Jeffrey Epstein was found hanging in his prison cell shortly before 7am and was rushed to nearby New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan hospital where he was pronounced dead

The two prison guards at Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan jail who reportedly failed to follow procedure and check on prisoners every 30 minutes were both working extreme overtime shifts the night the pedophile took his own life, a source has revealed.

The former financier, 66, was found hanging in his prison cell shortly before 7am and was rushed to nearby New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A prison official told The New York Times one of the guards was working his fifth straight day of overtime at the short staffed jailhouse while the second corrections officers had been forced to work overtime.

A person familiar with the jail's operations said the guards on Epstein's unit were working extreme overtime shifts, according to the Associated Press.

A separate source had said that two jail guards at the Metropolitan Correctional Center are required to make separate checks on all prisoners every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed overnight.

In addition, every 15 minutes guards are required to make another check on prisoners who are on suicide watch.

It is unlikely his death was recorded as the area he was detained in does not have cameras pointing towards cells, TMZ reports.

Cameras are said to film the doors to each cell which would show anyone who entered or exited the cell, but they don not point inside.

NYC's Chief Medical Examiner has now completed Epstein's autopsy but said more information is needed before a cause of death can be determined.

'The ME's determination is pending further information at this time,' Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson said in a statement.

'At the request of those representing the decedent, and with the awareness of the federal prosecutor, I allowed a private pathologist (Dr. Michael Baden) to observe the autopsy examination. This is routine practice.'

The decision to remove Epstein, who was possibly the most high-profile inmate in the federal jail system, from suicide watch has both baffled former wardens and veterans of the federal prison system alike.

A separate source revealed to DailyMail.com that Epstein actually told prison guards and fellow inmates that he believed someone had tried to kill him in the weeks before his death.

The New York Post has published a photograph of Jeffrey Epstein being wheeled into hospital shortly before he was pronounced dead on Saturday morning

The insider, who had seen the disgraced financier on several occasions during his incarceration at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, also claims that the normally reserved Epstein seemed to be in good spirits.

'There was no indication that he might try to take his own life,' the source told DailyMail.com

'From what I saw, he was finally starting to adjust to prison. I think he was comforted by the rigidity of his new life.'

But his suicide comes two weeks after he was hospitalized following what may have been an initial attempt to take his own life.

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 jail.

It has not been confirmed whether Epstein attempted suicide, or whether he may have been attacked inside his prison cell.

The news that guards failed to follow procedure and Epstein's fears of being a target come amid growing outrage that the pedophile escaped justice and his alleged victims may never get closure they so desperately need.

A black bag believed to contain Epstein's body was pictured being taken out of New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan hospital on Saturday afternoon

Epstein was being held without bail at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking. One of the guards was working his fifth straight day of overtime at the short staffed jailhouse while the second corrections officers was had been forced to work overtime, a source has said

Preet Bharara, a former Manhattan-based U.S. attorney, explained that guards generally remove any prisoner placed on suicide watch from the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was housed. The unit separates inmates such as accused sex offenders from the general population for their protection.

'So it seems that Epstein was in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) but not recently on suicide watch, which according to BOP’s Suicide Prevention Program, requires removal from the SHU,' he tweeted on Saturday.

Bharara said he was dumbfounded, adding: 'It’s possible Epstein was placed on suicide watch for some time and then returned to the SHU, prematurely. DOJ says FBI is investigating. Public deserves answers.

'There will both an FBI investigation + Inspector General investigation into Epstein’s death.'

Bharara had said Epstein's suicide was likely recorded by jail cameras, adding: 'One hopes it is complete, conclusive, and secured,' he tweeted.

Attorney General Bill Barr said he was 'appalled' to learn Epstein was able to commit suicide in his federal jail cell and has ordered the FBI to investigate the pedophile's death.

He said in a statement released on Saturday: 'I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody.

'Mr. Epstein's death raises serious questions that must be answered. In addition to the FBI's investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death.'

According to a prison officer, Epstein was being kept in a special unit with additional security, but he was not being actively surveyed by officials at the facility.

'For them to pull him off suicide watch is shocking,' Cameron Lindsay, a former warden, told NBC News.

'For someone this high-profile, with these allegations and this many victims, who has had a suicide attempt in the last few weeks, you can take absolutely no chances. You leave him on suicide watch until he's out of there.'

Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter shortly after news of the millionaire's death broke, stating: 'We need answers. Lots of them'

Thousands of others have since echoed AOC's call and aired their own suspicions over Epstein’s untimely demise, including Florida Congressional Representative Matt Gaetz

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida suggested the possibility that a criminal act was involved in Epstein's death

Preet Bharara, a former Manhattan-based U.S. attorney said he was dumbfounded, adding: 'It’s possible Epstein was placed on suicide watch for some time and then returned to the SHU, prematurely. DOJ says FBI is investigating. Public deserves answers'

Attorney General Bill Barr said he was 'appalled' to learn Epstein was able to commit suicide in his federal jail cell and has ordered the FBI to investigate the pedophile's death

Meanwhile, a number of other high-profile Washington figures have demanded more information as to what happened to Epstein.

Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter shortly after news of the millionaire's death broke, stating: 'We need answers. Lots of them'.

‘I agree with AOC,’ declared Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. ‘Chairman @RepJerryNadler should prioritize a Judiciary investigation into how Jeffrey Epstein died in federal custody (in Nadler’s own neighborhood!) over the Kavanaugh confirmation (which already happened), and the Russia Hoax (which never happened).’

2020 Presidential hopefuls Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand also demanded transparency as to the details of Epstein's death.

