Eastman had initially come to the Philippines a year and a half ago to marry a woman from Zamboanga City, who later turned out to be a scammer. After losing a significant amount of money, he eventually found love again and married a woman from Sibuco about five months ago. Eastman had recently converted to Islam and had been running a YouTube channel named ElliotBeastman, where he documented his life as one of the few foreigners in the area which he referred to as the "red zone" of the Philippines.