YouTube Star Etika Found Dead In New York Following “Suicidal” Video Post

UPDATE: According to the New York Police Department, Etika has been found dead. The police haven’t provided any other information regarding his death.

Read the original story below.

A body has since been found in the East River but hasn’t been identified yet.

Desmond Amofah, better known as YouTube star and Twitch streamer Etika, went missing Wednesday after posting a video threatening suicide. Since then, some of his belongings were discovered on the Manhattan Bridge, and a body has been pulled from the East River, although it has yet to be identified.

“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,” Etika said in the eight-minute video prior to his disappearance. “I really had no intention of killing myself but I’d always push it too far. I guess I am mentally ill.” The video has since been deleted after it went live at midnight on Wednesday according to Kotaku.

Since then, some items belonging to Etika, including his cellphone, a Nintendo Switch console and his identification, were found on the Manhattan Bridge.

The 29-year-old has amassed 800,000 subscribers on YouTube, where he vlogs about video games.

However, Etika has a long history of struggles with mental illness, and some of these incidents have been documented publicly. As Kotaku reports:

“In October, Amofah uploaded pornography to his YouTube channel, leading YouTube to suspend it, and posted the message, ‘And now, it’s my turn to die. I love you all.’ (He later apologized for worrying his fans.) In April, police in riot gear broke into Amofah’s home after, as a police representative told Kotaku, he ‘was threatening suicide in the apartment’ and has a ‘psych history.’ On Instagram, Amofah livestreamed the incident to over 19,000 viewers. In May, Amofah got in a physical altercation with a police officer or security guard. Both episodes resulted in hospital visits.”

Etika had previously spoken on the cons of internet fame too.

“Let my story be one that advises caution on too much of the social media s–t, man,” he said according to the New York Post. “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.”

H/T: Kotaku