Drake Bell says he wasn't missing, just briefly off the grid

After reports surfaced early on Thursday that actor Drake Bell had been reported “missing and endangered” by police in Daytona Beach, Florida, it certainly seemed like he was in dire shape. But according to Bell—who was found safe later the same day—it wasn’t so serious: he says the situation arose because he left his phone in his vehicle.

“You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?” Bell tweeted on Thursday afternoon alongside a laughing-crying emoji, ostensibly responding to the reports. Although he appears to be laughing off the incident, reports of a 911 call obtained by TMZ—in which an officer allegedly characterizes Bell’s situation as a “possible attempted suicide” regarding a “celebrity who had a falling out with his wife”—indicate there may be more to the story.

It’s been an embattled few years for the former Drake & Josh star. In 2020, Bell’s ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt accused him of verbal and physical abuse, allegations the performer denied. Then, in July 2021, Bell was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to two charges—one of attempted child endangerment, a felony, and one of disseminating material harmful, a misdemeanor—in regards to a girl Bell met online, who attended one of his concerts in 2017. According to prosecutors, Bell engaged in a conversation with the girl that was “at times sexual in nature” when she was 15 years old. Prosecutors also stated that an investigation from the Cleveland Police Department found that Bell sent the girl inappropriate messages on social media during the months leading up to the show she attended.

Accepting the charges, Bell said that he “was wrong” and apologetic the girl “was harmed in any way.” For her own part, the defendant referred to Bell as a “pedophile” who “groomed her” ages 12 to 15, stating: “My life hasn’t been the same since I was 15. I think about these crimes every single day. I feel like I’m in a constant dark place.”