Drake Bell Posts First Message After Reported Disappearance
Drake Bell was reported safe on Thursday afternoon (April 13), just hours after police in Daytona Beach issued a missing person’s alert for the 36-year-old former Nickelodeon star. And while police have not released any information to date about where Bell (born Jared Bell) was before he was found or what caused them to issue a “missing and endangered” alert, the former Drake & Josh star broke his silence on Thursday evening with a jokey tweet about the incident.
“You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?,” he wrote along with a crying laughing emoji. At press time Bell had not further explained where he was or why the alert was issued and a spokesperson for the Tampa Bay Police Department had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional information on the search for the actor.
On Thursday morning, TBPD wrote on Facebook that, “He [Bell] should be traveling in a 2022 grey BMW and his last known location is potentially the area of Mainland High School… He is considered missing and endangered.” Hours later they sent out an update that read, “we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe.”
According to People magazine, Bell’s last public appearance before his brief disappearance was on April 11 when he was seen with his two-year-old son at SeaWorld in Orlando; Bell shares custody of the child with estranged wife Janet Von Schmeling, who the magazine reported in January had split with the actor/singer as he sought outpatient treatment for substance use issues.
See Bell’s tweet below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
