Elliot Eastman has been presumed dead after he was shot and dumped into the sea amid a shocking ambush that occurred at his home.
The YouTuber was abducted from Sibucom, which is located in the Zamboanga del Norte region of the Philippines back in October after four armed men broke into his home pretending to be police officers.
The 26-year-old was reportedly in the house with his Muslim Filipina wife Karisha Jala when they burst through the door around 10PM on October 17.
It is believed that Eastman was shot in the leg while trying to resist the gunmen and was taken away on a speedboat and dumped into the sea.
The local authorities started an investigation in the hopes that they would find Eastman alive. However, the operation allegedly resulted in clashes with armed kidnapping groups on the conflict-torn island of Mindanao, and eventually, the suspects were shot dead after they were embroiled in a gunfight.
Pictures taken from the crime scene also showed blood smeared all across the vinyl floors of the couple's home.
Though the motive was not yet fully clear, the Daily Mail reported that former Sibuco mayor Norbideiri Edding said kidnappers may have targeted the American because they thought he was a rich foreigner and resented the fact that he was living with a local Muslim woman.
Speaking about the details of the incident, Lieutenant Colonel Ramoncelio Sawan, the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Zamboanga Peninsula acting spokesman, said: "Sometime late October, during our investigation, we encountered one witness who claimed Eastman had been shot during the abduction.
"On their way to escape by sea, the abductors noticed that Elliot Eastman was already dead. They threw his body into the water," he continued before noting that officials initially branded this as "speculation" until they received more evidence of the crime.
"But then later on, sometime in November, we caught a suspect linked to the kidnapping. He himself confirmed what happened. He confirmed Elliot had been shot and that the man was dumped overboard," he added.
Because of this, the authorities were able to execute an "extrajudicial confession" before submitting it to the Prosecutor's Office where they filed a complaint.
Shortly before his death, Eastman allegedly stated that he was afraid of living in the area, where he had been for about five months.
"As long as I'm here, my life is still at risk, you know," the YouTuber said during a Facebook Livestream on 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."
Eastman's family has been informed of the incident and the ongoing investigation through the US Embassy, a police spokesman added per the outlet.