Newly released Department of Justice records are shedding additional light on the final hours before financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead inside a federal jail cell in 2019, including internet searches conducted by one of the prison guards assigned to monitor him, as reported[1] by The New York Post.
According to documents obtained from the Department of Justice, correctional officer Tova Noel conducted internet searches about Epstein less than an hour before he was discovered dead inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on Aug. 10, 2019.
Epstein, the disgraced financier facing federal sex trafficking charges at the time, was found hanging in his cell at approximately 6:30 a.m. that morning by fellow correctional officer Michael Thomas.
Conceptual editorial image showing U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein on the screen. For editorial use only. New York U.S 24.07.2025
FBI forensic records of Noel’s computer activity show that she searched “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m., and again at 5:52 a.m., roughly 40 minutes before Thomas discovered Epstein’s body.
The searches were identified in a 66-page FBI forensic examination of Bureau of Prisons desktop computers used by Noel and Thomas during their shift. The search for Epstein was the only query highlighted in the report.
Noel and Thomas were later accused of falsifying prison records to indicate they had performed required inmate checks during the overnight shift before Epstein’s death.
Both guards were fired from their positions. However, criminal charges filed against the two officers were eventually dropped.
Prosecutors previously said that during the overnight shift, Noel had been browsing furniture online and sleeping rather than performing mandatory checks on inmates every 30 minutes.
At the same time, Thomas had reportedly been looking at motorcycles online.
During a sworn interview with the Department of Justice in 2021, Noel denied conducting the internet searches related to Epstein.
“I don’t remember doing that,” she said, according to a transcript of the interview. She also told investigators that the FBI’s records were not correct, stating, “I don’t recall looking him up.”
Noel also claimed during her statement that failure to perform regular rounds was common practice at the facility.
“I’ve never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes,” Noel told investigators.
Separate documents released by the Department of Justice show that financial activity involving Noel’s bank account had been flagged by Chase Bank and reported to the FBI in a suspicious activity report filed in November 2019.
Bank records show a series of 12 cash deposits beginning in April 2018. The largest of those deposits was for $5,000 and was made on July 30, 2019 — just 10 days before Epstein’s death.
The financial documents included in the files contain Noel’s banking records beginning in December 2018. Those records show seven cash deposits totaling $11,880.
Noel had begun working in the Special Housing Unit, where Epstein was being held, on July 7, 2019, just weeks before his death.
According to the New York Post, a prison guard for Jeffrey Epstein made a Google search about him minutes before he was found dead at 6:30am
She googled ‘latest on Epstein in jail’ at 5:42 a.m. and then again at 5:52 a.m.pic.twitter.com/0bgrTOt6gz[3]
The DOJ documents also note that Noel was driving a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover valued at approximately $62,000. Records show that investigators did not question Noel about the deposits during her DOJ interview.
Additional internal FBI briefing documents included in the files also address a previously debated moment captured on surveillance footage from the night before Epstein’s death.
The video reportedly shows a blurry orange-colored figure near the entrance to the Special Housing Unit tier where Epstein was being held.
In the newly released briefing, investigators indicated they believed Noel was likely the individual seen in the footage.
“At approximately 10:40 pm, a correctional officer, believed to be Tova Noel, carried linen or inmate clothing up to the L-Tier, last time any correctional officer approached the only entrance to the SHU tier,” the FBI briefing stated.
Epstein was later found to have used strips of orange cloth in the hanging.
During her sworn statement, Noel told investigators she last saw Epstein alive sometime after 10 p.m. She also denied distributing linen to inmates.
“I never gave out linen — ever,” Noel said, explaining that clothing and linen were normally distributed during earlier shifts.
The unclear image captured on surveillance footage has been the subject of speculation since the FBI first released the video last summer.
A 2023 inspector general report previously referred to the figure as “unidentified correctional officers,” making the recently released FBI briefing the first time a specific name has been associated with the person seen in the footage.
Noel also testified that she did not know why Epstein had additional linen inside his cell.
She told investigators that the other correctional officer on duty had been sleeping between 10 p.m. and midnight.
Prison staff have previously stated that a correctional officer entering the area near Epstein’s cell alone would violate prison policy.
Noel has since faced a civil lawsuit filed in Westchester County Supreme Court related to an alleged assault at her current job as a medical office assistant at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care.
When asked during her sworn statement whether she had any involvement in Epstein’s death, Noel replied “no.”
Lawyers representing Noel declined to comment.
Epstein’s death remains one of the most closely scrutinized cases involving the federal prison system, with multiple government reports examining security failures, staff conduct, and procedures inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
