Author and journalist Michael Wolff says he received what he believes was Jeffrey Epstein’s final message, sent through one of Epstein’s lawyers on the evening of 9 August 2019, hours before the financier was found dead in a New York City jail cell. According to Wolff, Epstein replied to a routine inquiry about his well-being with the words, “Still hanging around.” Wolff disclosed the exchange on a Daily Beast podcast released 10 July 2025, adding that he cannot say whether the remark was intended as a coded reference or wry humour. Epstein was discovered hanged at the Metropolitan Correctional Center the next morning, and the New York medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. Conspiracy theories have persisted for years, but Wolff said he has no definitive view on how Epstein died. The revelation comes the same week the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo effectively closing their review of the case. The agencies reiterated their conclusion that Epstein died by suicide and said investigators found no credible evidence of a so-called client list or blackmail scheme involving prominent figures.