Investigations have begun into how disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in prison ahead of facing trial on sex trafficking charges.
The 66-year-old, who was being held without bail in a Manhattan jail, was accused of abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14 in New York and Florida.
Lawyers for women who accused the American financier of abuse are calling for investigations into his alleged crimes to continue despite his death.
Epstein, who denied the charges, was found at 6.30am on Saturday morning, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
Officials speaking anonymously said he had hanged himself.
NBC News is reporting that, contrary to earlier reports, Epstein was not on suicide watch at the time he was found.
He was facing 45 years in prison if convicted.
Last month, Epstein had reportedly been found unconscious with neck injuries on the floor of his cell. His lawyers declined to comment at the time.
A source said he had recently been taken off suicide watch, but it is not clear when.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, he had been in the jail's special housing unit, a heavily secured part of the prison, which separates high-profile inmates from the general population.
It was the same unit where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was held until he moved to the Supermax prison in Colorado.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution-related charges involving underage girls, in exchange for the Justice Department's agreement not to prosecute him on similar charges.
He served 13 months in jail and agreed to register as a sex offender under the 2008 plea deal, which is now widely seen as too lenient. Federal prosecutors in New York had reopened the case after reports from the Miami Herald stirred outrage.
