American Kidnapped In Zamboanga Del Norte

[MotorSarge]

 

 

An American was reportedly kidnapped from a southern Philippine town and a search is underway

 

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In this photo provided by the Philippine National Police Regional Office 9, a policeman checks an area Friday Oct. 18, 2024, where an American identified as Elliot Onil Eastman, from Vermont, was reportedly abducted by gunmen in Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte province, southern Philippines. (Philippine National Police Regional Office 9 via AP)

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In this photo provided by the Philippine National Police Regional Office 9, a policeman checks an area Friday Oct. 18, 2024, where an American identified as Elliot Onil Eastman, from Vermont, was reportedly abducted by gunmen in Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte province, southern Philippines. (Philippine National Police Regional Office 9 via AP)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine police said Friday it has launched a search after gunmen reportedly abducted an American national, who was shot in the leg as he tried to resist before being spirited away from a southern Philippine coastal town by speedboat.

If confirmed to be a case of kidnapping for ransom, it would be the latest reminder of the long-running security problems that have hounded the southern Philippines, the homeland of a Muslim minority in the largely Roman Catholic nation.

Police in Sibuco town in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte tried to pursue the suspected abductors and their victim, who they identified as Elliot Onil Eastman, 26, from Vermont, after the reported abduction on Thursday night.

“We confirm that there was a report of the alleged abduction of an American national,” the regional police said in a statement. “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.”

The police asked the public to immediately provide any information that could help an ongoing investigation of the reported abduction.

Two police reports seen by The Associated Press said that a resident of Sibuco, Abdulmali Hamsiran Jala, reported to police that four men in black clothing who were armed with M16 rifles and introduced themselves as police officers forcibly took Eastman, who tried to escape.

One of the gunmen shot Eastman in the leg before dragging him into a speedboat then fled by sea further south toward the provinces of Basilan or Sulu, the police reports said.

Policemen chased but failed to find the gunmen and Eastman and alerted other police and Philippine marine units in the region, according to the reports.

Philippine authorities did not immediately provide background details of Eastman, but a person with a similar name has posted pictures and videos of himself on Facebook saying he had married a Muslim woman.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to questions about the reported abduction.

The southern Philippines has bountiful resources but has long been hamstrung by stark poverty and an array of insurgents and outlaws.

A 2014 peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest of several Muslim separatist groups, has considerably eased widespread fighting in the south. Relentless military offensives have weakened smaller armed groups like the notoriously violent Abu Sayyaf group over the years, considerably reducing kidnappings, bombings and other attacks.

The Abu Sayyaf group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines, is an offshoot of decades-long Muslim separatist unrest in the south and carried out mass kidnappings for ransom, beheadings and bombings more than two decades ago in the southern region.

They targeted American and other Western tourists and religious missionaries, most of whom were freed after ransoms were paid. A few were killed, including an American who was beheaded on the island province of Basilan and a U.S. missionary who was killed while Philippine army forces were trying to rescue him and his wife in 2002 in a rainforest in Sirawai town.

The Philippines will hold mid-term elections next year for more than 18,000 local, national and congressional posts, mostly provincial mayors and governors. In the traditionally volatile south, crimes including kidnappings and extortion have traditionally spiked as rogue politicians try to raise funds to fuel their campaigns ahead of elections in the past but only a few and isolated incidents have been reported in recent years, according to authorities.

[fillipino_wannabe]

From his youtube channel:
'Hello everyone I’m Elliot Eastman, I am 26 years old and 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. Zamboanga del Norte is a recently developed area of the Philippines that was once only accessible by boat. 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. I am from the USA'

https://www.youtube.com/@ElliotBeastman/videos

Seen a lot of foreigners promoting that area in the last year or 2 like it's some sort of utopia and barely mentioning that people were regularly getting kidnapped 10 years ago, knew it would quickly end in tears.

Edited October 18 by fillipino_wannabe

[Possum]

The points I've found interesting are this 26 year old guy came there due to an online site only to find upon arrival she was a scam artist. He hooked up with another, converted to Islam and got married. His occupation was 'content creator'. He was kidnapped within 200 meters of a military outpost, put on a boat and spirited away. Police were alerted and came to the location but they had no boat with which to launch a pursuit. At least the kidnappers had a well thought out plan.

