Debate on Drake Bell’s disappearance stirs up comparison to Ted Bundy after actor praised for being gentleman

Drake Bell, who starred in the hit show Drake & Josh on Nickelodeon, has been described as “missing and endangered” by US police.

His last known location was “potentially” the area of a high school in Florida on 4 April, Daytona Beach Police Department said on Facebook.

The post added: “For those asking, this is a legitimate post from the Daytona Beach Police Department.” Bell, 36, appeared in 56 episodes of Drake & Josh between 2004 and 2007.

In June 2021 he was charged with attempted child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to children, and pleaded guilty.

The following month he was sentenced to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service in California for charges relating to a girl who met him online and accused him of sexual contact after she attended his concert when she was 15.

The Associated Press said that before sentencing, he said: “I accept this plea because my conduct was wrong. I’m sorry the victim was harmed. It was not my intention.”

His disappearance stirred an interesting debate online when a user praises him for being a “gentleman” at a bar in East Nashville.

Reddit user Kusakaru wrote:

Another user warned him writing:”Ted Bundy worker at a suicide hotline and was really good at saving people apparently.” Ted Bundy, an American serial killer, was executed in Florida in 1989 for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, but had confessed to and been suspected of dozens more killings across the country.