Drake Bell Reported Missing, Police Say Former Child Star Is In Danger [UPDATE]
Frightening news out of Florida today, as police in Daytona Beach, Florida have announced that former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell is missing and considered “endangered.”
Law enforcement officials took to social media to request information about Bell’s whereabouts.
It’s not currently clear why the actor is thought to be in danger.
“He should be traveling in a 2022 grey BMW and his last known location is potentially the area of Mainland High School on 4/12/2023 just before 9 p.m.,” the post read.
“He is considered missing and endangered.”
As People magazine points out, Bell was active on social media as recently as eleven days ago.
On April 3, he tweeted a link to his latest podcast interview.
There’s no word yet on how long Drake has been missing or who alerted the police.
Bell found success on the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake and Josh while he was still in his teens.
He wrote the show’s opening theme song and shifted his focus to music after the series came to an end.
For a while it looked as though Drake would rather seamlessly transition to the next stage of his career.
But like so many child stars, his adult years have been marred by legal issues and erratic behavior.
In 2021, Bell pled guilty to child endangerment after he was caught messaging sexual content to a 15-year-old.
Bell’s victim accused him of grooming her from the age of 12 and then sexually abusing her when she was 15.
He was sentenced to to two years probation and 200 hours of community service.
Bell is also prohibited from contacting his victim.
Bell married Janet Von Schmeling in 2018, but the couple reportedly separated late last year.
“Janet is devoted to raising their son,” a source close to the situation told People at the time.
“Drake and Janet are committed to maintaining a peaceful co-parenting relationship and giving their son the best life possible.”
It’s unclear at the moment if Bell’s disappearance is in any way related to his past legal troubles or his issues with substance abuse.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
UPDATE: Police say Bell has been found and is “safe.” It’s still unclear why he was reported missing, but the important thing is that he’s out of harm’s way!
Published at Thu, 13 Apr 2023 19:20:51 +0000
