‘Dramatic’ spike found in Epstein island flight data sparks cover-up speculation

New data indicates flights to Jeffrey Epstein’s private island spiked after sex abuse allegations against him widened to include other public figures.

The average number of private planes landing on Little Saint James per year more than tripled in 2015, according to data firm Zalingo.

A total of 37 flights between 2008 and 2015 were identified in publicly available Justice Department records and verified with three independent sources, the firm says.

In the first seven years, between two to six planes flew to the island each year, but in 2015 this jumped to 13.

Flights also began arriving from the US West Coast, having previously mostly come from New York and Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein’s mansion was located.

Zalingo claims this ‘dramatic’ spike ‘is impossible to dismiss as routine’, speculating that it could have been part of a cover-up.

‘When you break down the routes, timings, and sudden addition of new destinations, the pattern points toward a coordinated effort to move or secure sensitive material’, the firm said.

‘Whether we’re talking about documents, digital assets, or people, the structure is too deliberate to ignore.’

December 2014 saw the first instance of major public figures being publicly named in connection with sex abuse allegations made by a woman, later revealed to be Virginia Giuffre.

Court filings filed in Florida for a case related to Epstein claimed she had been trafficked for sex with former prince Andrew, American lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and an unnamed ‘prime minister’ of another country.

Andrew and Dershowitz have both long denied any wrongdoing.

Zalingo previously said it found 2,348 flight records to Little Saint James between 1995 and 2007 – an average of nearly 200 a year.

The collapse in traffic to the island coincides with Epstein’s first prison sentence in 2008.

It followed his admission to two sex offences charges, one of which involved a minor, as part of a controversial plea deal which allowed him to avoid a trial for 14 federal charges including sex trafficking.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.