Authored by Jose Nino via HeadlineUSA,

A federal correctional officer assigned to monitor Jeffrey Epstein conducted internet searches about the convicted sex offender just moments before his body was discovered and received thousands of dollars in cash deposits in the weeks preceding his death, newly released Justice Department documents show.

Tova Noel worked as one of two Metropolitan Correctional Center employees who authorities later accused of fabricating logs claiming they had conducted required welfare checks on Epstein throughout the overnight hours before his August 10, 2019 death. Both guards lost their jobs, though prosecutors eventually dismissed criminal charges against them.

According to FBI forensic analysis of Bureau of Prisons computers, Noel entered the search term “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and repeated the query ten minutes later at 5:52 a.m. Her fellow officer Michael Thomas located the financier hanging in his cell at 6:30 a.m., less than 40 minutes after her final search.

Prosecutors stated that during the overnight shift, the 37-year-old Noel browsed furniture websites and slept rather than performing the required inmate checks every half hour. Thomas spent time looking at motorcycle listings online.

The New York Post reported that federal investigators produced a 66-page forensic report examining the desktop computers used by both officers. The Epstein related search was the sole query that the FBI chose to highlight in its analysis.

During sworn questioning by Justice Department officials in 2021, Noel disputed the FBI’s findings. “I don’t remember doing that,” she stated in the transcript. She characterized the federal records as not “accurate. I don’t recall looking him up.”

Noel also asserted that the failure to conduct proper monitoring was widespread at the Manhattan detention facility. “I’ve never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes,” she informed investigators.

Separate DOJ files reveal that Chase Bank submitted a “suspicious activity report” to the FBI in November 2019 regarding cash transactions in Noel’s account. The financial institution documented a total of 12 deposits starting in April 2018, with the largest single transaction of $5,000 occurring on July 30, 2019, just 11 days before Epstein died.

Available bank records beginning in December 2018 document seven separate cash deposits amounting to $11,880. Noel began her assignment in the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was held on July 7, 2019, approximately one month before his death.

Records indicate Noel operated a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover valued at $62,000. DOJ interviewers never questioned her about the cash transactions, according to the documents.

An internal FBI briefing contained in the released files indicates the bureau concluded that Noel was most likely the unidentified orange figure visible in grainy security camera footage near Epstein’s cell at approximately 10:40 p.m. on the night before his death.

“At approximately 10:40 pm, a correctional officer, believed to be Tova Noel, carried linen or inmate clothing up to the L-Tier, last time any correctional officer approached the only entrance to the SHU tier,” federal agents documented. Investigators determined that Epstein used strips of orange fabric to hang himself.

In her sworn testimony, Noel, who had been working consecutive shifts that day, stated she last observed Epstein alive “somewhere around after 10” that evening. She maintained that she “never gave out linen, ever” or clothing to inmates, asserting that such distributions occurred during earlier shifts.

The blurred orange shape captured on video has fueled speculation and conspiracy theories since the FBI made the footage public last summer. An inspector general report from 2023 described the figure only as “unidentified correctional officers,” making these newly released FBI documents the first official record to connect a specific name to the image.

Noel stated she could not explain why Epstein possessed additional bedding in his cell. She noted that Thomas, the other officer on duty, was asleep from 10 p.m. until midnight. Facility protocols prohibit staff members from entering the cell area without accompaniment, according to prison employees.

Legal representatives for Noel offered no comment. When investigators directly asked whether she played any role in Epstein’s death, Noel answered “no.”

As the New York Post reported, Noel currently faces a civil lawsuit in Westchester County Supreme Court alleging she committed assault while employed as a medical office assistant at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino