Little is truly known about Jeffrey Epstein's 70-acre private island Little St. James, but "urban explorer" Andy Bracco is one of the few people to have visited it recently.
In August 2020, Bracco managed to sneak onto the island, and shared the experience in vlog-style footage to his YouTube channel. On May 23, he further shared clips on TikTok and gained over 200,000 views, after a commenter had labelled the clips "bs."
Little St. James was purchased by Epstein in 1998 and was raided by the FBI in 2019 while building a case against him in relation to alleged sex trafficking of minors. The island is located in the tax haven of the U.S. Virgin Islands and is only accessible by private planes and boats.
Bracco told Newsweek that security was still high on the island a year after it was seized. "Security most definitely existed on the island during both of my visits," he said.
"I took in account so many things, asked as many resources available as I felt we needed to know while still attempting to remain surreptitious. On both of my visits we remained completely undetected due to following our very careful planning and other covert entry procedures. We stayed away from the main dock, the main house, and the infrared cameras. We got a little bit more bold on the second day-time mission but still got out without a problem."
"A surprise to me actually, the locals that I talked to were quite receptive to the actions that day. They were more so inquisitive about what I saw and how it is that I did not get caught. I thought they would not be too happy out of "disrespect" to their islands but I found that they all were interested in the unknown. I guess that's the same natural feeling I had when I set out on this mission," added Bracco.
A focal point of Bracco's island vlogs is the infamous blue and white temple, which has long been the inspiration for various conspiracy theories about its purpose. The building, which used to have a gold dome on top, was permitted to be a music pavilion according to NBC, but many believe there exists tunnels built underneath.
"The most surreal experience was the final moments leading up to reaching the temple. Just as twilight was breaking over the horizon line of the coast of the Virgin Islands, we were arriving at the top of what is basically a cliff. The highest point on the island. I knew no one had been inside. A thousand thoughts were rushing through my head of all the planning of this trip, condensed into these final minutes. All the potential consequences of getting caught. Had we been seen? Has our escape vessel been spotted? I've seen so many pictures and videos of the island, of the temple, and now I was there," explained Bracco.
As for the alleged tunnels, Bracco claimed he didn't see any but that, "If I was to have entered the unlocked temple, that I clearly came into close contact with, I would never self incriminate by showing my audience how I got in. Getting in would then subsequently have allowed me to access the tunnels."
"Between my two visits to the island I did peer into the temple from the outside and noticed the staircase descending downwards," he clarified.
Viewers of Bracco's YouTube videos noticed an image of tunnels flash on the screen towards the end, however he claimed to Newsweek that the image is unrelated: "As for the tunnels the people may have noticed in one of my YouTube videos, I would like to state that it indirectly relates to the video itself."
For any who may be tempted to try out the "exploration" themselves, Bracco has advised against it, warning that security may have been upped since his August 2020 attempt.
"I have had multiple 'copycat' explorers contact me telling me they attempted to gain entry to the island recently. All have been stopped by either coast guards, armed private security on the boats, or the two that made it to the island told me that an automated PA system yelled at them saying coast guards had been contacted and to turn back immediately," alleged Bracco.
