Missing YouTuber Desmond "Etika" Amofah found dead in New York
Desmond Amofah, a popular YouTuber known as "Etika," has been found dead a week after he went missing, authorities said. He was 29-years-old.
The New York Police Department said Amofah went missing on the night of June 19. Authorities found his body in the East River on Monday after responding to a call about a person floating in the water near South Street Seaport, a department spokesperson told CBS News.
He was unresponsive and EMS pronounced him deceased, the spokesperson said. The investigation is ongoing and a cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
Amofah went missing after posting a video to his channel, TR1Iceman, in which he expresses suicidal thoughts. The video has since been taken down. New York police began searching for him a little more than a day after the 8-minute video was uploaded.
In his final video, Etika could be seen walking the streets of New York. "I'm sorry, y'all," he says. "I shouldn't have pushed so many people away. Now, I've got nobody."
He goes into some detail about his mental health and suicidal thoughts, as well as the dangers of social media. He apologizes to various people throughout the video, and talks about everything he will miss in the future.
"I'm sorry to those of you who I betrayed," he said. "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."
YouTubers shared heartfelt tributes on Twitter following the news of Amofah's death. Many fans also requested that YouTube reinstate his final video, which was taken down for violating community guidelines. YouTube has not responded to CBS News request for comment.
"We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community," the official YouTube Creators account tweeted. "All of us at YouTube are sending condolences to his loved ones and fans."
We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community. All of us at YouTube are sending condolences to his loved ones and fans.
— YouTube Creators (@YTCreators) June 25, 2019
He was a great Entertainer. One of the best streamers in the game. He lost a channel of over 800k subs and made a new one and was right back pulling thousands of viewers. Wherever he’s laid to rest I’ll be there. #JOYCONBOYZFOREVER
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) June 25, 2019
I’m speechless, this is actually wild.
— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) June 25, 2019
RIP Etika. I honestly feel that influencer mental health is something that we need to address more often.
This is tragic. https://t.co/g1ByRj05Lj
Please @TeamYouTube restore Etika’s “I’m sorry” video. It’s the mans final words. They should not be deleted!
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) June 25, 2019
If you are having suicidal thoughts, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1−800−273−TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.