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[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Now that he’s no longer missing, Drake Bell‘s wife wants to make sure he’s at least missing from her life. She just filed for divorce!
According to legal docs obtained by TMZ on Thursday afternoon, Janet Von Schmeling filed for divorce this week after four years of marriage. The couple, who married in secret some time around 2019, had apparently been separated for months. She put the separation month as September 2022.
The actual filing, however, comes hot on the heels of the Drake and Josh alum being reported missing in Daytona, Florida last week. He was found just hours later — and insisted it was all a misunderstanding, tweeting jokingly:
“You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?”
However, the police didn’t budge on their announcement the former child star had been “considered missing and endangered.” We later learned Drake’s brother Robert had initiated the search over concerns he’d been “making suicidal statements about wanting to hang himself” and showing signs of “not wanting to be alive anymore.” Robert had the text messages to prove it, hence cops treating the matter with such urgency, as a “possible attempted suicide.”
We heard the suicide talk all came about in the wake of serious custody disagreements Drake was having with his estranged wife. Thankfully he didn’t do anything rash as a result, but the dispute must have been massive — as it seems to have caused Janet to sign the papers to end their marriage for good.
Related: Lisa Hochstein Says Real Housewives Money Isn’t Enough For Her Lifestyle Amid Divorce!
It’s still unclear what the fight was over, but the couple certainly have their share of speed bumps. In 202o, Drake’s ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt accused him very publicly of verbal and physical abuse in a series of emotional TikTok videos. She also claimed he cheated on her with underage girls — something which might have been even more upsetting for a woman who’d just had a child with him.
Then in 2021, the Nickelodeon star was charged with disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. In an actual criminal case which seemed to bolster Melissa’s claims, Drake was accused of engaging in conversation with an underage girl which got sexual in nature. Considering the charge, it seems likely he sent at least an inappropriate photo, as well.
Janet stayed with Drake through all that, apparently — but eventually they faced some “irreconcilable differences” she couldn’t get past. What those must have been, goodness, who even knows? Whatever is going on, it seems she’s being reasonable — while she’s seeking primary legal and physical custody of their son, Wyatt Bell, she is offering Drake visitation rights. Is that the deal he got so upset over? Or is this the compromise? We’ll let you know when we know more…
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via Nicky Nelson/WENN/Janet Von Schmeling/Instagram.]
