Missing Evidence Chain of Custody
New Evidence Update: Missing Hard Drives and Chain of Custody Failures
Recent reporting from House Oversight Committee investigation reveals that critical evidence connected to Jeffrey Epstein was mishandled, removed, and in some cases never recovered, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the investigation.
Testimony from Richard Kahn confirms that after the 2019 FBI raid on Epstein, items including hard drives, cash, and diamonds were removed from Epstein’s residence by house manager Merwin Dela Cruz before being returned to federal authorities. This is a critical point because it establishes that key evidence was outside official law enforcement custody during a sensitive period, creating a clear risk of tampering, alteration, or loss.
Additional findings show that hard drives tied to Epstein’s earlier operations were obtained by private investigator Riley Kiraly and were never secured by federal investigators. This is one of the most important developments because it indicates that potentially high value digital evidence may still exist outside government control, with unknown contents and an unverified chain of custody.
These developments significantly expand documented failures in evidence handling and reinforce broader concerns outlined in the House Oversight Committee investigation into how critical materials connected to Epstein’s network were managed, tracked, and potentially lost.
New Evidence: Safe Contents, Missing Hard Drives, and Chain of Custody Gap
New testimony reported by Business Insider provides a clearer timeline of how digital evidence moved after the 2019 FBI raid on Epstein. During the initial search of Jeffrey Epstein’s residence, agents identified a safe containing hard drives, CDs, and other materials but did not seize the contents at that time.
When agents returned with a warrant approximately five days later, the contents were gone. Testimony from Richard Kahn confirms that the materials had been removed by Merwin Dela Cruz, passed through additional individuals, and held outside law enforcement custody before being returned.
The most important point is that this confirms a documented multi step chain of custody breakdown and a five day gap where critical digital evidence was outside federal control.
Additional testimony also establishes that earlier digital evidence from Epstein’s Palm Beach property was taken by a private investigative firm connected to Riley Kiraly and was never recovered by law enforcement.
This is equally critical because it shows that multiple sets of Epstein related digital evidence existed outside government custody across different time periods, with some materials potentially still unaccounted for.
These findings significantly strengthen the documented pattern of evidence handling failures and reinforce concerns about missing or compromised digital records central to understanding Epstein’s network.