LOS ANGELES (TNND) — Loved ones of actor Chanel Maya Banks, who is most known for her roles in “Gossip Girl” and “Blue Bloods,” said they are convinced the 36-year-old is in harm’s way despite the fact that police said they found her unharmed in Texas a few days ago.
Banks’ cousin Danielle-Tori Singh on Friday insisted the actor was brainwashed by a religious cult and is in danger. She also said she believes authorities mistakenly identified another woman as Banks.
“We know she’s a part of a cult,” Singh said during a news conference Friday. “We know that this organized group is not allowing her (to use) her phone.”
Singh also said she thinks the cult has been posting on Banks’ Instagram account. The account, Singh said, includes photos of a woman who claims to be Banks and that the actor is fine.
The woman also wrote that she just wants “to be free of a toxic woman and her family.” The posts included a statement laced with inflammatory allegations, with the woman indicating she willingly left “to escape my cage” and to find spiritual renewal.
“The things that she is posting on her social media are not true and it’s not her,” Singh said, adding that all photos of Banks and her husband, Carlos, appeared to be deleted. “The only facial recognition that she provided is a little clip that she posted — or whoever posted — of her where she’s getting her makeup done last night.
Singh added that she saw a separate video on YouTube of a woman in Texas during a retreat. She said while she believes the woman is Banks, she’s still uncertain her cousin is safe.
In fact, she thinks Banks deliberately walked across the view of the camera and looked at the lens as a way to send her family a message.
“I think that is a tell-tale sign that she wanted us to know where she is,” she said.
Singh said police told her and her family Banks’ earpods were pinged in Texas earlier this week. She said officers then tracked down a woman who looked similar to Banks and showed police a New York drivers license.
The family said verbal confirmation “was not enough” for them to feel confident it was Banks and urged police to share a still photo from the body camera footage. Police shared an image, according to Singh, who said they photo showed “the top half” of a woman.
“The second my aunt, grandmother and myself saw that still photo, we knew that was not Chanel,” Singh said.
Singh said police then let her watch the body camera video, which had audio, with Singh saying the woman was definitely not her cousin.
“Within seconds, it was apparent that the woman in the bodycam footage surely was not my cousin Chanel,” she said. “Texas (police were) confident this woman was Chanel based on the ID she provided and her having brown hair and blue eyes — although the woman in the body cam footage had brown eyes.”
She added that is didn’t sound like Banks “at all” and she shared flyers in hopes of finding her cousin.
Singh said police from both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Boerne Police Department told her there was nothing else they could do, as they felt they found Banks.
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Police Department said no foul play is suspected, adding that the case was closed.
Singh said if Banks cut off her family and “wants to be left alone” it is “totally up to her.” But she added that she misses her cousin and wants to hear from her.
“We love you,” Singh said, directing her words at Banks. “We saw you walk across that screen when nobody else was walking — nobody else was moving. If that was your way of showing us that you’re there and you’re safe, we see you. We love you. When you are ready to come to us, we will extend open arms. Our doors are always open.”
She also had a message for the people she thinks have been brainwashing Banks.
“You’re not as smart as you think you are,” she said.
