On Saturday morning, the world woke up to the news that Virginia Giuffre - a survivor of sex abuse by notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein - had died at her home in western Australia.
In a statement, Giuffre’s family said that she couldn’t cope: the “toll of abuse is so heavy it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight".
"She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking," they added, calling her “the light that lifted so many survivors.”
It’s all the more tragic considering a previous post that Ms Giuffre made on X six years ago. In December 2019, a user posted that the "F.B.I. will kill her to protect the ultra rich and well connected."
As a reply, Giuffre wrote that "I am making it publicly known that in no way, shape or form am I suicidal. I have made this known to my therapist and GP – If something happens to me – in the sake of my family do not let this go away and help me to protect them. Too many evil people want to see me quieted."
The post has since been shared by several prominent people online, including Republican politician Nancy Mace.
"This gave me goosebumps,” she wrote, in a post accompanying the tweet. Another US politician, Marjorie Taylor Greene, also shared the infamous photo of a young Virginia Giuffre with Prince Andrew, writing that “Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre has died by 'suicide.' The truth needs to come out more matter who is responsible.”
Despite this, the local police in Perth, where she was staying, said that Giuffre’s death was being investigated by detectives, but their "early indication is the death is not suspicious".
Giuffre shot to prominence in the aftermath of revelations about serial paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
She claimed that Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, had trafficked her at the age of 17, flying her around the world. She also claimed that she had been offered to Prince Andrew – a claim that the Duke has strenuously denied since.
In recent years, Giuffre relocated to Perth in Western Australia. She lived with her husband Robert and children on a farm in the area – though recent reports suggested that the pair had split after 22 years of marriage.
