Police in the Philippines are investigating reports that kidnapped American YouTuber Elliot Eastman has been shot dead.
Eastman, 26, was reportedly shot twice while resisting an abduction by gunmen on Oct. 17 in the coastal town of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte province, the Associated Press and local media outlets ABS-CBN and GMA Regional TVstated, citing police sources.
AP added that police also believe he was kidnapped by four men posing as police officers and that Eastman — who is from Vermont — was dragged onto a speedboat, known locally as a banca, before it sped off.
On Thursday, Dec. 5, the Police Regional Office-Zamboanga (PRO-9) said a witness told them Eastman died the night of his abduction in the banca, according to GMA Regional TV.
The witness also reportedly said the abductors threw Eastman’s body into the ocean, however, police are yet to find a body during their search efforts.
A police officer investigates an area where Elliot Eastman was reportedly abducted on Oct. 17.
Philippine National Police Regional Office 9 via AP
According to ABS-CBN, regional police spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramoncelio Sawan said investigators received information from a relative of one of the suspects that Eastman died from gunshot wounds to his thigh and abdomen while being taken away by his abductors.
The relative also reportedly said Eastman’s abductors threw his body into the ocean.
The outlet reported Sawan said the information about the YouTuber’s death was corroborated by a key suspect in the abduction who was recently arrested. His sworn statement has been submitted to government prosecutors, added AP.
“We are constrained to believe that he has died. All of the information that we have points to that,” Sawan said per AP, but he added that without the victim’s body, “we’re still leaving a little bit of hope that it may not be the case.”
A search for Eastman and his abductors led to the arrest of a number of suspects, while three suspects were killed in a gunbattle with police last month, according to the outlet.
“We would like to assure the public that PRO 9 CIMTG Eastman is exhausting all available resources to arrest them,” police said of the suspects, according to GMA Regional TV. “PRO 9 would like to assure the public that the ongoing investigation will eventually result in the complete resolution of the case, and all perpetrators will be made accountable for this crime.”
AP reported that Sawan said police had told Eastman’s Filipino wife and the U.S. Embassy in Manila about his reported death.
According to Eastman’s YouTube Channel, he is 26 years old and he traveled to the Philippines 18 months ago.
“I came to the Philippines about a year and half ago where I met the love of my life deep in the mountains of the red zone of the Philippines,” the bio on Eastman’s Channel reads. “Zamboanga del Norte is a recently developed area of the Philippines that was once only accessible by boat. I will be showing you my day to day life as the first and only foreigner to have ever lived here in sibuco for a long period of time. I am from the USA!”
Eastman posted his last YouTube video on Oct. 15, two days before his alleged kidnapping. In the video, the social media user could been seen eating noodles and sitting in a deck chair, while other clips showed Eastman doing yoga and documenting the heavy rain in the country.
