Abandoned and decaying: What remains inside Jeffrey Epstein’s “Lolita Express” after years of hiatus? | World News –

For nearly a decade, Jeffrey Epstein’s Boeing 727 has been sitting motionless on an outboard in Brunswick, Georgia — its once-polished fuselage smeared with grime, its engines deleted, its interior frozen in a kind of unsettling time capsule.The press called it the “Lolita Express”, a nickname not used in official aviation records but widely associated with the aircraft in court filings and media coverage. Federal prosecutors have described the 133-foot-long plane as a vehicle used to transport young victims between Epstein’s properties. Flight logs record a range of high-profile passengers on board over the years, from former US President Bill Clinton to the now-disgraced former British Prince Andrew.

According to a rare visit by a New York Post reporter on the plane, the interior is still eerily intact, decomposing in slow motion under the Georgia humidity.

An airplane designed for strength and privacy

The Boeing 727, which is about 60 years old, was purchased in January 2001 by JEGE Inc., a Delaware-based company linked to Epstein and cited in court proceedings. Flight records show Epstein maintained ownership for nearly two decades. The plane’s tail number, N908JE, the last two letters widely known to stand for his initials, appeared on the fuselage and on large-lettered elements inside the cabin.

In other bathroom cabinets, tissues bearing the number “N909JE,” the tail number of another plane linked to Epstein, were discovered.

The plane’s last recorded flight took place on July 11, 2016, traveling from Palm Beach International Airport to Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. Shortly after, its three engines were stripped and sold. Without engines and with its registration expired in 2019, it is no longer able to fly legally or mechanically. In December 2018, months before his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, Epstein quietly sold the plane to World Aviation Services LLC, a Florida-based company, according to ownership history records. The company owner later told reporters that the plane was initially purchased with the aim of selling it or salvaging parts of it. When he learned of its connection to Epstein’s crimes, the owner decided to dismantle it instead. In July 2024, the plane reportedly changed hands again, being purchased by Jet Assets Incorporated, a Laramie, Wyoming-based company about which little public information is available. Individuals associated with the company have not commented publicly. Despite initial plans for demolition, the plane remained intact at Stambaugh Aviation, where storage fees amounted to an estimated $1,000 a month, and tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

“It’s in a significantly deteriorated condition, it’s been there for 10 years, it has no engines…Any plane in this deteriorated condition would never fly again,” Scott Stumbo, the aviation facility’s owner, told the New York Post, describing any attempt to restore it as “massive” and extremely expensive. On the outside, the once pure white body is now streaked with dark grey, due to the southern humidity.

The plane is parked between two jets formerly owned by actor John Travolta and fashion director Peter Nygard, an uncomfortable juxtaposition given the controversies associated with both men.

A decaying interior frozen in time

Upon entering via the back staircase, which is said to have been left open, visitors are met with what one New York Post reporter described as a “nostril-like stench,” exacerbated by the near-total darkness. The plane has been without power since 2016. Inside, the plane’s layout remains visible: a bedroom, three separate seating areas, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. The finishes, polished wood, high-pile carpeting, mirrored walls and upholstered seating are designed to evoke exclusivity. Today, insects and mold cover much of the interior. In the main bathroom, journalists found Johnson’s baby lotion and baby powder hidden in the cabinets, along with toiletries, tissues, and paper towels bearing the plane’s tail number.

Moldy cans of shaving cream, used toothbrushes, and orange and yellow hair ties were scattered among the dirty towels.

In the single bedroom where the victims, including Virginia Giuffre, alleged abuse, a full-sized mattress remained neatly arranged beneath a white comforter. There were three emergency oxygen masks hanging above. Nearby, a nightstand drawer contained what was described as a disassembled satellite phone.

In the cockpit, a black landline telephone was torn from the wall and shoved into a drawer. The yellow emergency signal marked “N908JE” had expired registration papers.

Other remains include stacked black-and-white linen placemats in the galley, empty water bottles, a can of instant coffee, folders filled with flight manuals and aviation documents, and cabinets still filled with books and files. The decor in parts of the cabin is eye-catching. One living room is almost entirely upholstered in crushed red velvet, covering the walls, sofa and armchairs, and punctuated by a single contrasting chair and red table. The other lounge area features two gray half-moon sofas facing each other before the kitchen. The final seating area near the cockpit includes mirrored walls, plush seating and a long wooden table. The plane has previously carried politicians, business figures and celebrities.

Old photos show Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on the plane. Another widely circulated photo shows Clinton sitting in a red chair with an unidentified woman on his lap. None of these images have been linked to proven criminal behavior by the individuals in the image.

However, prosecutors said in court filings that Epstein used the plane to transport victims between properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico and his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Wider investigation and outstanding questions

Epstein died in federal custody in August 2019, and was officially ruled a suicide by hanging. His partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, was later convicted of sex trafficking offenses and is serving a prison sentence. The plane remains a physical artifact of that network. In the UK, Essex Police said it was reviewing information emerging from declassified case files that Epstein arranged private flights to and from Stansted Airport, allegedly transporting girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote in the New Statesman newspaper that documents showed that the plane made 90 flights to and from UK airports, including 15 flights after Epstein’s 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting prostitution from a partner. He insisted.

Brown also alleged that Epstein “bragged” about low airport fees at Stansted Airport and described it as a transfer point between planes.

Essex Police confirmed they were assessing “information that has emerged regarding private flights to and from Stansted Airport”. At the same time, the plane itself remains grounded, both physically and symbolically. At Stambaugh Aviation, the owner said the plane was originally scheduled to be “chopped up” and scrapped. These plans were never realized. Instead, the 727 remains exposed to heat, humidity and corrosion, crumbling the once luxurious interior into decay.