UPDATE: YouTuber Desmond Amofah was found dead in New York City, the New York City Police Department has confirmed.
Amofah, known across social media as Etika, went missing last week after posting a video detailing his struggles with suicidal ideations that concerned his fans.
Police promptly went searching for Amofah, recovering some of his belongings along the Manhattan Bridge on Friday.
On Monday evening, authorities recovered a body from the city’s East River, which they are now confirming is indeed Amofah, Buzzfeed notes.
Amofah’s cause of death is not immediately known.
The National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. International suicide helplines can be found here.
Earlier:
The body of an unidentified man was recovered from New York City’s East River on Monday evening as authorities continue to search for missing YouTube content creator Etika.
According to the New York Post, the release of the person’s identity is pending family notification.
Etika, whose real name is Desmond Amofah, is a video-game reviewer on YouTube. Amofah was last heard from at around 8 p.m. last Wednesday. Fans immediately became concerned as prior to his disappearance, he posted a video expressing suicidal thoughts.
“You know I wasn’t suicidal before — I really wasn’t. But one thing I didn’t realize was that the walls were closing around me so fast,” he said in the 8-minute video, which has since been deleted. “I really had no intention of killing myself but I’d always push it too far. I guess I am mentally ill.”
Last week, investigators found personal items along the Manhattan Bridge that belonged to the YouTube Star, including his driver’s license and his cellphone.
The 29-year-old has 239,000 followers on Instagram and 314,000 on Twitter.
In the deleted video, he did reference the downside of internet visibility and fame.
“Let my story be one that advises caution on too much of the social media s–t, man,” he said. “It will f–k you up and give you an image of what you want your life to be and it can get blown completely out of proportion, dog. Unfortunately, it consumed me.”