LEE COUNTY, Fla. - The FBI demands thousands of e-mails from four upper-management employees of the Lee County government, including County Manager Don Stilwell.

Some of the search terms for those emails deal with the potential Red Sox stadium sites.

The FBI tells WINK News it sent the letter to the Lee County Attorney's Office in March to start an investigation, but the bureau won't say why, so we asked a county commissioner and one of the employees named in the letter what it's all about.

Tuesday was the first time Lee County Public Works Director Jim Lavender learned the FBI wants his emails.

"I really can't begin to speculate on what it could be, but whatever they need from me, they're welcome to it," Lavender says.

Special agents requested certain key words he and two other county employees have used. Senior Road Project Manager Don DeBerry and Transportation Director Scott Gilbertson are also included in the FBI's email hunt.

Those keywords include:
- Three Oaks
- Impact
- Golf
- Bonita
- Biodiesel
- Vegas
- Dredging
- FBI
- Lease
- Edison Farms
- University
- Galvano
- Waterman
- Estero

"They have the sites listed -- all the Red Sox sites," Lavender says.

That's Watermen-Pinnacle, Galvano Development, University Highland and Edison Farms -- all possible places for the new Red Sox stadium. So what's it have to do with the transportation department?

"Roads are an issue with all of them, whether they need to be widened, built -- it's a factor with every site," Lavender explains.

Lavender runs down the keyword list for us, searching for a theme.

"There's the dredging that we're doing at Blind Pass and biodiesel, which is a project I'm working on, but other than that I can't put it together," Lavender says. "Three Oaks is a road project, but it's been discussed for 10 years approximately."

"Lease? I do leases," Lavender says. "Vegas? I don't know -- I've never been to Vegas, I don't go to Vegas."

We tried talking to County Manager Don Stilwell whose emails are also wanted by the FBI. The bureau wants anything to do with biodiesel, mortgage, FBI, lease, and Samir -- that's the first name of Stilwell's son-in-law Samir Cabrera, convicted of real estate fraud.

County Commissioner Brian Bigelow can't speculate on what the FBI's investigation could mean, but he says he's concerned.

"There's gotta be something else they already know that they're trying to flesh out and find proof of," Bigelow says.

As for Lavender, who's served the county for 34 years, it's come as quite a surprise less than two years before he retires.

"They're welcome to whatever I have," Lavender says. "Believe me, I don't mess around with the FBI! I have no criminal record. I'll cooperate fully."

We stopped by Stilwell's house twice and left a message for comment but have not heard back.

Both Commissioners Bigelow and Bob Janes tell WINK News they plan to launch their own investigation first thing Wednesday.

The Lee County Attorney's Office tells us it has complied with the FBI's request.