New documents from the US Department of Justice revealed that one of Jeffrey Epstein’s prison guards reportedly googled his name minutes before the disgraced financier was found dead inside his cell.
According to The New York Post, the guard, named Tova Noel, was among the two Metropolitan Correctional Center workers accused of falsifying records. The guards allegedly claimed that they monitored Epstein throughout the night before he took his own life on August 10, 2019.
Noel and the other guard initially faced criminal charges. However, the charges were later dropped, and they were both fired from their roles. An FBI report about Noel’s search history revealed she allegedly googled “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and 5:52 a.m., respectively.
Nearly 40 minutes later, her colleague, correctional officer Michael Thomas, found Epstein hanging in his cell at around 6:30 am. DOJ records also suggest that Noel also made a mysterious $5,000 cash deposit just 10 days before the child trafficker was found dead by suicide.
On the day of Epstein’s death, Noel allegedly bought furniture online and dozed off during her work, instead of checking on the late predator every 30 minutes, prosecutors claimed. Meanwhile, Thomas reportedly examined motorcycles.
JUST IN🚨: New DOJ documents show Jeffrey Epstein’s Metropolitan Correctional Center guard Tova Noel googled “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m. on August 10, 2019 — less than 40 minutes before her colleague found him dead by hanging at 6:30 a.m.… pic.twitter.com/hIXH1OUn3o
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) March 7, 2026
Noel’s search history was highlighted by the FBI in a 66-page forensic examination of her and Thomas’ desktop computers from the Bureau of Prisons. However, when asked about her googling Epstein during her sworn statement to the DOJ in 2021, the guard denied the claim.
“I don’t remember doing that,” she stated. Noel also dubbed the FBI records inaccurate and said, “I don’t recall looking him up.” She also claimed that no one at the Manhattan federal lockup took part in doing the rounds, but allegedly falsified their records.
“I’ve never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes,” she said. Noel reported started working at the Special Housing Unit, where Epstein was held, on July 7, 2019, just weeks before his death.
On the other hand, Chase Bank reportedly issued a “suspicious activity report” to the FBI in November 2019, flagging cash deposits in Noel’s bank. As per The New York Post, records showed at least 12 deposits in her account, starting in April 2018, and recording the largest deposit of $5,000 on July 30, 2019.
Noel, whose bank records showed seven cash deposits amounting to $11,880, was not questioned about the cash during her DOJ interview. The Department of Justice also highlighted a report from an internal FBI briefing, revealing that the agency thought Noel was the mysterious orange figure spotted in the infamous surveillance video captured near Epstein’s cell on the night of his death.
Surveillance video taken from inside #JeffreyEpstein‘s #NYC prison has sparked a ton of new questions instead of answers … like, what in the world is that orange blob heading toward the notorious pedophile’s jail cell??? pic.twitter.com/Agek0r7HqG
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 31, 2025
“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.
Noel, who worked a double shift on the day of the incident, said in a sworn statement that she last saw Epstein alive “somewhere around after 10.” The guard also revealed that she “never gave out linen” to inmates since clothing is given in a prior shift. Epstein hanged himself with strips of orange cloth.
She also told investigators that she did not know how Epstein had access to extra linen. Noel alleged that the other guard on duty reportedly fell asleep between 10 p.m. and midnight, she said. When questioned directly about having any part in the financier’s death, Noel simply responded with a firm, “No.”
