Records from the DOJ reveal that Tova Noel, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s prison guards at NYC’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, searched Google for “latest on Epstein in jail” twice shortly before his body was found—once at 5:42 a.m. and again at 5:52 a.m. on August 10, 2019.
Search Context
Noel’s internet history shows she had been shopping for furniture online prior to the Epstein queries, amid a shift where she and fellow guard Michael Thomas were supposed to check on him every 30 minutes but allegedly napped and browsed instead. A call reported Epstein hanged around 7:00 a.m.; he was found unconscious in cardiac arrest, rushed to a hospital, and pronounced dead at age 66—officially ruled a suicide.
Charges and Aftermath
Noel and Thomas faced falsifying records charges for skipping rounds between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., when cameras confirmed no one entered Epstein’s wing; the case against them was dropped in 2021. In her 2021 DOJ statement, Noel denied recalling the searches or looking up Epstein. These details emerged from files released under the 2025 Epstein Files Transparency Act.
