NEW YORK _ Now they find it.
The missing footage of the outside of Jeffrey Epstein's cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center during his suicide attempt reappeared Thursday _ a day after prosecutors said it hadn't been preserved.
"Earlier today, the government confirmed with MCC staff that the video was preserved by MCC staff upon defense counsel's request," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Swergold wrote in a letter to Judge Kenneth Karas.
That was the opposite of what the prosecutor said in White Plains Federal Court on Wednesday.
"It is our understanding that the video no longer exists ... it was not preserved," Swergold said, according to LoHud.com.
The letter provided no explanation for the bizarre about-face.
Billionaire pedophile Epstein attempted to hang himself on July 23 while sharing a cell with accused quadruple murderer Nick Tartaglione.
Bruce Barket, who is representing the former Briarcliff Manor cop in the death penalty case, declined to speculate about why prosecutors found the evidence so quickly.
"We look forward to seeing it," he said.
Tartaglione's defense sought the footage days after the incident as potential evidence of his good character. Tartaglione said he saved Epstein's life by alerting guards to the attempt. Epstein, who was awaiting trial for sex trafficking of underage girls, hanged himself two weeks later.
