If you thought a guilty verdict meant we were done with unfolding the saga of Ghislaine Maxwell, you were wrong. In fact we’re just getting started! Working our way backwards from conviction all the way to early chapters of her childhood, one scandal filled layer peeled at a time.
And remember - cling to what you pick up along the way, a lot of the details will start to intersect in future storylines, I can assure you.
August 12th, 2019
AfterJeffery Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, the hunt for Ghislaine Maxwell kicked into high gear. By then she’d disappeared from public life entirely, shedding the image that had come to define her. That of the dazzling socialite with the permanent party girl smile, making the rounds at every prominent high society event, charity ball, dinner party, designer store opening framed by NYC’s elite.
Since moving from the UK, more than two decades ago to start afresh after her father’s crimes tainted their family and left them for broke, Ghislaine Maxwell became a fast staple on the high brow party scene, making a career out of top notch societal mingling long before that was even considered a “thing.” Carving the path for the Paris Hilton’s and the Kim Kardashians of the influencer era that followed in her wake.
Since late 2014 though, no one who knew her could really remember the last time they’d actually seen her. The lingering absence appeared a calculated effort to avoid looming legal repercussions, in light of Epstein’s arrest (then death) leaving the media and Epstein's victims focused on one question in the summer of 2019: Where in the world is Ghislaine Maxwell?
Two days after Jeffery Epstein’s death, however, on the same day a woman filed a lawsuit against her in New York alleging she helped arrange for Epstein to rape her when she was 15, Maxwell mysteriously resurfaced in a bizarre series of photographs published by The New York Post, showing the long hunted woman dining ‘Al Fresca’ in almost unrecognizable form: dressed down in a gray hoodie and patterned cotton pants, a tiny hole evident in her well worn silver sneakers, on a patio at an In-N-Out Burger on Cahunga Blvd in Beverly Hills. A dog and a second (hidden) burger tray on the bench beside her.
“Caught hiding in plain sight” the headlines read.
Her impervious gaze stared straight into the camera, poised and deliberate, almost taunting those on the other side, begging them to come find her. Hardly the response you’d expect two days after her ex boyfriend was found dead in his jail cell in one of the most high profile crime cases in American history. Was this a distraction? An irreverent poke at the media? A joke? And who’s idea was behind it: Maxwell? Saffian?
The Post reported Maxwell was noticed by a fellow diner while “scarfing down a burger, fries and shake al fresco at an In-N-Out Burger” Her demeanor was described as "perfectly friendly, and very lovely” by the unknown photographer. The paper claimed this person approached her table, asking: “Are you who I think you are?”
“Yes, I am,” Maxwell allegedly responded, before announcing: “I guess this is the last time I'll be eating here!”
Everything about the photos was suspect. Immediately dissected by online investigates who pointed out evidence of a bad photoshop job apparent in the fuzzy trashcan scribbles behind her to the right (top image) and the irregular brush strokes along the backside of her body.
The ‘Good Boys’ poster on the sign behind her (bottom image) the ad company who owned the space said never actually appeared there. A subtle attempt to place a current time stamp on the images, perhaps? (movie release date: August 16th, 2019)
The photos metadata were tagged with "Meadowgate," - a media company owned by Leah Saffian, the Maxwell family’s long time friend and attorney (The one who sat beside Isabel everyday in court) Who also apparently owns the dog next to Ghislaine’s feet as well. Evidence unearthed by the Daily Mail found multiple images of “Dexter” sprinkled throughout Saffian's private Instagram account.
As for the book Ghislaine is reading? “The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives” - obviously not a coincidence. The book of choice is clearly catering to the conspiracies surrounding her and Epstein’s alleged involvement with oversea spy operations (ie: the Mossad) Rumors that had long shadowed their love affair. Prompting one reporter on Twitter to conclude: “There is a distinct possibility that Maxwell is fucking with us”
Another detail noted was whoever took the photo seemed to have used a sophisticated camera lens, not a smartphone camera suggesting the photo was taken by a professional photographer as opposed to a casual iPhone snap.
"One user attempted to divine her order (“she did not go protein style”)
Another joked about her attire (“Ghislaine Maxwell spotted at In N Out Burger wearing ‘not involved in human trafficking’ t-shirt”).
One meme account Photoshopped Maxwell’s figure onto a background featuring the Americana mall in Los Angeles, which made about as much sense as her presence at In-N-Out, and emphasized what seemed to be the arbitrariness of this particular mise-en-scene. The disgraced socialite had become a living iteration of “Where’s Waldo?,” apt to pop up at the unlikeliest of places. This almost surrealist unexpectedness seemed to spark viewers’ interest.”
A day later, Business Insider reported that punters were rushing in person to the In-N-Out location to take pictures of the table where Maxwell”
Another very plausible theory that surfaced in light of this whole bizarre burger hoax suggested that Maxwell had been actively using Saffian’s IG accounts to communicate with members of her family (nieces and nephews) as well as old friends (journalists, media heads, royal insiders) and a few black book contacts (party friends & promoters)
Just another bizarre footnote into the impenetrable mind of Ms. Maxwell.
Up Coming:
Part 2. will dive further into her year in hiding, a rotating cycle of residences, body doubles, live-in British security forces, iron gates, a secret husband, a fake name, a new identity, and a lavish home by the sea in a tiny town where no one had any idea they were housing America’s most wanted woman.
I didn't know a fraction of this. From the metadata on the photos to the pooch, to the journalist attached to the royals following "the pooch", intriguing.
This is all so wild...can't wait for more!
I didn't know a fraction of this. From the metadata on the photos to the pooch, to the journalist attached to the royals following "the pooch", intriguing.