American Man Kidnapped, Taken Away on Boat in Philippines, Police Say
Four armed men shot and abducted a 26-year-old from Vermont in western Mindanao, the police said. He had been living in the area since May.
www.nytimes.com
The man, Elliot Onil Eastman, 26, of Vermont, was abducted from Sibuco, a coastal town on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. His kidnapping was reported by his father-in-law, AbdulMali Hamsiran Jala, who told the police that four men who were wearing black pants, shirts and face covers forcibly entered Mr. Eastman’s house in the Zamboanga del Norte Province.
Falsely introducing themselves as police officers, the men attempted to take Mr. Eastman, who managed to resist and run before being shot in the leg with a rifle, the police said. The men put him on a white boat and headed out to sea, according to the police, with the authorities from several Filipino law enforcement agencies launching a “hot pursuit operation” to find the kidnappers.
Mr. Eastman had been living in the Philippines since May, the local authorities said. He first came to the country a year earlier, when he met his wife, Karisha Jala Eastman. They married in July 2023, and Mr. Eastman returned to the United States for work, before traveling back to the Philippines this year.