UPDATED 4/15, 1:15 p.m. ET: Drake Bell was overcome by suicidal thoughts in the hours leading up to his recent disappearance.
TMZ reports police received a call from a “celebrity” who planned to “drunk and hang himself,” following an altercation with his wife.
“We got involved because he’d been texting his family in California saying that he was going to get drunk and hang himself,” TMZ noted. The outlet says law enforcement believes Bell is “considered missing and endangered.”
UPDATED 4/14, 10:15 a.m. ET:Drake Bell has now shared his first social media update since being confirmed to be safe after initially being reported as “missing and endangered” by police in Florida.
“You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?” Bell said in a tweet, as seen below.
UPDATED 4/13, 1:37 p.m. ET: Drake Bell is safe after initially being reported as “missing and endangered,” per police.
In a statement to Complex on Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Daytona Beach Police Department offered the following update:
“At this time we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe.”
Additional information was not provided.
See original story below.
Drake Bell is missing, police announced on Thursday.
In a news release, the Daytona Beach Police Department said Bell was “considered missing and endangered” after last being seen in the area on Wednesday. According to police, Bell was driving a 2022 grey BMW at the time. They are asking for anyone with any information regarding his current whereabouts to reach out, either via phone or email.
Complex has reached out to a rep for Bell for comment. A Daytona Beach Police Department spokesperson told Complex Thursday that the investigation remained active. This story may be updated.
Bell, of course, is known for being one half of the star duo behind the hit Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh. Outside of his film and TV credits, which also include The Amanda Show and Ultimate Spider-Man, Bell is also known for his extensive music career. His most recent projects, Sesiones en Casa and The Lost Album, were released back in 2020. His latest project, Non-Stop Flight, has been teased in recent months for a 2023 rollout.
Recent years have seen Bell facing widely publicized legal issues. In June 2021, for example, he pleaded guilty to charges including attempted child endangerment in connection with alleged interactions with an underage fan. He later received a sentence of two years of probation.
In September of that year, Bell directly addressed the charges in an Instagram video, saying that “most of the news you’ve heard recently is entirely false and wrong.” According to Bell, he stopped communicating with the person in question when he was made aware of their age.
“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 plead guilty to,” he said at the time, as seen below. “It was reckless and irresponsible text messages. I want to make clear there were no sexual images, nothing physical between me and this individual.”
