Three arrested after US YouTuber Elliot Eastman is kidnapped on speedboat in Philippines as FBI hunt for missing vlogger
THREE have been arrested as cops continue to search for kidnapped American YouTuber Elliot Eastman.
Eastman, 26, was shot in the leg and snatched by a group of men with machine guns in a remote coastal town in the Philippines earlier this month.
Cops have now arrested three people – who have reportedly identified the other three accomplices who remain at large.
Filipino police were looking for the abductors on complaints of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Eastman remains missing, with a local mayor launching a 150,000PHP ($2,570) reward for information that could help find him.
No ransom demand or proof of life has since been received from Eastman’s abductors.
Philippine National Police spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo said they had activated all available resources to find Eastman.
He said: “Based on their statements, the three in custody were directly involved in the abduction of the American national.”
Eastman’s kidnapping in the village of Sibuco, in the southwest of the country, came just months after he got married to a local.
He was last seen on October 17 before the Vermont native was ambushed, 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.
The American officers spoke to Eastman’s wife with whom he lives in a run-down concrete shack belonging to his father-in-law.
He was staying at the father-in-law’s home when he was reportedly attacked by four armed men.
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 speedboat 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.”
Filipino news site Rappler cites reports saying the abduction may be tied to personal conflicts involving his wife.
Her former partner is now a person of interest in the case with residents claiming he may have wanted to rekindle the relationship.
Eeastman’s 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.”
The southern Philippines has seen decades of stark poverty and insurgency.