Drake Bell 'safe,' hours after being declared 'missing and endangered': Here's what we know

Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell was confirmed "safe" on Thursday after being declared missing, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.

Here's a rundown of exactly what happened, who the 36-year-old is and what he'd been doing since he emerged as a star of the show Drake and Josh.

Why is Bell suddenly in the news?

Florida's Daytona Beach Police Department announced Thursday morning that it was looking for Bell (born Jared Drake Bell), the former child star who began his career with small parts in Jerry Maguire, Seinfeld and High Fidelity, before becoming a regular performer on Amanda Bynes's The Amanda Show in 1999 and starring in Drake and Josh beginning in 2004. That show, on which he also sang the theme song and contributed to the soundtrack, lasted until 2007.

"Officers are looking for Jared Bell, DOB 06/27/1986," the department posted on Facebook. "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. If you know where he is or have any information, please contact Detective Jayson Wallace."

In response to some comments, the department clarified: "For those asking, this is a legitimate post from the Daytona Beach Police Department."

One of Bell's former co-stars, Yvette Nicole Brown was asking for help in locating him.

But, about three hours after their initial call for help, officials gave an update, which they confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment: "At this time, we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe."

Bell posted his reaction to the hubbub on social media a couple of hours later. "You leave your phone in the car and don't answer for the night and this?" he wrote, next to a laughing emoji.

What has Bell done since his time on Drake and Josh?

Professionally, he continued to release music, including an album just this year. He starred in live-action versions of the animated show The Fairly Odd Parents and did voice work, most notably that of Spider-Man on video games and TV series. He popped up as his most famous character on shows such as iCarly and Zoey 101 and later as himself on reality TV competitions like Cupcake Wars and The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars.

In his personal life, like many other former child stars, Bell has struggled over the years. He reportedly entered outpatient treatment for substance abuse in January. People reported at the time that Bell and Janet Von Schmeling, his wife since 2018 and the mother of his son, had been separated for months.

Has Bell had previous encounters with law enforcement?

Yes. He was arrested twice for DUIs, and a former girlfriend, actress Melisa Lingafelt (also known as Jimi Ono), accused him of verbally and physically abusing her, and a friend of hers said she had called the cops. Bell said this was untrue, calling the claims "a misguided quest for more money or attention."

Then, in June 2021, Bell was charged with attempted endangering children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, after he "developed a relationship" online with a teenager and sent her "inappropriate social media messages," culminating in a December 2017 concert that he performed in Cleveland, Ohio, prosecutors said. A woman, who was then 19, said that she had met Bell when she was only 12, and that, when she was 15, he sexually assaulted her multiple times. "He was such a huge part of my childhood, and in return, he ruined my life," she said while giving her victim impact statement in 2021. "Every night I dread going to sleep because I don't want to see him in my nightmares."

Bell initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea to guilty, as part of a plea deal. He maintained that he had been unaware of the girl's age, and said there had been no sexual contact between them.

In July 2021, he avoided prison when he was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service. He discussed the events two months later on social media.

"I wanna make clear that there were no sexual images, nothing physical between me and this individual. I was not charged with anything physical. I was not charged with disseminating photographs or images or anything like that," he said at the time. "This is strictly over text messages, and when I was presented with a plea deal, because of the messages, I felt that it was the best way to get this over quickly and for everybody involved to get to move on. And for me to get back doing what I love and that's making music for you. And I want to thank you … to everyone who saw through the lies and did their research and looked at my case and saw it for what it was instead of all this media confusion. And, you know, don't believe the media right off the bat, you know, it's a lot of clickbait. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions. And I just want to say thank you to all of you … for sticking by me. And I love you. And I will see you soon."

This story was originally published at 12:27 p.m. April 13, 2023.