Epstein prison guard 'made eerie search' just minutes before he was found dead

One of the prison guards accused of falsifying records on the night of Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in 2019 was said to have searched him up online minutes before finding his body, according to new Department Of Justice (DOJ) documents.

The convicted paedophile was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when officers discovered him hanging off the side of his cell's bed at 6:30am on 10 August 2019.

Tova Noel, one of the two Metropolitan Correctional Center guards whose charges were dropped, made a $5,000 cash deposit 10 days before Epstein was found hung in his cell.

Withheld Epstein files 'incorrectly coded as duplicative' now show that Noel, 37, searched 'latest on Epstein in jail' at 5:42am and then again at 5:52am.

Thomas found the disgraced financier dead in his cell 40 minutes later.

Charges against prison guard Tova Noel were dropped (DOJ)

“I don’t remember doing that,” she said at the time, according to a transcript.

Noel denied searching up the queries during her shift and said the FBI records of her internet history were 'not accurate'.

DOJ documents also suggest that Noel made a cash deposit of $5,000 into her bank account on 30 July.

It comes after CCTV footage showed that Noel and her colleague Michael Thomas, who were relieved of their duties after Epstein’s death, did not check on his cell for eight hours.

Noel's case was mentioned in the latest drop of the Epstein files (DOJ)

Criminal charges against both Noel and Thomas were dropped.

Records show Noel, who has been sued for alleged assault at her new job, wasn’t asked about deposit during her DOJ interview.

Meanwhile, the FBI thought Noel was likely the mysterious orange shape spotted in a blurry surveillance video near Epstein’s cell around 10:40 pm that night.

“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 agency wrote.

Epstein was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019 (DOJ)

Noel, however, said in a sworn statement that the last time she saw Epstein alive was 'somewhere around after 10' and that she didn’t know why he had extra linen in his cell, used to hang himself.

The noose made out of an orange bedsheet was later determined not to be one used in Epstein’s death.

CCTV footage from the night Epstein died also had a 'missing minute' from 11:58pm and 58 seconds, to 12:00am.

LADbible Group has contacted Tova Noel's legal representative for comment.