The Justice Department is continuing to release long-sealed records connected to Jeffrey Epstein following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The disclosures include FBI tips, raw leads, and unverified submissions collected over decades.
Federal officials have warned that many of these materials were never investigated or substantiated, and that some tips may contain false, exaggerated, or politically motivated claims. Still, the release has drawn renewed scrutiny to certain allegations included in the files.
One FBI tip made public this week has received particular attention after a local newspaper reported that death records appear consistent with details described in the submission.
The FBI Tip and Its Allegations
According to the tip, which was submitted to the FBI in October 2020, the individual providing the information said they had previously worked as a limousine driver.
The tipster claimed that while driving a female passenger in 1999, the passenger told them she had been sexually assaulted years earlier by Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
The tip states that the driver encouraged the woman to report the alleged assault to law enforcement. The woman allegedly refused, telling the driver, “they will kill me.”
Claims About the Woman’s Death
The FBI tip further claimed that the driver later attempted to follow up with the woman and learned that she had died.
According to the submission, the woman was found dead in or near Kiefer, Oklahoma, with a gunshot wound to the head, and the death was ruled a suicide.
At the time the tip was submitted, there was no public reporting confirming whether a death matching those details had occurred.
Death Records Consistent With the Tip’s Description
This week, The Oklahoman reported that death records align with the circumstances described in the FBI tip.
Reporter Nolan Clay wrote that Dusti Rhea Duke, a 19-year-old student from Kiefer, Oklahoma, died on Jan. 10, 2000. Her death was reported in two local newspapers, The Tulsa World and The Sapulpa Herald.
Oklahoma’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Eric Pfeifer, told The Oklahoman that Duke’s death was ruled a suicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head. Medical examiner records indicate her body was found at an address in Sapulpa, a town near Kiefer.
What the Records Do and Do Not Establish
The death records confirm that a young woman from Kiefer died by suicide in 2000 under circumstances consistent with details described in the FBI tip.
They do not verify the allegations of sexual assault made in the tip. There is no public record showing that law enforcement investigated or corroborated the claims involving Trump or Epstein.
The allegations remain unverified.
Justice Department Response
While not referring to the specific tip, the Justice Department has cautioned that many of the Epstein-related materials released this week contain unsubstantiated or false claims, particularly those submitted shortly before the 2020 election.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the department said the allegations involving Trump are “unfounded and false,” adding that if they had any credibility, they would have been investigated or used previously.
