Newly released US Department of Justice records show investigators reviewing surveillance footage from the night Jeffrey Epstein died noticed an unidentified “orange-colored figure” moving toward the housing tier where his cell was located, renewing questions about official accounts of his final hours.
The documents say video from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York captured the orange-colored shape ascending a stairway toward Epstein’s locked, isolated tier at about 10:39 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2019. The same figure appears to descend the stairs roughly two minutes later, at about 10:41 p.m. Epstein was found dead in his cell early the following morning.
Video observation logs suggested the person might have been an inmate being escorted to the tier, but investigators reached different conclusions. The FBI described the figure as “possibly an inmate,” while the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General later characterized it as an unidentified corrections officer who may have been carrying orange bedding or linen.
The Inspector General’s final report acknowledged the individual’s presence on the stairway but did not definitively establish identity or purpose, noting the person briefly entered and exited the camera’s view within a two-minute window.
CBS News reported that official narratives about Epstein’s final night did not mention this orange figure, drawing renewed scrutiny because authorities have repeatedly stated no one entered Epstein’s housing tier during that period.
Epstein, a wealthy financier facing federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls, died while awaiting trial. His death was officially ruled a suicide but has been clouded by controversy over surveillance camera malfunctions, guard negligence and inconsistencies in records.
The disclosure of these DOJ records comes amid continuing public and political pressure for transparency in the Epstein case, which continues to fuel debate, speculation and demands for accountability more than five years after his death.
