Investigations by FBI into "Suspicious Device" Yields No Explosives, Evacuated Residents OK'd to Return Home

DEL RIO, TX — On Wednesday, a “suspicious device” found inside a home on Rusty Drive in the Val Verde Park Estates neighborhood sparked a multi-agency investigation. The device was initially thought to be explosive. In response, Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for residents on Rusty Drive and Grissom Drive as a precautionary measure.

 The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, a San Antonio bomb squad, and other agencies appeared at the scene with some agents wearing tactical gear and bearing automatic weapons. Though, the gear and weapons were stored away soon after arriving, seeming to signal a diminishing level of threat to the area. 

After 3 hours of on-site investigations, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez told the press, officially, there was determined to be no threat to the area after "a thorough search and sweep of the residence in question", and that residents were permitted to return home. 

Sheriff Martinez stated that while the device did visually appear to be dangerous and explosive in nature, the findings of the investigations yielded no actual explosives.

Related to the situation, there remains an on-going investigation into one individual of interest. Local law enforcement tells DRNN that there is no threat to public safety connected to this story at this time.