On October 17, 2024, Elliot Eastman, an American YouTuber residing in the Philippines, was kidnapped and wounded by armed men from his home in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Police reports have stated he was shot in the leg and abdomen and was last seen being dragged into a boat into the Sulu Sea.

[5] Eastman was a 26-year-old man from Hinesburg, Vermont, who graduated from Champlain Valley Union High School in 2016.

In May 2024, he settled in the municipality of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte, in the Philippines to live with his Filipino wife.

Two months after the kidnapping, the police concluded in December that he is likely dead (possibly having bled to death from his wounds) and that his body was thrown into the Sulu Sea by the perpetrators.