Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself inside his New York City jail cell on Saturday morning

He was discovered by prison guards shortly before 7am and was rushed to a nearby hospital 

The 66-year-old was pronounced dead a short time later, and the FBI has now launched an investigation into his death 

Epstein was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center without bail following his arrest on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking last month

His shock death comes just  24 hours after court documents detailing his sexual abuse of underage girls were unsealed by the courts

The explosive documents include claims from Epstein's alleged 'sex slave' that she was required to have intercourse with a number of powerful men 

Jeffrey Epstein has hanged himself inside his New York City jail cell. 

The billionaire pedophile was found in cardiac arrest shortly before 7am on Saturday at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. 

He was rushed to nearby New York Downtown Hospital where he was pronounced dead.   

In a statement, Metropolitan Correctional Center told DailyMail.com that the FBI is now launching an investigation into Epstein's death.

Epstein, 66, was awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking and was being held at the high-security complex without bail.  

The financier - who once boasted an array of high-profile friends including Prince Andrew and President Bill Clinton - was arrested on July 6, accused of arranging to have sex with dozens of underage girls at his residences in New York City and Florida between 2002 and 2005.  

He had plead not guilty to the charges. 

The shocking death has prompted a statement from Attorney General William Barr, who said early Saturday afternoon that he was 'appalled' to learn that Epstein died while in 'federal custody'. 

'His death raises serious questions that must be answered,' Barr stated. 

'In addition to the FBI's investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of the death'.

Epstein's suicide comes just two weeks after he was hospitalized following a failed first attempt to take his own life while inside his prison cell. 

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Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in his prison cell in New York City on Saturday. He was found in cardiac arrest before being rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead

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Epstein was being held without bail at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking

On July 24, Epstein was rushed to hospital under police guard after he was discovered semi-conscious on the floor of his prison cell in the fetal position. 

He spent several hours receiving medical attention before he was transported back to the Metropolitan Correctional Center.  

Epstein was said to be on suicide watch, although The New York Times reports that it is now unclear whether additional measures had been put in place to ensure he did not try to take his own life for a second time.   

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Meanwhile, the billionaire's death comes just 24 hours after more than 2,000 pages of documents detailing the lurid allegations of his sexual abuse of underage girls were unsealed to the public.  

On Friday morning, a federal appeals court published explosive documents pertaining to a 2015 lawsuit that Virginia Roberts Giuffre had filed against Epstein's associate, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.  

Giuffre claimed Epstein and Maxwell kept her as a 'sex slave' in the early 2000s, whilst she was underage. 

The unsealed papers - which made international news on Friday - implicated a number of high-profile men in sex scandals.   

Epstein is pictured with his associate and one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005. On Friday, explosive court documents pertaining to a 2015 lawsuit filed against Maxwell were unsealed, revealing damning new details about Epstein's alleged crimes

Epstein's shocking suicide comes just 24 hours after court documents from Virginia Roberts Giuffre (pictured) were unsealed

BOMBSHELL COURT DOCUMENTS UNSEALED

The court documents unsealed on Friday include transcripts of a May 3, 2016 deposition made by Giuffre.

She alleged that she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to have sex with and provide erotic massages for politicians and affluent businessmen. 

Giuffre claimed that she was 'instructed' by Maxwell to have sex with two high powered Democrats - former Senate Majority George Mitchell and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. 

Both Richardson and Mitchell have denied the allegations. 

According to the documents, Giuffre claimed she also had sex with Epstein's friend Prince Andrew when she was 17 years of age. 

The Prince has always denied any wrongdoing and in a 2015 court application, a judge threw out Robert's allegations that she had sex with the Prince. 

The judge ordered the allegations to be struck from the record as being 'immaterial and impertinent.'

Buckingham Palace also issued on the record statements in January 2015, stating: 'Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.' 

Giuffre was working at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort at the time she met Ghislaine Maxwell, who then went on to introduce her to Epstein.

Epstein is known for his previous friendships with President Trump but Giuffre has denied ever having sexual relationships with the Commander-in-chief. 

