Yesterday (13 April), American actor Jared Drake Bell, who’s best known for his roles on the Nickelodeon shows Drake & Josh and The Amanda Show, was reported missing. At the time, police said that he was “considered missing and endangered”, but he’s since been found safe.
As The Hollywood Reporter writes, in an update posted to the Daytona Beach Police Department’s official Facebook page yesterday at 1:26PM local time, the authorities said: “At this time, we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe.”
Later that day, after being found, Bell took to Twitter and shared a single tweet: “You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?” he wrote, alongside a laughing emoji.
Previously, police said that Bell had been last seen at around 9PM local time on 12 April around the Mainland High School area in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was thought that he was travelling in a 2022 BMW.
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After making the original post confirming that the actor was missing, the Daytona Beach Police Department had to clarify that it wasn’t a hoax after a number of people questioned its legitimacy. They wrote: “For those asking, this is a legitimate post from the Daytona Beach Police Department. If you have any information, please contact Detective Jayson Wallace.”
In 2021, Bell was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment. He reportedly met and began talking to a 12-year-old fan online, and around the time that they turned 15, it’s claimed that the exchanges became “blatantly sexual” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Responding to the situation later in the year, Bell posted a video message to Instagram, in which he said: “I responded to a fan whose age I didn’t know. When I became aware of their age, all conversation and communication stopped. This individual continued to come to shows and pay for meet-and-greets, and although I was unaware that this was the same person I was communicating with online, that’s what I pled guilty to.”
He continued: “I want to make clear that there were no sexual images, nothing physical between me and this individual. I was not charged with anything physical. I was not charged with the disseminating of photographs or images or anything like that. This is strictly over text messages.”
Featured Image Credit: Nickelodeon, Drake Bell via YouTubeTopics: Real Life, no article matching, TV And Film