Many of Epstein's accusers and their attorneys have expressed anger that the abuser would never face consequences, but federal officials have vowed to continue their probe even after his death.

'To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so, let me reiterate that we remain committed to standing for you,' US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement Saturday.

'And our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment — which included a conspiracy count — remains ongoing.'

Berman's reference to the conspiracy count suggests that accomplices to Epstein's crimes could soon face charges.

Among the alleged accomplices named in civil suits are Epstein's longtime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, and former employee Nadia Marcinkova.

Friends and business associates of Epstein could also ultimately face charges amid allegations that the billionaire and Maxwell 'instructed' some of the victims to have sex with and provide erotic massages to guests.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleged in a 2016 deposition that she was a teenager when she was forced to have sex with George Mitchell, a former Senate Majority leader who represented Maine from 1980-95, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

Jennifer Araoz, who accused Epstein of raping her in his Manhattan mansion when she was 15 years old, said: 'We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed the pain and trauma he caused so many people,' she said.

'Epstein is gone, but justice must still be served. I hope the authorities will pursue and prosecute his accomplices and enablers, and ensure redress for his victims.'

Araoz's attorney, Kimberly Lerner, said: 'There's a whole network that enabled him and allowed this to happen. It's time that everyone who was a part of this be held accountable.'

Giuffre's attorney, Sigrid McCawley, said in a statement that 'the reckoning of accountability begun by the voices of brave and truthful victims should not end' with Epstein's death.

Jena-Lisa Jones claims she was 14 when she became a victim of Epstein in Florida. The now-30-year-old said in a statement: 'God will have his judgement now.'

Michelle Licata, who claimed she was a victim in Florida at 16 years old said she didn't want him dead.

'I just wanted him to be held accountable for his actions. Simple as that,' Licata said.

'How does someone who is this high profile commit suicide? They had to have cameras on him! Someone must have been paid to look the other way,' Eva Ford, mother of Epstein victim Courtney Wild, told The Miami Herald.

Lisa Bloom - who represents three of the billionaire's alleged sex trafficking victims - shared a statement from one of her anonymous accusers.

'I will never have a sense of closure now. I am angry as hell that the prison could have allowed this to happen and that I and his other victims will never see him face the consequences for his horrendous actions,' the statement read. 'I hope that whoever allowed this to happen also faces some type of consequence. You stole from us, the huge piece of healing that we needed to move on with our lives.'

Bloom had tweeted shortly after his death was announced, that the accusers would have preferred his justice came in the form of a guilty conviction.

'Predator Jeffrey Epstein killed himself,' Bloom posted on Twitter. 'On behalf of the victims I represent, we would have preferred he lived to face justice.'

However, Bloom said that her clients can still find a way to justice.

'Our civil cases can still proceed against his estate,' she continued. 'Victims deserve to be made whole for the lifelong damage he caused. We're just getting started.'

The body was loaded onto a stretcher and placed in the back of a black SUV, before it was later switched into a white van for transportation to the medical examiner's office

Epstein hanged himself inside his prison cell at Manhattan Correctional Center early on Saturday morning

Hospital staff are seen preparing a white coroner's van before Epstein's body was loaded inside

A coroner will now examine Epstein's body, while both the FBI and the Inspector General will open investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death

Brad Edwards, who represents Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Wild, told Fox News: 'The fact that Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit the selfish act of taking his own life as his world of abuse, exploitation, and corruption unraveled in both unfortunate and predictable.

'While we engaged in contentious legal battles for more than a decade, this is not the ending anyone was looking for.'

Edwards added: 'The victims deserved to see Epstein held accountable, and he owed it to everyone he hurt to accept responsibility for all of the pain he caused. It is never too late to come forward with information. We will continue to represent his victims and will not stop in their pursuit of finality and justice.'

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse wrote a letter to Barr, telling him 'heads must roll'.

'The Department of Justice failed, and today Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators think they might have just gotten one last sweetheart deal,' the senator said. 'Every single person in the Justice Department — from your Main Justice headquarters staff all the way to the night-shift jailer — knew that this man was a suicide risk, and that his dark secrets couldn’t be allowed to die with him.

Epstein's suicide comes just two weeks after he was hospitalized following what may have been an initial attempt to take his own life. He is pictured in New York in January

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

Epstein was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (pictured). Police are pictured patrolling outside the prison on Saturday afternoon

'Given Epstein’s previous attempted suicide, he should have been locked in a padded room under unbroken, 24/7, constant surveillance.'

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida suggested the possibility that a criminal act was involved in Epstein's death when he called on federal corrections officials to explain what happened at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

'The Federal Bureau of Prisons must provide answers on what systemic failures of the MCC Manhattan or criminal acts allowed this coward to deny justice to his victims,' he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an attorney for Jeffrey Epstein, Marc Fernich, said in a statement that jailers at the Metropolitan Correctional Center failed to protect Epstein and to prevent the 'calamity' of his death.

Fernich also said that reporters, plaintiffs' lawyers and court officials 'should be ashamed of their behavior' following Epstein's indictment. He said Epstein had 'long since paid his debt to society' for his crimes.

The world was left stunned early Saturday after news that Epstein was found hanging in his prison cell shortly before 7am.

On Saturday afternoon, a black bag believed to contain Epstein's body was pictured being taken out of the hospital.

The body was later switched into a white van belonging to a medical examiner, before it was transported away.

A coroner will now perform an investigation.

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

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

Epstein - 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 underage girls at his residences in New York City and Florida between 2002 and 2005.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.