Anyone who’s followed the Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse/sex trafficking saga will be familiar with the name Virginia Giuffre, one of the best known victim-survivors of Epstein’s criminal enterprise with cohort Ghislaine Maxwell. As my colleague Jennifer Van Laar wrote in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi made a partial release of the FBI’s files on Epstein.

Late Friday night, Giuffre died by suicide, according to a statement released by her family to NBC News. She was 41:

Giuffre was one of the earliest and loudest voices calling for criminal charges against Epstein and his enablers. Other Epstein abuse survivors later credited her with giving them the courage to speak out.

She also provided critical information to law enforcement that contributed to the investigation into and later the conviction of Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other investigations by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

In June 2022, Maxwell, who was convicted pedophile Epstein’s longtime companion, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Epstein himself committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial in New York.

The NBC News report linked above continues, with some details of her life:

Raised primarily in Florida, Giuffre had a troubled childhood. She said she was abused by a family friend, triggering a downward spiral that led to her living on the streets for a time as a teenager.

She was attempting to rebuild her life when she met Maxwell, Epstein’s close confidant. Maxwell groomed her to be sexually abused by Epstein, and that abuse continued from 1999 to 2002, according to Giuffre. Giuffre also alleged that Epstein trafficked her to his powerful friends, including Prince Andrew and French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

Shocked to hear that Virginia Giuffre has passed away she was the one who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault and a victim of Jeffery Epstein sending condolences to her family and friends RIP Virgina pic.twitter.com/cvgV3hgQMh

— Lee Patriot Hood (@Mofoman360) April 26, 2025

It was Giuffre’s testimony that helped to put Brunel, who allegedly committed sexual assault against other women, including at least one minor, behind bars. Giuffre explained why she stepped up:

“I wanted Brunel to know that he no longer has the power over me, that I am a grown woman now and I’ve decided to hold him accountable for what he did to me and so many others.”

Brunel took his own life while in jail in 2022, while maintaining his innocence. But it was the alleged tryst with the U.K.’s Prince Andrew involving Virginia Giuffre, set up by Epstein as part of his illegal trafficking scheme, that was the most high-profile. Giuffre filed a sexual assault lawsuit against the prince in 2021, stating that she was 17 at the time. Andrew, who has denied that he and Giuffre had sex, settled the suit in 2022. The details of the settlement were not made public.

In the Friday statement about Giuffre’s death, her family wrote:

“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” the statement said. “In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”

Readers may remember a story in RedState involving Giuffre in late March. That’s when Giuffre reached out to followers of her Instagram account with a dire message about her health, after what sounded like a serious car accident, as my colleague Rusty Weiss wrote:

“This year has been the worst start to a new year, but I won’t bore anyone with the details but I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110km as we were slowing for a turn that no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can,” she wrote.

“I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.”

Giuffre went on to tell followers that she was “ready to go” while expressing hope that she might see her “babies” one last time.

It’s unclear what happened to Giuffre. The Guardian wrote in its obituary Saturday that while “Western Australia police later confirmed a 41-year-old woman was in a car that collided with a bus on 24 March,” no injuries were reported. “It is understood Giuffre presented to a Perth hospital emergency department on 1 April,” the report continued.

NBC News spoke to her brother, who provided some clarity on her recent health woes–both physical and mental:

“Her biggest push was, ‘If I don’t do this, nobody’s going to do it,'” he said, regarding her advocacy. “She was in real physical pain — suffered from renal failure. But I think that the mental pain was worse.”

“It was when she held her newborn daughter in her arms that Virginia realized she had to fight back against those who had abused her and so many others.

“There are no words that can express the grave loss we feel today with the passing of our sweet Virginia. She was heroic and will always be remembered for her incredible courage and loving spirit.”

This is a developing story. RedState will provide updates as they become available.