July 22, 2026 – Sara Ziff, Founder and Executive Director of Model Alliance, released the following statement:
“We are aware of the recent death of Daniel Siad, a model scout who routinely trafficked young women to Jeffrey Epstein. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this news – especially the survivors who have come forward, often at great personal cost, to share their experiences of his trafficking and abuse. Siad’s death is a stark reminder that time is running out to uncover the full truth about Jeffrey Epstein's network of enablers and co-conspirators. Survivors have waited years for accountability while witnesses die suddenly, evidence disappears, and opportunities to establish the facts are lost.
“The Model Alliance calls on authorities in France, the United States, and other relevant jurisdictions to promptly pursue thorough, independent investigations into those who facilitated, enabled, or profited from Epstein's abuse. We also urge French officials to expeditiously appoint an investigating judge in the long-pending case against Gérald Marie so that survivors are not forced to endure further delays in their pursuit of justice.
“Justice delayed is too often justice denied. The modeling industry has yet to reckon with the role that recruiters, modeling agencies, and other intermediaries played in facilitating Epstein's access to young women under the guise of professional opportunity. These are not isolated incidents. They point to systemic failures that enabled exploitation to flourish unchecked and demand a full accounting of how this abuse was allowed to continue.
“These investigations must not end with the death of any one individual. Survivors deserve answers, accountability, and meaningful institutional reform. Every day that passes increases the risk that more evidence, testimony, and opportunities for justice will be lost.”
In March 2026, the Model Alliance published letters calling for sweeping investigations into the modeling industry’s role in facilitating the sex trafficking operation of financier Jeffrey Epstein. The letters single out Daniel Siad as someone who is alleged to have used modeling for decades as an opportunity to find and traffic girls as young as 15 to Epstein, Brunel, and Gerald Marie.
The organizations’ letters – signed by more than three dozen Epstein survivors and fashion models impacted by abuse within the industry – urge New York Attorney General Letitia James and bipartisan members of Congress Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie to examine if and how modeling agencies delivered young children and teens to Epstein and his fellow abusers.