3 arrested in US vlogger’s kidnap; still no proof of life
The Philippine National Police on Wednesday said three suspects in the Oct. 17 kidnapping of American vlogger Elliot Onil Eastman were now in the custody of its Zamboanga regional command.
Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, the PNP spokesperson, said the three suspects, who had undergone inquest proceedings, identified three more persons as part of the group that abducted Eastman.
Complaints for kidnapping and serious illegal detention have been filed against the six suspects, she said at a press briefing at Camp Crame.
No word on location
Fajardo withheld their names, citing the ongoing manhunt.
“We are still looking for John Does who can be a possible accessory to the crime,” she added.
The suspects in police custody did not give any lead on Eastman’s location or whether he was still alive.
“But until now we have not received any information about the demand for ransom. Sadly, we still don’t have any proof of life,” Fajardo said.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, the PNP Zamboanga command (Regional Office 9) said the suspects in custody had “direct participation in the kidnapping.”
The criminal complaints were filed against them before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte. According to Lt. Col. Helen Galvez, the PNP Region 9 spokesperson, two of the three suspects surrendered to authorities, while the third was arrested in an operation.
Quoting their confession, Galvez said the three acted as lookouts and spotters during the abduction, which was planned three days before the incident.
She added that all six suspects belonged to different crime groups that operate in the Sibuco area, “common criminals … who only worked together after seeing a vulnerable victim.”
“We are still optimistic that he (Eastman) is still alive,” Galvez said, adding that the search has been expanded to include neighboring Mindanao provinces.
“Although the Basilan and Sulu provinces are now free of Abu Sayyaf (bandits), we are not discounting these areas. There are areas in these provinces we are also looking into, those pointed to by the intelligence community,” she said.
On Oct. 17, Eastman, a Vermont native married to a resident of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte, was abducted at gunpoint from their coastal home in Sitio Tungawan, Barangay Poblacion.
One of the abductors reportedly shot him in the leg when he resisted. The American was forcibly taken aboard a motorboat which then headed toward open waters.
