[Denver]

A body has been found in Manhattan’s East River as the search for missing YouTuber Etika continues.

The 29-year-old gamer was last heard from on Wednesday, after he posted a video titled ‘I’m Sorry’ in which he expressed suicidal thoughts.

A phone and a backpack, believed to belong to Etika, were discovered on a bridge in New York, along with the YouTuber’s driving licence, headphone, wallet and a Nintendo Switch.

The New York Police Department responded to an emergency call at 6.18pm reporting a body in the water, and police confirmed that the male was pronounced dead on the scene.

The body is awaiting identification by relatives.

A statement issued by the NYPD read: ‘The medical examiner will determine the cause of death and the investigation is ongoing.

‘Identification of the deceased is pending proper family notification.

‘The medical examiner will confirm identification.’

They desribed the investigation into Etika’s disappearance as ongoing.

Etika, real name Desmond Amofah, worried fans last week after expressing suicidal thoughts in a video uploaded to Twitch and YouTube.

In the clip, he said: ‘I’m sorry, yo. I’m sorry I betrayed your trust, I’m sorry I pushed you all away.”

Etika said he’d made a ‘clown’ of himself, and continued: ‘I shouldn’t have pushed so many people away. Now I got nobody. I wasn’t suicidal before, I really wasn’t. But one thing I didn’t realise is that the walls were closing around me so fast.

‘I really had no intention of killing myself but I would always push it too far. I guess I am mentally ill. I’m not trying to put responsibility on it, I did a lot of wrong too. Everyone’s gotta pay for what they’ve done wrong at some point, everyone’s gotta pay for their sins at some point. I guess mine caught up to me.’

The star said he hoped his story made YouTube a better place, and apologises for leaving a ‘stained legacy’.

The video’s description read: ‘I mislead so many of you, I manipulated, I lied, I shifted blame… I don’t know what awaits me on the other side, but I’m ready to face it.’

The Deputy Commissioner for Public Information appealed for info on Etika’s whereabouts, saying: ‘It has been reported to police that the missing was last heard from on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at approximately 20.00 hours by phone.

‘The missing is described as follows: Amofah, Desmond aka Etika.’

The YouTuber was described as a 6ft black male with brown eyes and black hair, and was believed to be wearing a white t-shirt.

Amofah has over 130,000 followers on YouTube, where he plays various games and discusses video game trailers.

His final tweet on his account, which has 324,000 followers, was a reply to a fan video of him.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/25/body-...tika-10062384/