Modelling scout who ‘trafficked women to Epstein’ found dead in Paris

Thursday, 23 July 2026

Modelling scout Daniel Siad, 68, has been found dead in a Paris suburb while under investigation for alleged human trafficking linked to Jeffrey Epstein.

Siad's name appeared 2,000 times in the Epstein files, with records showing he regularly sent Epstein photos, measurements, and contact details for young women he scouted.

Accused of rape and human trafficking by five women, Siad denied all allegations prior to his death; a post-mortem is being conducted to confirm the cause of death.

A modelling scout suspected of trafficking young women to Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in France.

Daniel Siad, 68, whose name appeared 2,000 times in the Epstein files, reportedly died of cardiac arrest at his home in Colombes, a suburb north-west of Paris, on Monday.

His body was found in the kitchen by a 28-year-old woman who was staying with him temporarily.

“I was in my room, I was on the phone with my family, I hadn’t heard any noise. At one point, I went out to go into the kitchen and he was lying down,” the unnamed woman told Le Parisien.

She added that he had not shown any signs of illness and that he had boasted of his healthy lifestyle before his death.

Siad, who was under investigation in Paris for alleged human trafficking, was in regular contact with Epstein from 2009 to 2019, including up to two days before Epstein’s 2019 arrest, files released by the US justice department revealed.

He was little known outside the modelling world until the release of the files on Epstein, who died in his prison cell while awaiting trial.

Email exchanges included photos of the women Siad scouted on the streets, along with their measurements, and meeting arrangements between Epstein and the girls.

He likened his efforts to recruit women to fishing. “In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish,” he wrote to Epstein in 2014.

Valdson Vieira Cotrin, who worked as Epstein’s butler in Paris, told The Telegraph in an interview last year that Siad was “as important as Ghislaine Maxwell” in recruiting women for Epstein.

Siad was also in contact with Jean-Luc Brunel, who founded a modelling agency with financing from Epstein, and was also accused of raping minors, grooming girls for Epstein and sex trafficking. Brunel took his own life while in prison in 2022.

Along with ties to Epstein, Siad faced accusations from five women of rape and human trafficking in France.

Ebba Karlsson, a former Swedish model, was the first woman to file a complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office, alleging that Siad raped her in Cannes in 1990 when she was 20.

He had scouted her from the streets of Stockholm and lured her to Cannes with the promise of a successful modelling career, where he raped her in a pool cabin, she claimed.

“It was horrible, it was dirty, damp, dark, there was only one mattress with dirty sheets,” Ms Karlsson told French news channel BFMTV earlier this year. “He wanted to get closer and I said, ‘I have a boyfriend in Sweden, keep your distance’. But he continued again and again. And he raped me. He raped me in that pool cabin.”

Ms Karlsson added that for 36 years, she did not know the identity of her attacker as the man presented himself under the false name Daniel Goldberg. It was only after a journalist showed her a photo of Siad that she was able to identify him.

Siad denied the allegations and claimed he did not know Ms Karlsson.

“I have never raped anyone in my life. I have never dated a model in my life. I am the father of a family,” he told BFMTV.

He also insisted Epstein had “taken advantage of his trust”.

Siad was born in Algeria. According to Le Parisien, he obtained naturalisation in Sweden and France.

He had been living in the Paris suburbs where he was found dead for five years, the woman who found his body told Le Parisien. The owner of the house confirmed that Siad was a tenant and a friend of the family.

“My father helped him when he was in trouble and when he died, I continued,” the unnamed owner told Le Parisien.

Siad was not working, and lived in financial precarity, they added.

“I’m in shock,” Ms Karlsson told the AFP after learning about Siad’s death.

“Daniel Siad was very close to being arrested. We worked so hard to get justice, and now… It’s extremely frustrating.

“We were all afraid he would be killed to prevent him from talking about other criminals… I hope that a thorough investigation will be carried out into the circumstances of his death.”

The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office confirmed a post mortem examination would be carried out as part of the investigation to determine the cause of death.

Last week, six women, including Carré Otis, a former American supermodel, filed a complaint against Gérald Marie, another former modelling agency boss, who headed the European offices of Elite in Paris.

The women, who are now aged 45 to 60 and are mostly American, filed a complaint in Paris for rape and human trafficking.

Mr Marie’s lawyers said he categorically denied any wrongdoing.