The ‘Gossip Girl’ actor has been found, police say

On By Littum

The search for “Gossip Girl” actress Chanel Maya Banks is over after she was reported missing by relatives on Friday, police said.

Banks, 36, was located in Texas on Monday, a few days after a missing person was filed and about two weeks after family members said they last heard from her, Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Charles Miller told USA TODAY Thursday.

“There is no suspicion of foul play or crimes and she has been taken out of our missing person system,” Miller said. “Our investigation is complete.”

Banks, who is also known for her work on “Blue Bloods” as Maria Romando, has since addressed the situation, sharing in an interview with Los Angeles Times and alleged in various posts on social media that she wasn’t missing, she was trying to get away from her family because of abuse.

“I’m fine. I had to distance myself,” Banks told The Times. “All I want to do is get away from those people.”

Amid the search for Banks, her family printed flyers, called in welfare checks and set up a now-defunct GoFundMe to raise money to help with the search.

They also held a press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s not enough for us,” says Chanel Maya Banks’ cousin

Banks’ cousin Danielle-Tori Singh had shared in an interview with The Times, published 13 November, that the last conservation they had through FaceTime on October 27th was interrupted.

On Wednesday press conference, Singh and Banks’ mother Judy Kumar claimed they still had no idea where Banks was.

“The LAPD and the Los Angeles Area Missing Persons Division have decided to move forward and close the case,” Singh said. “They’re sure they’ve seen her, but that’s not enough for us, so we’re in the dark at this point.”

The woman authorities say they located and identified as Chanel Banks, according to Banks’ mother and cousin, bore no physical resemblance to their family member. Singh added that the woman who was found had given officers an expired New York driver’s license.

“What I can tell you is I’m not sure it’s her,” Singh said. “I think someone got her ID and is using it and impersonating her. I don’t know where she is, but I know we’ll find her.”

Banks’ cousin added, “What I saw was a woman who didn’t look like my cousin. Banks’ mother also said, ‘I know what my daughter looks like.'” However, Banks told The Times that her mother and cousin lied to the news media.

Singh and other relatives have “vowed” to continue searching for Banks, who they believe is still missing, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News.

“We can’t speak to what the family is saying,” Miller told USA TODAY on Thursday. “We conducted our investigation. We confirmed that she has been located by local law enforcement in Texas.”

“I’m not missing,” claims Chanel Maya Banks on social media

Banks maintains that she is “not lacking,” writing on her Instagram bio and in a series of Instagram stories that her decision to separate from her husband and family was a conscious decision.

“I just want to be free of a toxic woman and her family,” Banks’ online bio reads. “That’s my right. That’s it. The end. They made up LITERALLY everything else.”

On Wednesday, Banks also gave True crime news a statement.

“My name is Chanel Banks. I am a 36 year old American nobody and all my life I have silently carried the pain of the ritual…abuse, manipulation and downright endless torment I have endured constantly since I was a defenseless baby in the hands of my own so-called family, all of whom are so concerned about my current whereabouts,” Banks claimed in the statement. “I have met with the police and confirmed that not only am I okay, but I am finally free.”

Banks also offered additional details to her Instagram stories, including the real reason she left, the nature of the abuse, her strained relationship with her family, and allegations that her husband and her family were seeking a conservatorship over her.

Chanel Maya Banks’ husband denies conservatorship charges

Banks posted on Instagram that she met with local authorities and confirmed she was “okay”.

“They say once you’re free in Christ Jesus, you’re truly free, so I told my husband six days ago that I was going to be baptized by one of my favorite pastors, the Reverend Robert Clancy,” Banks wrote. “He drove me to the airport and then I was off for a week … but I also saw it as an opportunity to escape from my cage.”

At the time of publication, Banks has since archived a few posts from her Instagram. Statements she made about her disappearance are still available on her Instagram stories.

Banks’ husband Carlos Jimenez also denied her claims that his family was seeking a conservatorship for her, telling The Times that Banks urged him to disclose any information surrounding her whereabouts to police. Jimenez also claimed that Banks accused her family of abuse before they considered her missing.

“I think she’s doing this of her own free will,” Jimenez told The Times. “I respect her choice not to talk to me or her family.”

Banks’ cousin had also told The Times that the actress’ husband had been “uncooperative” with the family throughout the investigation.

Who is Chanel Maya Banks?

Chanel Maya Banks is an actress with characters on TV shows including “Gossip Girl,” “Blue Bloods” and “Twelve,” according to her IMDB page.