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FBI visits Zamboanga del Norte town where American content creator was abducted

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Queenie Casimiro

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:952px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1729398755580New Project (9).jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:952px"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Elliot Eastman Youtube Channel</em><em></em></span></span></span></div><p>The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has also started looking into the abduction of an American citizen married to a Filipina and who was abducted in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.</p><p>FBI agents paid a courtesy visit on Sibuco Mayor Joel Ventura on Saturday to get updates on the ground.</p><p>The group then proceeded to the residence of the victim&#x27;s wife at Sitio Tungawan in Barangay Poblacion to talk to the wife and her family.</p><p>The FBI has legal attachés and agents across the world, including in the Philippines. These personnel “[serve] as a bridge to our overseas partners and a conduit for strengthening the global rule of law,” the bureau says on its website.</p><p>The legal attaché offices also “regularly [work] through elements of the international law enforcement community such as Interpol and Europol and numerous working groups, task forces, and training initiatives.”</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/10/19/-persons-of-interest-tagged-in-abduction-of-american-in-zamboanga-del-norte-1848">READ: &#x27;Persons of interest&#x27; tagged in abduction of American in Zamboanga del Norte</a></div><p>Elliot Onil Eastman, a native of Vermont and a content creator on YouTube, was forcibly taken by four armed men who pretended to be law enforcement personnel in the evening of Oct. 17, 2024.</p><p>He reportedly resisted his abductors, prompting them to shoot him in the leg.</p><p>He was then taken to a waiting &quot;jungkung&quot; motorized pumpboat that sped towards the high seas.</p><div><br/><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d477512.63328499097!2d121.7349658133722!3d7.32162257196149!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x3251b72162d96949%3A0xc9c867b5ea3ee43!2sSibuco%2C%20Zamboanga%20del%20Norte!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sph!4v1729397726529!5m2!1sen!2sph" width="600" height="450" style="border:0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>The police and military launched a search and rescue operation for Eastman while security forces in neighboring provinces have been put on alert for possible sightings of Eastman and his captors.</p><p>No group has been named as potentially responsible for the abduction and there has been no contact between Eastman&#x27;s family and his captors.</p><p>Regional police said Saturday that they are looking at several persons of interest.</p><p>&quot;We are validating leads to ensure we are tracking the right group commander and we can build an airtight case,&quot; Police Brig. Gen. Bowenn Joey Madaudding, commander of the task group formed in response to the abduction, said.</p>

<p>FBI agents paid a courtesy visit on Sibuco Mayor Joel Ventura on Saturday to get updates on the ground.</p>

FBI agents paid a courtesy visit on Sibuco Mayor Joel Ventura on Saturday to get updates on the ground.