Kelly Quinn/Salty Dog Day Sails
A photo of FBI agents on Epstein's private island.
- Directed by a task force for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, FBI agents reportedly raided the private island of criminal financier Jeffrey Epstein.
- The island, Little Saint James, is located between islands St. Thomas and St. John in the Virgin Islands.
- One witness, who sailed past the island, described the scene to INSIDER.
- The search, which occurred Monday morning local time, occurred two days after Epstein died by an apparent suicide, while being held in federal jail on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
FBI agents from New York raided the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's private island in the Caribbean Monday morning local time, according to a report from NBC
The search was led by a task force for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, according to NBC News. It occurred two days after Epstein died from an apparent suicide, while being held in federal jail on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
Two senior law enforcement officials confirmed the search on the island to NBC News.
Federal prosecutors said over the past weekend that the investigation into Epstein's charges, particularly focusing on the conspiracy charge, would continue despite his death.
"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," US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement Saturday following Epstein's death, "and our investigation of the conduct charged in the indictment, which included a conspiracy count, remains ongoing."
Read more: Trump just spread a baseless conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein's death
Representatives from the US Attorney's Office and FBI in New York could not be immediately reached by INSIDER for comment.
One witness, who was sailing past the island, described the scene to INSIDER.
"Our charter guests today got more for their trip than just sailing, tropical fish, and turtles - we sailed almost directly into an FBI raid on Jeffrey Epstein's Little St James Island," Kelly Quinn, a captain for Salty Dog Day Sails, wrote in an email to INSIDER.
Read more: Why did Jeffrey Epstein build a temple on his private island?
"As we [were] rolling up the jib and dropping the main, we witnessed FBI agents offloading from a boat and organizing, disbursing onto the island and what appeared to be a raid with about 15-ish officers from various law enforcement agencies, namely the FBI," Quinn wrote.
Quinn also said it has been an "interesting couple of years" for the charter boat company, having survived hurricanes Irma and Maria and "not working for 18 months while we rebuilt the rest of our business, boats, and lives" - and now getting to see "this Jeffrey Epstein situation unfold in front of our eyes on the world stage."
- Read more:
- Jeffrey Epstein died by apparent suicide in jail. Here's everything we know about the convicted sex offender's past, famous connections, and his court case.
- Trump just spread a baseless conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein's death
- Jeffrey Epstein died in jail by apparent suicide. Here's what his death means for his accusers.
- Skepticism and conspiracy theories abound after Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide in jail