Current contestant on The Bachelor also starring on the California DOJ missing persons list
On The Bachelor, it’s very common for the women to give a tearful confessional straight to camera after being dismissed from the show. Less common? Learning one of the contestants is simultaneously still listed as a missing person on the California Department Of Justice website.
That was the very strange news coming from Humboldt County this week, as the North Coast Journal reports the results of a recent cover story about the swell of missing people from that region turned out positively rosy. (Feel free to use that, Chris Harrison.) An astute reader noticed one of the 35 faces of those currently missing on the DOJ list looked suspiciously like Bekah M, a contestant on the current season of The Bachelor. For those not currently watching, she’s the 22-year-old who is easily one of the top three contestants in terms of both screen time and potential to make it to the finals, given current bachelor Arie Luyendyk. Jr. is very into her Manic Pixie Dream Girl shtick. (Though he’s also at least sharp enough to realize the 14-year age difference between them doesn’t bode well, given her notable silence when he mentioned wanting someone who doesn’t still want to go out and have fun every night of the week.)
After a highly scientific process that included checking out her Instagram feed, the Journal reached out to the Sheriff’s department with the evidence that a missing person appeared to be starring on a wildly popular reality-TV show. 10 minutes later, the Sheriff’s deputy who filed the initial missing persons report called back to say they had spoken to Bekah (a.k.a. Rebekah Martinez, as listed on her official DOJ page), confirmed she was the same person, and proceeded to remove her from the list.
Further questioning by the Journal (which presumably went something like, “Uh, the fuck is this…?”) led to the following details: She was reported missing at 1:08 a.m. on November 18, 2017, by her mother. (For those who are curious, that is right around the time the current season wrapped shooting.) The mother said she hadn’t heard from Martinez since November 12, though she should probably check social media more, as her daughter has been posting since November 23, which is presumably when the series allowed its contestants to resume their online lives after giving up the phones and internet access for the duration of the shoot.
Bekah had apparently come to Humboldt County to work on a marijuana farm. We’re going to guess this doesn’t bode well for the future of her relationship with Arie. It does, however, bode well for her future ability to remain super-chill and watch both Blade Runner films back to back while eating Doritos. Best of luck with all the weed, Bekah. And consider this an invitation to visit The A.V. Club offices with any samples you may care to hand out.