CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte is in the Epstein files. That includes references to the owner of the Carolina Panthers as well as the area code in one of Charlotte’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The earliest email mentioning David Tepper dates back to January 2013. It’s between Jeffrey Epstein and a former executive with Trump’s resort empire named Nicholas Ribis. That email from Ribis reads “Jeffrey – do u know David Tepper? I do I am close to deal with him – can we talk”. In a July 5, 2014 email sent to Epstein from a redacted email account reads “At the party – waiting for our friend to pick us up:) Met David Tepper. Very smart and very funny.” Epstein replied to that email writing “If you see Tepp(e)r again invite him to breakfast on Sept 6 or 7 with Bill Gates at my house”. Epstein also wrote an email to himself in August 2014 with the subject “billionaire”,  in which Tepper is also named. WCCB did not find any emails sent to or received by Tepper himself. Also in the Epstein files is an FBI report investigating violent crimes against children and human trafficking. That report shows Epstein called a phone number associated with the SouthPark area of Charlotte in 2005. Other documents in the Epstein files name a woman in the SouthPark area. A handwritten note states “she has done some type media interview regarding ‘JE’ victim.” It’s unclear how she is involved. We have chosen to not name her in our report. We reached out to the woman for comment but have not heard back. Two hours after we attempted to contact her, some of the documents naming her were no longer available on the DOJ website. We also reached out to David Tepper’s team, asking about the emails and specifically if Tepper ever met Epstein. A spokesperson told us, “no comment.” ...read more read less