Chanel Banks is safe and sound after her family launched a frantic search for her.
November 14, 2024, published at 8:22 am ET
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Banks left her LA apartment and her dog, fueling concerns from family members.
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Her cousin Danielle-Tori Singh of Toronto launched a frantic search mission and Banks’ mother flew from New York to assist in the effort to find her, while the couple also set up a GoFundMe page.
They claimed she abandoned her beloved dog and took only a phone and a laptop.
Banks’ husband was also accused of failing to assist in the search and tearing down missing persons posters.
But Banks has now broken her silence to confirm she is safe and insists she was not missing, before hitting out at her relatives in an astonishing tirade.
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Banks claims she has no close family, despite their claims she speaks to them regularly during the search.
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She wrote on Instagram: “My name is Chanel Banks, I am a 36 year old American nobody.
“I met with the police and found that not only am I okay, but I am finally free.”
She added, “They say once you are free in Christ Jesus, you are free indeed, so I told my husband six days ago that I was going to be baptized by one of my favorite pastors, Pastor Robert Clancy.
“He drove me to the airport and then I was free for a week… but I also saw it as an opportunity to escape from my cage.”
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A GoFundMe page has been set up to aid the search.
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She further lashed out at her family, adding: “I will never allow myself to be silenced again.”
Her cousin claimed she never went “five days” without hearing from Banks during her search and said the actress, who also appeared in the film, Blue Bloods“was like a big sister to me”.
But according to Banks, who starred in three episodes of Gossip girlwhere she played Sawyer Bennett, the pair are not close and she berated her family for lying to the press about communication.
She also alleges abuse by her mother and stepfather.
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Banks recently married a husband who “refused to help search.”
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Banks continued, “My entire life I have silently borne the pain of the ritual sexual abuse, manipulation, and downright endless torment I have endured continuously since I was a defenseless baby at the hands of my own so-called family. who are all so ‘concerned’ about my current whereabouts.
“I met with the police and determined that not only am I doing well, but that I am finally free from my mother and her family.”
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Banks accused parents of abuse.
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She added: “Now I want not just freedom for me, but freedom for everyone who suffers in silence.
‘I want to come out so that people like me don’t have to feel ashamed anymore. I want justice. I ask God to help me get justice.
“I give a loud shout to those in high places who still have a soul and want to keep it at a time like this. Please contact us. Help me.
“I will never allow myself to be silenced again, especially not by my abusers.”
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Of her cousin, Banks said: “Despite (my cousin’s and my mother’s lies in the press) I haven’t spoken to Danielle in over fifteen years, let alone every day or 48 hours, because they committed perjury.
“My family has been my spiritual, physical and emotional guardian for decades, leaving me with no authority over my character. Regardless, I wasn’t allowed to make any decisions in life without their approval.
“Every time I was about to leave, they forged official government documents passing on lies about my mental health. For the record, I don’t have any mental health or any other record other than a parking ticket here and there.
‘So that the police would pursue me without hesitation and without mercy.
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“When I said something, they called me crazy, gangs ruthlessly stalked me and destroyed any semblance of peace, a career or connections I ever had,”
Banks sued. ‘It’s like they isolated me in shifts by tricking me, lying to those who could help about my mental health. Their goal in life was to destabilize and break me. Why? To silence me.
“I discovered hours before I left that not only my mother’s family, but also my dear husbands were vehemently pursuing a CONSERVATORSHIP, that is, complete legal control.
“There will be no more lies. Everything in darkness must come to light, thus says the Lord.
“PLEASE DON’T DONATE TO A GO FUND ME THAT SAYS I’M MISSING – I’M NOT MISSING.”