurer of women for the American child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Siad’s name appeared in more than 1,000 documents released as part of the declassified Epstein files. He likened his efforts to recruit women to fishing.
Siad’s lawyer Menya Arab-Tigrine said however that her client had requested to give his side of the story before he died. ‘He is dead and he was innocent’, she told AFP.
‘If he died of a heart attack, the unbearable waiting, the pressure and the anxiety he suffered every day will have had something to do with it’, she added.
Siad had insisted that the American had ‘taken advantage of his trust’.
For victims, Siad represented a possible avenue to finally ‘shed light on what happened’ in relation to Epstein in France, said Juliette G., a former French model who says Siad recruited her in 2004 to introduce her to Epstein.
‘Another link in the chain has disappeared that could have helped uncover the truth and identify those responsible’, said the woman, who has asked to withhold her surname to protect her privacy.
Former Swedish model Ebba Karlsson, now in her fifties, filed the first complaint against Siad in February, accusing him of raping her when she was 20.
‘It’s very frustrating’, Karlsson told AFP. ‘He was very close to being arrested. We worked so hard for this, trying to get justice.’
‘Urgently investigate’
Karlsson has also accused Siad of introducing her to Gérald Marie, the former European head of the Elite modelling agency, whom she has also accused of rape.
Several women have accused Marie of rape and human trafficking and urged France to investigate him for possible links to Epstein. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
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Ex-BBC journalist Lisa Brinkworth, who co-founded a collective to support victims of model industry abuse, said she was shocked by the news of Siad’s death.
‘It feels like victims are being denied justice’, added Brinkworth, who has accused Marie of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s.
‘The failure of the Paris public prosecutor’s office to act in the knowledge that Siad was a close associate of Epstein and facing multiple rape and trafficking allegations is beyond comprehension’, she said.
‘I urge the public prosecutor to now urgently investigate all individuals connected to Epstein and who are facing similar allegations.’
(With newswires)