Edited October 18 by Possum
info

[GeoffH]

I live in Mindanao but I would never go that far into the red zone, let alone live there.

I hope he ends up ok, having a bullet wound whilst being a kidnap victim isn't good.

[baronapart]

This is 175km down the coast from where my wife is from in ZDN (Salug). I spend a lot of time there but I am careful. I might drive through where he was from but I would never stay more than a day or two. He was there for more than 7 months. More than enough time to scope him out. As always this is about extorting money. I just watched his youtube videos. Seems a little off. In one of his videos he talks about loaning money to the locals at a profit. Painted a huge target on himself. He lived right on the beach. They just motored up. Shot him in the leg and threw him in the boat. Probably in and out in less than 5 minutes.

Edited October 18 by baronapart

[Joey G]

4 hours ago, baronapart said:

In one of his videos he talks about loaning money to the locals at a profit.

This idea is ranks up there with swimming with crocodiles in Northern Australia.  I feel bad for the guy... and if he gets out of this alive... he needs to get out of the country asap and never look back.  

[Mike J]

<snip>

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.

<end snip>

source https://www.the-sun.com/news/12704550/youtuber-elliot-onil-eastman-shot-kidnapped/

[scott h]

This guy has loser written all over him.

[BrettGC]

Not a lot of info yet.

Just when we thought it was becoming safer in that region.. 

I'm not seeing the connection between the event taking place so close to a military area and Abu Sayef - speculation.

Quote

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, Philippines – Gunmen abducted an American near a military outpost in Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte, late Thursday night, October 17.

Police-Zamboanga Peninsula Director Brigadier General Bowenn Joey Masauding said the American, Elliot Onil Eastman from Hinesborg, Vermont, United States, was snatched around 11 pm in Sitio Tungawan, Barangay Poblacion, by four men armed with M16 rifles.

Sibuco police chief Joseph Villarino said Eastman, a content creator, was dragged from his wife’s house by the gunmen who were all dressed in black.

He said they shot Eastman in the leg when he resisted, forcing him into a white boat. 

The gunmen fled toward the high seas, with authorities suspecting they were heading toward Sulu or Basilan.

The way Eastman was abducted, barely 200 meters from a Marine detachment, raised suspicions that it was the handiwork of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf.

Earlier, Villarino said he and his officers, escorted by Marines and fighters from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), went to Barangay Lala, about seven kilometers from the town center, after receiving reports of armed men on a pump boat.

“We did not find the armed men, but a few minutes after returning to our station, we received a report about the kidnapping at 11 o’clock in the evening,” Villarino said.

The abduction happened just as people in Sibuco, Sirawai, Siocon, and Baliguian towns in Zamboanga del Norte thought the days of kidnapping in their area were over.

“We thought we were already free of kidnappings for ransom. For the past seven years, we have been trying to erase the stigma that our place, the province, or even the entire Zamboanga Peninsula is a haven for kidnappers and other lawlessness. But then this happened,” former mayor Norbideiri Edding told Rappler on Friday, October 18.

A witness, Abdulmali Hamsiran Jala, told authorities that the suspects presented themselves as policemen. They wore face masks while escaping with the wounded victim.

Villarino said he and his policemen, together with the Marines and the Army, pursued the kidnappers but were hindered by a lack of seacraft.

Edding said Eastman came to the Philippines to marry a woman from Zamboanga City, who later turned out to be a scammer. The victim lost a lot of money to the scammer but then met the woman from Sibuco, whom he married about five months ago.

Barangay Poblacion chairman Merjan Caril said Eastman converted to Islam and lived in his wife’s house in a depressed area in Sibuco, often seen roaming the town.

The American was apparently facing financial difficulties, but Edding said kidnappers have always seen foreigners as opportunities to make money.

The former mayor said the incident hurt efforts by provincial and regional officials to rid the area of its reputation for lawlessness.

“I think our authorities are just too complacent. This is a wake-up call that we’re not yet fully free from this kind of atrocity,” Edding said. – Rappler.com

 

 

 

Edited October 18 by BrettGC

[Old55]

I often made stupid choices at that age. Wishing him a quick positive outcome.