‘Blue Bloods’ Actress Chanel Maya Banks Found After Family Pleads for Help in Solving Disappearance
Chanel Maya Banks, whose acting credits include roles in Blue Bloods and Gossip Girl, has been found after going missing. TMZ reported the news on Wednesday, November 13, that the actress was safe and uninjured and no foul play was suspected, per law enforcement officials. The news came after he family pleaded with the public for answers surrounding her disappearance.
While speaking with Eyewitness News, Banks’ cousin Danielle-Tori Singh said that Banks had not been seen or heard from by her family since October 30. Banks’ family flew to California to distribute flyers and aid in the search for the actress.
“Five days without hearing from my cousin is red flags and alarm bells,” she told the outlet on Wednesday, November 13. “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.”
Per the report, welfare checks were conducted at Banks’ California home, but authorities could not locate her at the time. Singh alleged that Banks’ husband, whose name has not been made public, had not been cooperating with authorities.
“He’s not willing to help LAPD,” she told the outlet. “He’s not willing to help me or her mom find her. He is removing flyers off of posts and cars.”
Singh set up a GoFundMe page to help the family raise money for “hotels, food, rental car and gas” as the search for Banks continued before she was found. She said that Banks was “an official missing person in California.”
“On November 10 my aunt and I were able to get into the apartment and all of her belongings are still there,” the description on the fundraiser page said. “The only items we did not locate are her phone and laptop. She also does not go anywhere without her little dog, which also has been left behind. She also does not have her vehicle because it’s parked in her garage. She would NEVER go anywhere without telling her mom or myself.”
On the fundraiser page, Singh also said that Banks’ husband claimed he “hasn’t seen or heard from his wife since November 7.”
“I’m creating this go fund me because we need to hire a private investigator,” she added. “LAPD have told us because there’s no signs of foul play, and her husband has not committed any crime by with-holding information, there’s nothing they can do until they have evidence or probable cause to arrest him.”
The family has raised more than $3,000 of their $20,000 fundraising goal.
“We are not from Los Angeles. I flew in from Toronto, Canada and her mom flew here from New York,” Singh wrote. “Chanel has no family or friends here and would NEVER go somewhere without telling her mom. Please help us find my cousin.”
According to IMDb, Banks has appeared in three episodes of Gossip Girl as Sawyer Bennett in 2009, the film Twelve in 2010 and as Maria Romano in Blue Bloods in 2010. She was credited as Chanel Farrell in all of her acting appearances.
“Pray for my daughter because at this point, we don’t know exactly [what happened],” Banks’ mom said before she was found, per KTLA. “We are hearing stuff here and there, people saying this and that, but I know that’s not my daughter.”
