Chanel Maya Banks, 'Gossip Girl' Actress, Has Gone Missing
Chanel Maya Banks is missing.
The 36-year-old Los Angeles-based actress, who appeared in Gossip Girl, Blue Bloods and the 2010 movie Twelve, has disappeared, her family reports, via Deadline.
She previously acted under the name Chanel Farrell in the 2009-2010 TV appearances, playing the recurring character Sawyer Bennett in Gossip Girl.
She has been living in the Playa Vista area of L.A., and has not been heard from since October 30 according to he family. Law enforcement has conducted welfare checks at the apartment she shares with her husband CJ, but could not locate her.
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Her cousin Danielle-Tori Singh writes on a GoFundMe that two welfare checks happened November 7 and November 8, “and her husband is being uncooperative with police.”
“On November 10 my aunt and I were able to get into the apartment and all of her belongings are still there. 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,” she wrote, noting that her husband told them she “does not want to be found” and that “she will reach out when she’s ready.”
The LAPD reportedly told them there’s no sign of foul play.
The cousin also wrote that the family “need money for hotels, food, rental car and gas. We are not from Los Angeles. I flew in from Toronto, Canada and her mom flew here from New York. Chanel has no family or friends here and would NEVER go somewhere without telling her mom. Please help us find my cousin.”
In an interview with Los Angeles’ ABC7 Eyewitness News, she added: “Five days without hearing from my cousin is red flags and alarm bells. 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 added.