‘Drake & Josh’ Star Drake Bell Speaks Out After Being Reported ‘Missing & Endangered’
UPDATE (9:35 pm ET – 4/13/23):
Drake Bell is speaking out following reports that he was “missing and endangered.” Taking to Twitter, the Drake & Josh alum made light of the scenario, writing, “You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this? 😂.”
After initially being reported missing, it was later uncovered that Bell was safe and had been located after the Daytona Beach Police Department put out a statement.
You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this? 😂
— DrakeBell.ethᵍᵐ (@DrakeBell) April 13, 2023
UPDATE (1:49 pm ET – 4/13/23):
Drake Bell, who was reported as “missing and endangered” by Florida police, has been located and confirmed as safe. The former Nickelodeon child star was reported missing Thursday morning after last being seen in a 2022 grey BMW, possibly near Mainland High School, on Wednesday night at 9 pm et. An update was provided by the Daytona Beach Police Department at around 1:30 pm et, stating that: “We can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe.”As of now, no additional information has been disclosed.
Original Story:
Actor Drake Bell has been declared missing and is “considered missing and endangered,” according to the Daytona Beach Police Department in Florida. The department posted the news on its Facebook account on the morning of April 13.
Bell, real name Jared Drake Bell, was last seen in a 2022 grey BMW, with “his last known location is potentially the area of Mainland High School on 4/12/2023 just before 9 p.m.” The department urges the public to provide any information on the actor’s location by contacting Detective Jayson Wallace at 386-671-5207.
Police have not divulged further information to the media, and representation from Bell has yet to make a statement. The 36-year-old rose to prominence as a child actor alongside co-star Josh Peck in the hit Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, which ran for four seasons and 56 episodes between 2004 and 2007.
The actor is also known for appearing in other shows on the network, such as Amanda Bynes‘s The Amanda Show and The Fairly OddParents live-action trilogy as Timmy Turner.
Bell previously pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempting to endanger children and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matters harmful to juveniles in June 2021.
The incident took place in 2007, back when the actor when was 31 and the girl in question was 15 years old. At the time, Police said their meeting was planned after two months of social media messages that “at times” were “sexual in nature.”
Bell was taken into custody for a DUI in 2015 and was released on bail for $20,000. He later pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge and served a four-day jail sentence.
It was recently reported that the actor moved to Mexico and changed his last name to Campana, where he went on to release two music singles, one of which featured artist Jorge Blanco.
