The US Embassy in Manila said Friday, Dec. 6, that it is coordinating with Philippine authorities amid the possible death of American vlogger who was kidnapped south of the country.
The embassy said it is aware of reports that the Philippine National Police (PNP) has presumed that Elliot Eastman might have already been dead after he was shot twice by his captors on the night of his abduction in October.
However, the embassy did not provide any other comment.
“We have no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens in the Philippines,” the embassy’s spokesman, Kanishka Gangopadhyay, said.
Eastman, who was creating contents about his life in Zamboanga del Norte, was abducted mid-October when members of Abu Sayyaf group forcibly entered into his house before midnight.
Eastman reportedly managed to run but was shot in the leg and forced to board a boat towards the seas of Sulu and Basilan.