Drake Bell is missing. Police are looking for the “endangered” Drake & Josh alum and are encouraging anyone with any knowledge to come forward about his whereabouts.
The Daytona Police Department issued a statement via Facebook on Thursday, April 13, notifying the public about the 36-year-old actor’s disappearance and the circumstances surrounding it. Alongside a photo of Bell wearing black-rimmed glasses and a baseball hat, the message read: “ ** MISSING ** 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 p.m. He is considered missing and endangered.”
The alert concluded: “If you know where he is or have any information, please contact Detective Jayson Wallace at 386-671-5207 or wallacejayson@dbpd.us #missing #DBPD.”
After a series of messages questioned the authenticity of the alert, the Daytona Beach Police Department’s official Facebook noted in the comments: “For those asking, this is a legitimate post from the Daytona Beach Police Department. If you have any information, please contact Detective Jayson Wallace.”
Bell’s disappearance is the latest cause for alarm in the Amanda Show alum’s life. In 2021, he was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service in California after he pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted endangering children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles in 2017.
“I just want to say today that I accept this claim because my conduct was wrong,” the Nickelodeon alum stated during his sentencing hearing in July 2021. “I’m sorry that the victim was harmed in any way, but that was obviously not my intention. I take this matter very seriously, and again I just want to apologize to her and anyone else who may have been affected by my actions.”
That same month, Bell welcomed a baby boy with then-wife Janet von Schmeling. Bell and Schmeling split in January, just several weeks after Us Weekly obtained photos of the A Fairly Odd Movie star appearing to be huffing balloons in the car with his child.
“Drake pulled up in the driveway at his house [in Los Angeles] and started to inflate a pink balloon that was in his lap. He inhaled it … [until] the balloon was deflated,” an eyewitness exclusively told Us in December 2022, noting that the actor seemed to repeat this action “six or seven times” over the course of 30 minutes. “Eventually he got out and went into his house, then he came back out and got his kid out of the rear child seat and carried him in.”
The following day, the eyewitness told Us that Bell inhaled an inflated blue balloon in his vehicle after visiting a smoke and vape shop.
“At one point, it looked like he was about to fall asleep. His head started to drop and his eyes slowly closed,” the observer stated. “But eventually he got himself together and drove off. The kid was clearly in the car.”
Dr. Lawrence Weinstein, American Addiction Centers’ chief medical officer, exclusively told Us at the time that balloons “can … be a vessel” for inhalants, such as nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas). The medical professional stressed that inhalant abuse is “very dangerous” and can cause everything from cognitive impairment to heart failure to sudden death.
If you or anyone you know is facing substance abuse issues, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for free and confidential information 24/7.
