ABC7, via YouTube
Chanel Banks, an actress known for appearing on shows like Gossip Girl and Blue Bloods, has allegedly been found safe by police after going missing for a week.
However, in a wild twist, her family is not buying that the authorities actually found the right person, as they still believe Banks to be missing.
Banks Allegedly Found Safe
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Banks was found safe in Texas on Monday.
“She is fine,” LAPD spokesperson Charles Miller told People Magazine. “No danger. She is OK. She has been taken out of the missing person system for us and we have closed our investigation.”
Miller then claimed that Banks, 36, was located by an outside agency.
This came after Banks’ cousin Danielle-Tori Singh set up a GoFundMe page saying that her family had not heard from the actress since October 30. Police conducted welfare checks at Banks’ Playa Vista apartment on November 7 and 8, but she wasn’t there either day.
Singh flew from Toronto to California to search for Banks. When she got into her apartment on November 10, she found Banks’ dog and her car, which was reportedly parked in her garage. All of Banks’ belongings appeared to be in the apartment, with the exception of her phone and laptop.
Related: Tom Selleck Sends Surprising Message To CBS After Network Cancels ‘Blue Bloods’
‘Something Is Not Right’
“Five days without hearing from my cousin is red flags and alarm bells,” Singh told KABC a few days after Banks disappeared. “She doesn’t go more than 48 hours without speaking to me or her mom. … That girl is more like a big sister to me.”
“I can tell you in my soul, in my gut, something is not right. … We’re crossing two weeks now without a word, without a sound. Nothing,” she later added.
On Wednesday, Singh fired back at the LAPD by saying that she doesn’t believe that they found the right person.
“They are confident enough that they have seen her,” Singh said in a press conference. “However, that’s not sufficient enough for us.”
Singh went on to claim that she’s seen the Texas police bodycam footage, and that the woman in it isn’t Banks. She added that the woman is skinnier than Banks and is wearing clothes that the actress wouldn’t. According to Singh, the woman had New York ID that was 10 years expired, meaning she could be impersonating Banks.
🚨🚨🚨 @TMZ has falsely reported that CHANEL MAYA BANKS (aka Chanel Farrell) has been found…she has NOT. The woman found in TEXAS in the body cam footage, according to her mother and her cousin, say it is NOT HER. Doesn’t look or sound like her. The ID this person presented was… pic.twitter.com/lt75iamIr8
— Tatiana (@callhertata) November 13, 2024
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Banks Seemingly Speaks Out
In a surprising twist, messages have since been posted to an Instagram page that appears to belong to Banks. In them, she claims that she is not missing and that she was abused by her family.
“I AM NOT MISSING. I just want to be free of a toxic woman and her family,” the account reads. “That’s my right. That’s it. The end. They made up LITERALLY everything else.”
Indeed, in the messages, Banks accuses her mother and other relatives of abusing her. She also accuses her cousin Singh of being “fame-hungry.” Banks additionally claimed that she wanted to “escape my cage” and pursue “freedom.”
Find out more about this in the video below.
This is clearly a very messy situation for everyone involved. We can only hope that the outcome is a positive one.
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Credit: Original article published here.