Elliot Eastman, an American YouTuber documenting his life in the Philippines, may have been fatally struck when he was shot during a kidnapping more than six weeks ago.
Eastman, originally from Vermont, was taken on Oct. 17 from his home in the coastal town of Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte province, according to authorities.
The group of suspects, armed with M16 rifles at the time, were posing as law enforcement and then shot 26-year-old Eastman when he resisted and attempted to flee. He sustained two wounds, one in the leg when he was first shot, and another in his stomach, police said.
From there, they dragged Eastman into a motorboat and sped off toward the provinces of Basilan or Sulu, per earlier police reports.
Since then, four men have been taken into custody, Jean Fajardo, a spokeswoman for the police, told the New York Times. In subsequent interviews with law enforcement, one of the suspects provided information that has led police to believe Eastman died the day he was kidnapped, Fajardo added.
Eastman’s body had not yet been found, police said, but they believe his abductors threw it overboard after he died on their boat.
Another three suspects involved were killed in a gun battle with police in the south last month, and Fajardo said another four remain at large.
Eastman moved to the Philippines back in May, after he meeting and marrying a woman from the the remote village of Sibuco.
“I met the love of my life deep in the mountains of the red zone of the Philippines,” a bio on Eastman’s YouTube page reads.
“Zamboanga del Norte is a recently developed area of the Philippines that was once only accessible by boat,” it continued. “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.”
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.