Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been spotted swarming accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's private island in the Caribbean on Monday, days after he was discovered dead in a New York City jail cell from an apparent suicide.
Law enforcement officials confirmed to NBC News that agents with the FBI are searching the private island located off the coast of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands at the direction of the Epstein task force that's being led by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.
Epstein purchased the island in 1998 for $7.95 million and built an enormous estate there that included a 24,000 square-foot private residence, two pools, a spa and a blue-and-white-striped structure that has been the subject of endless conspiracy theories online.
The 66-year-old Epstein was arrested on July 6 in Teterboro, New Jersey on child sex-traffic charges after returning from Paris on a private jet. He had been held without bail at the New York City Metropolitan Correctional Center, until he was discovered unresponsive in his cell on August 10. He was later pronounced dead at a Manhattan hospital later that same day.
The former financier pleaded 'Not Guilty' to charges of sex-trafficking girls as young as 14. A federal indictment says Epstein "sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes" located in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. Some of Epstein's victims were paid to recruit other underage girls, the indictment adds. On Friday, thousands of documents were unsealed in Epstein's case, revealing dozens of high-profile names that included a former senator, governor of New Mexico, and longtime professor at MIT.
The investigation into the alleged sex trafficking Epstein engaged in will continue, despite the multi-millionaire's death, officials said.
"To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so, let me reiterate that we remain committed to standing for you, and our investigation of the conduct charged in the indictment — which included a conspiracy count — remains ongoing," the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, Geoffrey Berman, said in a statement Saturday.