Joseph Recarey

Joseph Recarey (June 5, 1967 to May 25, 2018) was an American police detective with the Palm Beach Police Department who led its 2005 to 2006 investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. His May 1, 2006 probable cause affidavit recommended charging Epstein with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation; the Palm Beach County grand jury before which he was the opening witness returned one count of solicitation of prostitution. He retired in 2013 and died at 50 in May 2018, fourteen months before Epstein's federal arrest in New York.¹²³

Early Life and Career

Recarey was born in Queens, New York, and moved to Florida at 13. He graduated from the police academy in 1990, joined the Palm Beach Police Department in 1991, and was promoted to detective in 1994. He worked in the department's organized crime, vice, and narcotics unit, and his obituary describes him as one of the most decorated detectives in the department's history, with more than 150 commendations. He retired in 2013 and joined Gold Coast Beverage Distributors as director of loss prevention, later becoming director of facilities for Gold Coast Holdings, overseeing more than 90 restaurant locations.¹

The Epstein Investigation

The department received the first complaint on March 15, 2005, from the family of a 14-year-old girl, who identified "Jeff" from a photo lineup. Recarey took over as lead detective in September 2005 under Chief Michael Reiter. Between March 2005 and February 2006 detectives took sworn taped statements from five victims and seventeen witnesses. Recarey's affidavit described Haley Robson, then a teenager herself, bringing girls to 358 El Brillo Way to give Epstein massages in exchange for money, and Epstein's assistant Sarah Kellen recording the girls' names and telephone numbers. The girls were paid 200 to 1,000 dollars per visit. According to Robson's statement, Epstein told her after her own first visit that "he would pay her if she brought over some girls" and that "the younger the better."¹²

To corroborate the accounts, detectives obtained trash from Epstein's residence through the supervisor of the Town of Palm Beach sanitation bureau, which corroborated the appointment scheduling; subpoenaed Kellen's cell phone records and matched her calls to victims and witnesses; and subpoenaed the arrival and departure records of Epstein's aircraft at Palm Beach International Airport from its operator. Calls to the girls clustered "in the days just prior to [Epstein's] arrival or during the time Epstein was in Palm Beach."²

The affidavit concluded that there was "sufficient probable cause to charge Jeffrey Epstein with FOUR COUNTS of Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor, in violation of Florida State Statute 794.05(1), a second degree felony," as to four girls, and with lewd and lascivious molestation of a 14-year-old under Florida Statute 800.04(5), also a second-degree felony. A companion affidavit sworn the same day sought charges against Kellen as a principal.²

The Grand Jury

State Attorney Barry Krischer did not file the recommended charges and instead convened a grand jury, which heard the case on July 19, 2006 in a session lasting under four hours. Recarey testified first, describing the recruitment chain, a girl who had gone to the house "over 100 times," and an episode in which a girl "screamed no," after which Epstein stopped, apologized, and paid her 1,000 dollars. The grand jury also heard a second officer, an investigator from the State Attorney's office, and two of the girls. Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek questioned the girls about their own conduct in terms that cast doubt on their credibility. The grand jury returned one count of felony solicitation of prostitution. Recarey and Reiter then referred the case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Reiter told NBC News the agents called it "an easy case."³⁴⁵⁶

The transcript was sealed until Circuit Judge Luis Delgado released it on July 1, 2024 under a statute enacted that year. The victims' attorney Spencer Kuvin said on its release: "They basically tanked their own case."³

Death

Recarey died on May 25, 2018, at 50, "after a brief illness," according to his family's obituary; his funeral mass was held at St. Rita Catholic Church in Wellington. Reiter said: "Joe Recarey was among the best people I ever knew." The obituary did not state a cause of death. After Epstein's July 2019 arrest, posts circulating online presented Recarey's death as recent; fact-checkers noted that it had occurred in May 2018.¹⁷