The Guardian, Los Angeles Times and CNN all reported he had been found dead.

Swartz was due to go on trial within weeks over accusations he stole the scientific journal articles, in a bid to make them available for free.

Swartz faced "decades in prison and a fortune in fines", the Los Angeles Times said, over the downloads from JSTOR.

The journal website, which the Los Angeles Times said did not press charges once it reclaimed the articles from Swartz, posted on its website that it had been "deeply saddened to hear the news about Aaron Swartz. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Aaron's family, friends, and everyone who loved, knew, and admired him".

The subscription journal service was used by MIT, and offered digitized copies of academic articles from journals. The prosecutor in the case, the US Attorney for Massachusetts, had accused Swartz of intending to distribute the articles widely on file-sharing sites.