Authorities in New York confirmed Tuesday that a body pulled from a river is popular gaming YouTuber Etika, who vanished last week amid concerns regarding his mental health.
While the NYPD hasn’t revealed the circumstances surrounding the death of Desmond Amofah, 29, The Verge reported that Amofah was reported missing roughly a day after he posted a now-deleted video to his secondary channel where he expressed suicidal thoughts. Titled “I’m Sorry,” he reportedly apologized to fans for letting them down and claimed that social media was to blame for his deteriorating state.
“I’m sorry to those of you who I betrayed,” he said, according to BuzzFeed. “I’m sorry for leaving such a stained legacy. I hope that my story maybe helps to make YouTube be a better place somehow in the future, to where people know boundaries and limits and how far things should go.”
“I really had no intention of killing myself…But I’d always push it too far. I guess I am mentally ill.”
Last seen on June 19, the search for Amofah took a grim turn when the New York Post reported that police located several of his personal items—including an identification card, Nintendo Switch console, and laptop bag—near the Manhattan Bridge on Saturday evening.
We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased. https://t.co/sedwZZxglw
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 25, 2019
According to Kotaku, concern for the gaming YouTuber grew in April, when he reportedly filmed a standoff with police who arrived at his apartment after he threatened suicide. Months earlier, in October, he reportedly deleted his YouTube channel and made references to suicide on Reddit.
In a statement issued to the news outlet, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed that Amofah’s body was pulled from the East River.
They said, “The NYPD harbor removed the male to Pier 16, where EMS pronounced him deceased. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death and the investigation is ongoing.”
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[Featured image: Desmond “Etika” Amofah/YouTube video screengrab]
