Police and FBI launch investigation as Youtuber, age 26, kidnapped from 'most dangerous area' of Asian country

The FBI have now launched an investigation into the abduction of 26-year-old Elliot Eastman. It comes three days after the Philippine police said on Friday (October 18) that it has launched a search for the gunmen.

They identified the kidnap victim as Eastman, who was originally from Vermont, United States. He was reportedly shot in the leg as he tried to resist being taken on Thursday night (October 17), after his kidnappers burst into his home, before he was forced on to a speedboat in a southern Philippine coastal town called Sibuco.

The FBI have now arrived in the South Asian country, according to the MailOnline, to investigate the kidnapping. They have also reportedly interviewed Eastman’s new wife, Karisha Jala, who was reportedly at home with her husband when he was taken.

Eastman is thought to be behind the Youtube channel ElliotBeastman. In his bio, he wrote: “Hello everyone I’m Elliot Eastman, I am 26 years old and 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.

“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!”

Just weeks before he was abducted, Eastman then said on a Facebook livestream, however, that he was afraid of living in the area, according to local police.

“As long as I'm here, my life is still at risk, you know,' Eastman said on Sunday September 22. “That's the reality, especially the area that I'm in. . . . It's not even just the Philippines. This area that I'm in is like the most dangerous area in the country so it's literally like the red zone.”

The social media star added that “of course he was scared” but not as much as he was at the beginning of his time in the Asian country. “There's nights I'm afraid, there's times I'm afraid. . . but it's gotten better. In the past, I've had a hard time sleeping at night time.”

Police in Sibuco said that tried to pursue the suspected abductors and their victim, after the abduction was reported to them on Thursday night. In a statement, they said: “We confirm that there was a report of the alleged abduction of an American national. We want to assure the public, particularly the community of Sibuco, that we are doing everything in our power to secure the safe recovery of the victim.”

The police also appealed to the public to provide any information that could help their ongoing investigation. Two police reports said that a resident of Sibuco, Abdulmali Hamsiran Jala, reported to police that four men in black clothing who were armed with M16 rifles and introduced themselves as police officers forcibly took Eastman, who tried to escape.

One of the gunmen shot Eastman in the leg before dragging him into a speedboat then fled by sea further south toward the provinces of Basilan or Sulu, the police reports said. Policemen chased the speedboat but failed to catch it, and have alerted other police and Philippine marine units in the region, according to local reports.

A local law enforcement spokesperson Police Colonel Helen Galvez confirmed officials still did not know the motivation behind the kidnapping, but also that there was “no proof of life”. She said: “We still have no proof of life and no contact from the abductors. Both here in the Philippines and also in the US, no such communication has been received yet.”

The former Sibuco Mayor Norbideiri Edding said kidnappers may have targeted the American because they thought he was a rich foreigner.

The US Embassy in the Philippines said in a statement: 'When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we make every effort to keep lines of communication open with families. The Department of State has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad.”