In the summer of 2000, a 16-year-old Virginia Giuffre—then Virginia Roberts—was working as a spa attendant at Donald Trump’s luxurious Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Having endured a troubled childhood marked by abuse and running away from home, Giuffre had found a modest job through her father, who worked maintenance at the club. Earning minimum wage, she spent breaks reading a book on anatomy and massage therapy, dreaming of a career in the field.
One sweltering afternoon, as Giuffre sat outside the spa with her book jammed full of sticky notes, Ghislaine Maxwell spotted her. Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime companion and later convicted accomplice, was driven past in a car and ordered her driver to stop upon seeing the young, blonde teen. Approaching Giuffre, Maxwell struck up a conversation, noting the massage book and introducing herself with a firm handshake and polished British accent.
Maxwell offered an enticing opportunity: a job as a traveling masseuse for a wealthy Mar-a-Lago member—Jeffrey Epstein—who needed someone to work on him privately. Lured by promises of good pay and professional training, Giuffre agreed. That same day, her father drove her to Epstein’s nearby mansion, where what began as a “massage lesson” quickly turned into sexual abuse involving both Epstein and Maxwell.
Giuffre later recounted in court depositions and her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl how Maxwell exploited her vulnerability, grooming her into Epstein’s sex-trafficking network. She was trafficked to powerful men worldwide, enduring years of exploitation before escaping in 2002.
This encounter at Mar-a-Lago marked the calculated entry point into one of the most notorious abuse rings, highlighting how predators targeted vulnerable young women in elite settings. Giuffre’s courage in speaking out helped expose the scandal, though she tragically died by suicide in 2025 at age 41.
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