An American man documenting his life in the Philippines was shot in the leg and abducted by a group of gunman pretending to be police officers, according to local authorities.
The victim, identified by police as Elliot Onil Eastman, was “forcibly taken” on Thursday from the southern island of Mindanao. According to a police report, the group of suspects, armed with M16 rifles at the time, were posing as law enforcement and then shot 26-year-old Eastman in the leg when he resisted and attempted to flee.
Police in Sibuco town in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte tried to pursue the suspected abductors, who made off with Eastman in a speed boat, but to no avail. They fled by sea further south toward the provinces of Basilan or Sulu, according to authorities. Law enforcement added that the search is ongoing and asked anyone with information in the case to come forward.
A U.S. embassy spokesman in Manila told reporters it was “aware of the reports and are coordinating with local authorities,” but declined further comment.
“Based on the initial profile given to us, he got married to a local in the area,” regional police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Helen Galvez told AFP. “He has been there for about five months.”
“So far, no one is asking for a ransom,” she said, adding the suspects have yet to be identified.
Eastman reportedly moved to the remote village and married a local woman. (Facebook)
While authorities have provided few other details, social media accounts that appear to belong to Eastman indicate he recently married a Muslim woman in 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.”
With News Wire Services
