Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of abuse by notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, has died by suicide, The Associated Press reported early Saturday morning.
She was 41 years old.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” a statement from her family read, according to the AP.
“Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.”
Giuffre, who says she was sexually abused by numerous individuals while she was underage — including Prince Andrew — became the face of the girls and women the billionaire financier abused.
She originally settled a lawsuit with Epstein in 2009 for $500,000. The lawsuit stated that “Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, set up sexual encounters with royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen and other rich and powerful men,” according to an AP report.
While Prince Andrew denied the allegations and said he’d never met Giuffre, a photo of the two provided evidence that at least some encounter had taken place.
🚨#BREAKING: Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent survivors of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew, has reportedly “died by suicide” in Neergabby, Australia. pic.twitter.com/F3VopBguyH
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) April 26, 2025
Giuffre’s allegations emerged again in 2018, when the handling of an investigation and prosecution of Epstein on sex trafficking charges that took place between 2005 and 2008 resurfaced due to a series of reports from the Miami Herald.
Alex Acosta, who was then President Donald Trump’s labor secretary, had been the U.S. attorney in charge of the Epstein prosecution. When asked about Epstein’s lenient sentence in the case, Acosta reportedly told Trump’s transition team that “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone.”
After the handling of the initial prosecution became an international story and Epstein was arrested, Giuffre became the de facto face of his victims, telling her story in interviews and suing Prince Andrew in 2021 under New York’s Child Victim’s Act, which allowed individuals to pursue cases that would otherwise be time-limited or had passed the statute of limitations.
The suit was settled in 2023 for roughly $16 million.
Giuffre moved to Australia, where she lived on a farm in Western Australia. Over the past month, her health had taken a turn for the worse; in March, she posted to her Instagram account that she only had days to live because of injuries suffered in a collision with a school bus.
“I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology. I’m ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time,” she wrote in the post.
“Thank you all for being the wonderful people of the world and for being a great part of my life. Godbless you all xx Virginia.”
Her representative, Dini von Mueffling, said she had “been in a serious accident and is receiving medical care in the hospital” at the time.
“She greatly appreciates the support and well wishes people are sending.”
In a statement after her death was announced, von Mueffling said Giuffre was “deeply loving, wise and funny.”
“She adored her children and many animals. She was always more concerned with me than with herself,” von Mueffling wrote.
“I will miss her beyond words. It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
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