Carolyn Andriano has died; she was a victim of sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and her testimony against his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was crucial to putting her behind bars.
There was no obituary or service after she died earlier this year in the spring, and police in West Palm Beach, Florida, opened an investigation into her death. The Daily Beast reports Carolyn succumbed to an accidental overdose. The 36-year-old mother-of-five had planned to move to North Carolina with her family. Her husband, John Pitts, had purchased the new home weeks before she was found unresponsive in a West Palm Beach hotel room on May 23rd.
The Daily Beast also reports that Carolyn’s mother was shocked, since her daughter was intent on starting a new lifestyle away from drugs; she wants an investigation into her death to continue, but it seems the case will be closed soon.
While a cause or manner of death hasn’t been confirmed, a toxicology report shows Carolyn had fentanyl, methadone, and alprazolam (generic Xanax) in her system when she died.
Now, Carolyn’s mother is in a legal battle with Pitts over Carolyn’s will, which was filed before she married him, meaning Pitts and his three kids with Carolyn were left out of her estate. Carolyn had since received millions of dollars from Epstein-related settlements.
Carolyn was one of four victims to testify at the Maxwell trial in December 2021. She said the British socialite had groped her and scheduled her “massages” with Epstein. He, she said, molested her up to three times until she became “too old” for him at the age of 18.
Carolyn also said she was addicted to “pain pills and cocaine.” She also testified about her history of being abused as a child and about when she had first visited Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion in 2001 when she was 14. “I was allowed to do whatever I wanted,” she said, adding, “Because my mom was an alcoholic and a drug addict.” The visits to Epstein’s lair, she said, had ended up getting her addicted to drugs. Carolyn also dropped out of 7th grade and never finished school.
A prosecutor also asked Carolyn about her current medications, and she answered that she took methadone, an antidepressant, Xanax, and a drug for schizophrenia because “I am scared that my kids are going to get kidnapped.”
Though she was awarded around $3 million from the Epstein victim compensation fund, Carolyn said “Yes, but no money will ever fix what’s happened to me.”
