FBI agents have joined the hunt for missing US YouTuber Elliot Eastman after he was shot and kidnapped by gunmen in the Philippines.
Eastman, 26, was shot in the leg and ambushed by a group of men with machine guns in a remote coastal town just months after getting married to a local.
US YouTuber Elliot Eastman was kidnapped by an armed group, reports claim[/caption]
Eastman had married a Filipino just months before the arrest[/caption]
FBI agents interview locals following the kidnapping[/caption]
A Filipino policeman investigates the area Eastman was kidnapped from[/caption]
Local Philippine forces are also investigating the kidnapping[/caption]
He was last seen in the village of Sibuco on October 17 before the Vermont native was shoved into a white speedboat and taken away.
FBI agents have now arrived in the country and are working with local police searching for the missing American.
He was staying at his father-in-law’s home when he was reportedly attacked by four armed men late Thursday night.
The attackers falsely claimed they were police and reportedly shot him in the leg when he tried to resist, officials said.
He was then bundled away in the vessel off the coast of Zamboanga del Norte – one of the most dangerous parts of the country.
When police arrived at the home to investigate they found a blood smear across the vinyl floor and an empty bullet cartridge from an M16 rifle.
Cops previously 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.”
Former Sibuco Mayor Norbideiri Edding said kidnappers may have targeted the American because they thought he was a rich foreigner.
Edding also claimed Eastman had been facing financial difficulties after allegedly being scammed by his previous girlfriend whom he had planned to marry.
Meanwhile, footage has emerged of Eastman’s Islamic wedding to wife Karisha Jala.
Eastman had converted to the religion before the ceremony – with the pair exchanging rings and religious vows during the nuptials.
His YouTube bio reads: “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.”
In a chilling Facebook livestream just weeks before Thursday’s shock incident, Elliot admitted he was scared living in Sibuco where he’d settled five months prior, according to cops.
On September 22 he said: “As long as I’m here, my life is still at risk, you know”, according to reports by Daily Mail USA.
He continued: “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 are in the country so it’s literally like the red zone.
“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.”
The Philippines’ southern region has been grappling with constant separatist attacks for decades.
A Muslim enclave in the predominantly Catholic country, it is also a notorious hub for violent extremist groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf.
Efforts toward peace have seen progress, with a 2014 peace agreement and the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in 2019.
However, sporadic clashes with extremist factions and ongoing poverty continue to challenge long-term stability.
Brit couple kidnapped by ISIS are rescued in brutal gun battle after they were snatched from Philippines beach
By Rebecca Husselbee
A BRITISH man and his wife were rescued from Philippine ISIS militants in a dramatic gun battle.
Allan and Wilma Hyrons where forcefully taken by the ISIS-affiliated group to a jungle hideout after being kidnapped by gunmen from a beach resort in 2019.
Photos released by the army show the couple unharmed and eating a meal.
Allan, 70, and Wilma, a Filipino, were abducted at about 6.50pm on October 4 from Hyrons Beach, a resort they own in the Zamboanga Del Sur province.
They were then forced on to two boats in the southern district of Tukuran, which then fled in opposite directions.
Their kidnappers were members of Abu Sayyaf, a group with extremist factions loyal to ISIS.
Regional military commander Lt Gen Cirilito Sobejana said troops tracked down the ISIS-linked cell hiding with the kidnap victims in the mountainous hinterlands, in Sulu province.
Troops engaged in a 10-minute-long exchange of fire with the couple’s captors.
Sobejana added: “There was a running gun battle. They left the two behind [Allan and Wilma] because they could not drag them any more.
“They scampered in different directions, but our troops are in pursuit.”
Neither were injured in the gun battle, but they were to have a medical check-up before being interviewed by military officials, said Sobejana.
Filipino security services patrol a beach near where Eastman was kidnapped from[/caption]
