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Jeffrey Epstein 'broke several neck bones' in apparent suicide, post-mortem reveals

US flags at one of Epstein's islands have been seen flying at half mast, days after his apparent suicide.

Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry
Image: Jeffrey Epstein was found dead on Saturday
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Jeffrey Epstein broke several bones in his neck in his apparent suicide, a post-mortem has reportedly found.

The disgraced US financier, who was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, broke the hyoid bone close to the Adam's apple, the Washington Post said.

It is a bone not commonly broken when hanged, an expert told the paper, but can be more easily broken in older people.

A New York Southern District US attorney announces charges against Jeffery Epstein in July
Image: Epstein was in jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges

The breakage can also occur when someone is strangled.

It comes as NBC reported the US flags on the multimillionaire's private island were lowered to half-mast after his death on Saturday.

Captain Kelly Quinn, owner of Salty Dog Day Sails, who spotted the flags at half-mast, said: "It was a real moment out there and it just felt so heavy.

"I didn't feel there was a realness of the end of Jeffrey Epstein until I saw that. That was a lot more literal.

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"They're doing this as a remembrance, but the irony is he'll only be remembered for the deviance."

The flag at half mast on Epstein's island. Pic: Salty Dog Day Sails
Image: Flags at half mast on Epstein's island. Pic: Salty Dog Day Sails
A flag at half mast on the island

NBC also reported that Epstein's body has been claimed by an anonymous "associate".

The convicted sex offender was found dead in the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in New York City.

Jeffrey Epstein's death 'raises serious questions that must be answered'
Jeffrey Epstein's death 'raises serious questions that must be answered'

The 66-year-old, who was being held without bail in jail, was accused of abusing dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida.

It was previously reported by unidentified sources that he was found hanged.

Epstein, 66, had been on suicide watch but was later moved back to a regular cell.

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His death came two weeks after he was reportedly found unconscious with neck injuries on the floor of his cell. His lawyers declined to comment at the time.

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FBI searches Epstein's private island

According to the Bureau of Prisons, Epstein had been in the federal jail's special housing unit, a heavily secured part of the prison which separates high-profile inmates from the general population.

It was the same unit where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was held until he was moved to the Supermax prison in Colorado.

Multiple news reports have suggested guards did not follow procedures to check on Epstein, and that he was left alone for as long as three hours.

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Jeffrey Epstein: Accuser sues Ghislaine Maxwell and three staff members

The US attorney general William Barr has called for an investigation into his death.

A team at the jail started work on an "after action" review earlier this week, a process automatically triggered by events such as an inmate's death and headed up by a prison bureau director from another region.

They are separate from FBI and US Department of Justice investigations.