Celebrity News April 13, 2023
Drake Bell Reported ‘Missing and Endangered’
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UPDATE: Drake Bell was found safe. New details here.
Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, 36, is considered “missing and endangered,” according to police.
The Daytona Beach Police Department posted on Facebook, “Officers are looking for Jared Bell, DOB 06/27/1986. 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 pm. He is considered missing and endangered.”
Anyone with information is asked to “contact Detective Jayson Wallace at 386-671-5207 or wallacejayson@dbpd.us.”
Daytona Beach Police Department
The news comes just a few months after Page Six reported the “Drake & Josh” alum and his wife, Janet Von Schmeling, were separated after four years of marriage and headed toward divorce.
At the time, a source told the outlet that Von Schmeling had “had enough” after Bell was photographed huffing balloons in a car while their son was in the back seat in photos obtained by DailyMail.com in December.
According to a Page Six insider, Von Schmeling and their son had moved to Florida, where she reportedly closed on a house.
The paper also said that Bell had reportedly entered treatment.
“It’s a bad moment in time for Drake. But he is a great dad when he is healthy and sober,” the insider added.
Over a year ago, Bell was found guilty of child endangerment charges.
Bell was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to attempted endangering of a child and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Drake addressed the charges in an Instagram post. He said, “I know that this has moved very quickly for you, but for me, it's been a three-year, thorough investigation into every false claim that has been made. And it's not me telling you that the claims are false, but the state of Ohio has proven the claims to be false. If these claims were remotely true, my situation would be very different. I would not be here at home with my wife and my son. But that being said, I am not perfect, and I make mistakes."
He stated, “I responded to a fan whose age I didn’t know, yet when I became aware of their age all conversation and communication stopped.”
He explained, "This individual continued to come to shows and pay for meet-and-greets, all while I was unaware that this was the same person I was communicating with online, and that's what I pled guilty to. It was reckless and irresponsible text messages. I want to make clear there were no sexual images, nothing physical between me and this individual."
As for why he took the deal, he said, "When I was presented with a plea deal, because of the messages, I felt that this was the best way to get this over quickly, and for everyone involved to be able to move on. And for me to get back to doing what I love, and that is making music for you."
Drake and Janet tied the knot in 2018, but he didn’t announce it until 2021.
Bell tweeted, “In response to various rumors that are incorrect, I have been married for almost 3 years and we are blessed to be the parents of a wonderful son. Thank you very much to all my fans around the world for your good wishes.”
