In 2024 WIRED conducted an investigation uncovering the data of mobile devices belonging to almost 200 of his visitors. How strong was the data? So precise that we followed visitor's movements to and from Epstein Island to within centimeterstracking their countries, neighborhoods, and even buildings of origin. These digital trails document the numerous trips of wealthy and influential individuals seemingly undeterred by Epstein's status as a convicted sex offender. Little St. James is a private island that is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the Caribbean Sea. Epstein purchased little St. James in 1998 for $7.95 million. It's about 71 acres, the size of 54 football fields. He made the island his primary residence and soon after began welcoming visitors and throwing infamous parties where he was accused of having groomed, sexually assaulted, and trafficked untold numbers of women and girls. The tracking of phones wasn't contained to Little St. James surveillance continued long after the visitors left. The Near Intelligence data we uncovered pinpoints 166 locations throughout the United States and 80 cities across 26 states. Topping the list were Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, and New York. Many of the visitors were likely wealthy, as indicated by coordinates pointing to gated communities in Michigan, as well as homes in Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket in Massachusetts.
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