Epstein was also an associate of President Bill Clinton - but the unsealed court documents reveal that Giuffre similarly denied ever being intimate him. 

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Jeffrey Epstein's former sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleges that she was intimate with Prince Andrew at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell in unsealed files. She is pictured with Prince Andrew and Maxwell at Maxwell's London townhouse in 2001

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Prince Andrew is pictured with Epstein in Central Park in December 2010

Giuffre was the first woman to go public with accusations against Epstein - and is the most high profile of his alleged victims.

The alleged 'sex slave' has previously recounted how she found herself being shuttled around the world and raped by men three times her age in court papers after she was met Ghislaine Maxwell 

'Epstein had promised me a lot, and I knew if I left I would be in big trouble. I also knew that I was a witness to a lot of illegal and very bad behavior by Epstein and his friends,' stated one filing.

'If I left Epstein, he knew all kinds of powerful people. He could have had me killed or abducted, and I always knew he was capable of that if I did not obey him. He let me know that he knew many people in high places... I was very scared, particularly since I was a teenager.' 

'When I was with him, Epstein had sex with underage girls on a daily basis. His interest in this kind of sex was obvious to the people around him,' she also stated. 

'The activities were so obvious and bold that anyone spending any significant time at one of Epstein's residences would have clearly been aware of what was going on.'

Jeffrey Epstein (left) and Donald Trump together at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1997. Giuffre says she never had sex with Trump

Trump is pictured with then-girlfriend and now-wife Melania Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago club in 2000

JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S UNDOING: A TIMELINE OF THE BILLIONAIRE PEDOPHILE'S DOWNFALL

1999 - Virginia Roberts Giuffre is allegedly recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to became Epstein's 'sex slave,' at 17. She also claimed that he forced her to have sex with his friend Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth.

2002 - Trump tells New York Magazine that his friend Epstein 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.'

2005 - A 14-year-old girl tells police that Epstein molested her at his Palm Beach mansion.

May 2006 - Epstein and two of his associates are charged with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor. State attorney of the time Barry Krischer, referred the case to a grand jury who heard from just two of the 12 girls law enforcement had gathered as potential witnesses. They returned just one single count of soliciting prostitution.

July 2006 - The case is referred to the FBI by the Florida Palm Beach police who were unhappy with how the case was handled.

2007 - Epstein's lawyers meet with Miami's top federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta, who would later become the Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration. They secretly negotiate the 'deal of a lifetime'.

June 2008 - After pleading guilty to two prostitution charges, the billionaire was sentenced to 18 months in a low-security prison in exchange for prosecutors ending their investigation into his sex acts with minors and give him immunity from future prosecution related to those charges. In reality, Epstein was able to work from his office six days a week while supposedly incarcerated at the jail.

July 2008 - Accusers learned of the deal for the first time.

July 2009 - Epstein is released from jail five months early.

July 2018 - The Miami Herald publishes investigative journalist Julie K. Brown's exposé on Epstein's long history of alleged sexual abuse and news of the 'deal of a lifetime' after Acosta was made Labor Secretary.

February 2019 - The justice department opens an internal review into Epstein's plea deal.

July 7, 2019 - Epstein is arrested after his private jet lands at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport from Paris. At the same time, federal agents break into his Manhattan townhouse where they uncovered hundreds of photographs of naked minors.

July 8, 2019 - Epstein is charged with sex trafficking charges which detail how he created a network of underage girls in Florida and New York, paying girls as young as 14 to provide 'massages and sex acts.' The charges carry a sentence of up to 45 years in prison.

July 11, 2019 - More than a dozen women, not previously known to law enforcement, came forward to accuse him of sex abuse.

July 24 - Epstein was found unconscious in his cell after an apparent suicide attempt. He was moved to suicide watch at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

August 9, 2019 - More than 2,000 documents are unsealed which reveal the lurid allegations against Epstein in detail.

August 10, 2019 - Epstein is found dead in his cell.