Family, LAPD at odds over ‘Gossip Girl’ actor who relatives insist is missing
Depending on whom you ask, Chanel Maya Banks either is a missing person who may be in danger or hurt, or has been located and is safe.
The Playa Vista actor known for her work on “Gossip Girl” as the character Sawyer Bennett and “Blue Bloods” as Maria Romano was reported missing on Friday by her family, according to the LAPD. Her cousin Danielle-Tori Singh created a GoFundMe page on Sunday.
“My cousin Chanel is missing,” Singh wrote.
Singh said the LAPD performed two wellness checks at Banks’ home and that she was not there either time.
But on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department told a different story. It said Banks had been found safe in Texas on Sunday.
A few hours later, a statement filled with inflammatory allegations against Banks’ family appeared on her Instagram page saying she was “finally free.”
In a phone call with The Times on Wednesday night, Banks said she went on a trip and is trying to get away from her family, whom she accused of abusing her.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I had to distance myself.”
At a news conference earlier Wednesday, Singh called police’s claim that they had verified Banks was in Texas “fake news” and said her cousin was still missing. She alleged that a woman found in Texas with Banks’ expired New York identification card was not her cousin.
The woman claimed to be Banks, Singh said, adding that police told her they believed it was Banks because the woman also had long hair and blue eyes.
“What I saw was a woman who did not look like my cousin,” Singh said. “She was much skinnier, the woman in the body-camera footage. She was wearing things that my cousin would not normally wear and her voice was different. Her accent was different.”
Banks’ mother, Judy Kumar, echoed this assertion and denied the woman in the video was Banks. “I know what my daughter looks like,” she said.
But Banks told The Times her mother and cousin were lying to the news media. She said she had spoken with numerous police agencies and verified her identity.
Singh said she last spoke with Banks on Oct. 27 during a seemingly normal FaceTime call. She said Banks quickly said she had to get off the call because her husband was there.
“I can’t control what the family is saying, but for our purposes she was found Nov. 11, 2024, in Texas,” LAPD Officer David Cuellar said. “She’s an adult; if she wants to be in Texas she has every right to.“
By Wednesday, Banks was no longer in California’s registry of missing persons.
The GoFundMe page the family posted to raise money for the search effort, however, was still up.
“Our Trust & Safety team is working directly with the organizer and the funds are being safely held by our payment processors,” said Alex White, a GoFundMe spokesperson.
Singh said Banks’ husband, Carlos Jimenez, has not been cooperative with the family during the investigation. According to Singh, Jimenez told his apartment property manager on Monday that Banks was home in their apartment; the property manager notified police, who then arrived to conduct a wellness check, but Jimenez wouldn’t open the door.
Later that day, Jimenez told police that he pinged Banks’ AirPods somewhere in Texas, Singh said.
“If I don’t hear from Chanel within the hour I’ll be sending more officers,” Singh texted a phone number that The Times confirmed belonged to Jimenez.
“Chanel is fine,” he texted back. “Spoken to the officers and they will verify she is ok soon. She is aware you’re trying to talk with her.”
“That’s not what the police told me,” Singh responded. “If she’s aware I’m trying to contact her why isn’t she responding?”
Jimenez told The Times that Banks went on a trip and was supposed to come back, but chose not to. He denied the allegation in the Instagram post that his family is trying to put Banks under a conservatorship. He said that before Banks’ disappearance, she accused her family of abusing her. Jimenez said Banks urged him not to speak to police about her whereabouts, which is why he declined to let them inside his apartment for a wellness check.
Eventually, Jimenez said he cooperated with police and told them which hotel Banks was staying at in Texas, which he located by tracking the Airpods Banks had with her. According to Jimenez, police were able to see her in person in Texas and confirm that she’s fine.
Banks is still in Texas, has since blocked Jimenez and is refusing to speak to him or her family, he said. According to Jimenez, Banks spoke with Singh “every once in a while to keep up appearances” and spoke with her mother semi-regularly.
“I think she’s doing this out of her own volition,” Jimenez said. “I respect her choice not to talk with me or her family.”
Banks said that her husband did nothing to harm her.
Singh said neither she nor Banks’ mother had spoken to Banks since police said she was discovered. Banks’ phone and laptop also hadn’t been located, Singh said. Banks said that is because she brought her phone and laptop to Texas.
Authorities declined to give Banks’ family the location or contact information of the woman found in Texas.
“Chanel, I know you’re alive,” Singh said. “Every bone in my body says you’re alive and I’m gonna find you.”
But Banks does not want to be found.
“All I want to do is get away from those people,” she said.
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