The New York Police Department confirmed on Tuesday that popular gaming YouTuber Ekita (real name Desmond Amofah), has been found dead. The NYPD opened a missing person's case for the 29-year-old on June 20, days after the creator uploaded a now-deleted video on his secondary channel expressing suicidal thoughts. On Saturday, his belongings were found near the Manhattan Bridge, and now his death has been confirmed almost a week after fans last heard from him.
It wasn't just the troubling video. Having amassed over 237,000 Instagram followers, Amofah had a lot of eyes on him, and the YouTube community had been worried for some time due to a series of alarming events that included other suicidal threats and altercations with police.
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"Dear @Etika, listen man if you can see this right now please let the internet know you are alive," fellow YouTuber Keem wrote on Twitter before Amofah's death was confirmed. "Yes some people will be mad but trust me way more people will be happy to know you are alive & safe somewhere."
Dear @Etika , listen man if you can see this right now please let the internet know you are alive. Yes some people will be mad but trust me way more people will be happy to know you are alive & safe somewhere.
— KEEM ? (@KEEMSTAR) June 23, 2019
Following the confirmation of Amofah's death, YouTube posted an official statement on its creators account.
"We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community," the YouTube Creators account posted on Twitter. "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
In addition to mourning in comments on social media, fans are also asking YouTube to memorialize his original channel, which is currently offline. The cause of Amofah's death is still unknown.
Refinery29 has reached out to YouTube for comment.
If you are thinking about suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or the Suicide Crisis Line at 1-800-784-2433.
This is a developing story.