The mystery surrounding Jeffrey Epstein just deepened - and questions are now being asked about why one of his private islands was seemingly ignored by authorities until after his death.
A newly unearthed document from the Department of Justice has thrown Great St. James back into the spotlight.
The 165-acre Caribbean island, purchased by Epstein in 2016, was reportedly designed to keep prying eyes out - but somehow managed to avoid FBI attention until after his death in August 2019.
According to an affidavit, the island wasn’t even publicly confirmed as Epstein’s until July 2019 - weeks before his death, per BBC News.
Even more shocking, a letter from a senior FBI investigator dated August 15, 2019, shows the agency was only just beginning to question whether “any of Epstein’s crimes had taken place on Great St. James.”
Epstein's secret island was purchased to hide criminal activity
The late financier snapped up Great St. James through a shell company called Great St. Jim, LLC.
It was allegedly designed to disguise the real ownership by linking the property to a wealthy Gulf businessman with royal connections.
A 2019 criminal complaint revealed the disturbing purpose behind the purchase.
Epstein reportedly wanted to ensure that participants in his criminal network “could not be observed by outsiders,” strongly suggesting the island was intended to serve as a haven for illicit activity.
Blueprints shared by the House Oversight Committee show just how elaborate his vision was.
The map includes plans for a private road, multiple homes, a heliport named “heli house,” solar arrays, generators, and even reports of a proposed underwater office and pool.
Epstein and his estate were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for environmental violations on Great St. James. These included damaging local wildlife habitats and destroying historical structures originally built by enslaved people.
Today, the island has a new owner. In 2023, private equity billionaire Stephen Deckoff bought both Little St. James and Great St. James.
His plan was to transform the former hubs of scandal into a luxury resort.
But the secrecy around how Epstein kept the estate under the radar - and the FBI’s curious delay in investigating - continues to spark speculation about just how much was hidden.
Files vanish and survivors speak out: DOJ release under fire
Meanwhile, fresh outrage is brewing over the way the U.S. Department of Justice handled its recent dump of Epstein-related files.
Thousands of documents were published just before a looming deadline set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act - but critics say crucial content has quietly disappeared.
Among the missing were allegedly pictures of Donald Trump.
At least 16 documents appear to have been removed since the files first went live, including an image showing two printed photos of the former president tucked inside a desk drawer.
One reportedly showed Trump surrounded by women in bathing suits. Another showed him with Melania, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Epstein - though that image was partially obscured.
Almost all the other missing images were nude paintings of women found inside Epstein’s home.
Still, it’s the vanishing Trump photos that have attracted the most attention. “This is a White House cover-up,” declared Oversight Committee Democrats.
Trump has not responded to the file release. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing.