FBI agents search home in Jacksonville's Girvin area

Agents wearing white hazmat suits spend hours collecting evidence

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – FBI agents conducted a search Friday evening at a home in Jacksonville's Girvin area. 

Evidence response team agents were searching the house at the corner of Eucalyptus Drive and Prindle Drive East as part of an ongoing investigation, said Amanda Videll, spokeswoman for the FBI office in Jacksonville.

Agents, some of whom were wearing white hazmat suits, spent hours going in and out of the home, processing and bagging evidence.

Dan Barrs, who lives on Eucalyptus Drive, told News4Jax he was in his front yard early Friday evening when he saw nearly a dozen FBI and Border Patrol agents pull up to his next-door neighbor's home. 

“I was kind of, like, 'What’s going on?'" Barrs said. “Then one of the agents came over and introduced himself, a special agent. He said, 'It’s safe. We’re just going to be searching one of the rooms in this house.'”

News4Jax has learned the home is owned by Pedro and Marcia Bolatete. Barrs said it was unusual to see law enforcement officers at their home. 

“We’ve known them for more than 20 years, and we’ve never seen any type of activity in this neighborhood, let alone something like that," Barrs said. "It just brings back what you always hear: You never really know what’s going on in the house right next to you."

Federal investigators have remained tight-lipped about what they were searching for. 

"The concern was already created when I saw the FBI, but the hazmat suits created a real concern," Barrs said.

One of the homeowners, Marcia Bolatete, later came outside, and told News4Jax that agents were searching a room that they rented out. 

At one point, News4Jax saw agents with multiple boxes that had pictures of assault rifles and a handgun, along with one box that had the word "muzzle" on it. 

It's unknown what specifically agents were looking for, but they processed a lot of items they took from the house. 


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