About two weeks after Chanel Maya Banks was reported missing in Los Angeles, the Gossip Girl actress shared a YouTube video from Texas, proving she’s alive and well. Banks also posted on social media accounts linked to her, confirming where she was.
But when Banks’ family saw recent police body cam footage of a Texas law enforcement interaction with someone Texas authorities said was Banks, Banks’ family said the woman wasn’t her.
ABC 7 Eyewitness News says Banks, 36, married Carlos Jimenez about a year ago, and her family said they checked the California apartment she shares with her husband and found Banks’ belongings and her beloved dog unattended. Early on, reports said Jimenez was uncooperative with the family.
Banks’ cousin, Danielle-Tori Singh, who lives in Toronto, said she was the person who last heard from Banks via text, and she flew to California when the Gossip Girl and Blue Bloods star disappeared.
Singh said she heard from Banks nearly every day, and for Banks to go so long without contacting her family was unusual.
“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,” Singh said. (In an Instagram statement on Banks’ account, Banks said she hadn’t spoken with Singh in 15 years.)
The police body cam footage is “fake news,” Banks family says
On Tuesday, police checked a Texas home on a tip, and a woman answered the door claiming to be Banks, but Singh called the footage “fake news” and vowed to keep searching. Banks’ family said the woman didn’t look like their relative, and they said the woman offered Banks’ expired New York driver’s license as proof it was her.
Around that same time, however, Banks changed her Instagram bio, stating, “I AM NOT MISSING. I just want to be free of a toxic woman and her family. INTERVIEW INCOMING.”
Banks also captioned a post, “I heard you were looking for me, now what?” She also shared a YouTube video, stating, “As you can see, I am alive.”At that point, Los Angeles police announced Banks’ missing person’s case was closed.
On Wednesday, Banks gave an exclusive interview with True Crime News from Texas via FaceTime. The outlet said she showed them her ID to verify her identity. In a statement, Banks told True Crime News she left California for Texas to get baptized and to “escape my cage.”
Banks added in part, “For decades, my family has been my spiritual, physical, and emotional warden, giving me zero authority of my personage. I was not allowed to make any decisions in life in any way without their approval.” When she left, she said her family had pursued a conservatorship to “silence me.” Banks’ complete statement was also posted on her Instagram stories.
Banks shared several other Instagram posts last week about the situation, which have since been archived. She told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday, “All I want to do is get away from those people.”
Banks’ husband and family deny the conservatorship effort. In her social media statement, Banks says her husband, Jimenez, drove her to the airport and knew where she was headed. Jimenez later told the LA Times she asked him not to tell anyone where she was going, but he thought she would return.
Still, Jimenez added, “I think she’s doing this out of her own volition. I respect her choice not to talk with me or her family.”
Referring to the Banks’ case, LAPD Officer David Cuellar said, “I can’t control what the family is saying, but for our purposes, she was found Nov. 11, 2024, in Texas. She’s an adult; if she wants to be in Texas, she has every right to.”
While Banks’ family now seems to have accepted she’s not missing, her cousin, Singh, added, “Chanel, I know you’re alive. Every bone in my body says you’re alive, and I’m gonna find you.”
Published: Nov 15, 2024 04:15 pm