CA CA - Michael Bell, 26, Fresno County, 16 Sept 2011

KaylynnCouture

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Michael Bell, 26, was last seen on video surveillance on September 16th at his in Los Angeles. He was suppose to take a trip to the east coast to meet with his family, but he never arrived.

When his family returned from their trip, they check Bell's apartment. His clothes and personal belongings were there but he, and his car, were missing

The missing blue 2002 Toyota Camry was found by C.H.P. on I-5 near Russell Ave. in Western Fresno County, but there are no signs of Bell.

Snipped: http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=8370668 (Photo at link)
 
Missing L.A. man's car found in Fresno Co.

"Michael Bell, 26, was last seen Sept. 16 on video surveillance at his apartment. He was planning to travel to the eastern United States to visit his family but never arrived. A car belonging to his mother, a 2002 Toyota Camry, was found Sept. 17 on Interstate 5 near Russell Avenue but there was no sign of Bell."

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/09/28/2556790/missing-la-mans-car-found-in-fresno.html


This article, dated today, states his mother's car was found on Sept. 17. Now, nine days later, the first information about his disappearance is hitting some local Fresno Co. media. Why the delay? It would also be informative to know just where in Los Angeles his apartment is, and a Google search this evening of his name didn't come up with any L.A. area media covering his disappearance.

Since it doesn't appear Mr. Bell had any plans to travel north by car, sadly a crime may have occurred in L.A. with the perpetrator(s) driving the car to where it was found then abandoning it. Hopefully there is some DNA inside it and the perp(s) have a criminal record to tie them to it.

:(

MOO
 
Whoa.......Michael has been missing six weeks now??
No videos at gas station?
Would the police drive him there to get gas and not drive him back to his car?
Did he call for roadside service or help from station?

Not much information.
Where are you Michael??
Hoping for a speedy and safe return.
 
I live near here and have never heard of Michael Bell.

Let's start with a picture of this young man.
hUi5M.jpg


I also would love to see the video from the connivence store.
 
If he lives in LA and was last seen there, I wonder why was he almost 4 hours north at 3am? This is a traveling highway with Sacramento being the next major city. Where he was last seen is the middle of nowhere. If he was supposed to be leaving for a trip, I wonder where he was heading?
 
If he lives in LA and was last seen there, I wonder why was he almost 4 hours north at 3am? This is a traveling highway with Sacramento being the next major city. Where he was last seen is the middle of nowhere. If he was supposed to be leaving for a trip, I wonder where he was heading?

I think he was last seen in Fresno County when the police drove him to a gas station. I'm surprised by the lack of follow-up from LE. Why didn't they give him a ride back to his car? Where could he have gone from that gas station? Perhaps he started hitchhiking. He's a big guy so may not have worried about possible danger from taking a ride from a stranger.
 
Michael was entered into NamUs in March of this year.
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/23729/0/
Status Missing
First name Michael
Middle name Darnell
Last name Bell
Nickname/Alias Mike
Date last seen September 16, 2011 00:00
Date entered 03/05/2014
Age last seen 26 to years old
Age now 28 years old
Race Black/African American
Ethnicity
Sex Male
Height (inches) 72.0
Weight (pounds) 190.0

Dental Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered
DNA Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete
Fingerprint Information Status: Fingerprint information is available and entered

Michael has been missing for 3 years today.
 
Michael has been missing for four years now. The circumstances are very strange and there are so many unanswered questions. If this had happened in 1981, I would understand the lack of details but 2011 wasn't that long ago, so you would think that more information would be available.

Like others have asked, why didn't CHP give him a ride back to his car? How far of a walk was it? Is it illegal to walk on the freeway? If so, did Michael tell the patrol officer something that indicated he didn't need a ride back? Were any credit card sales recorded from the gas station?

Days later, his family checked his apartment. When they did, they found that his "personal belongings" were still there. Since he was (presumably) going to Ohio, shouldn't some of his things have been missing? With regards to the trip, it didn't specify if they believe he was on his way when he ran out of gas. I would imagine that not too many people would make that drive and opt to fly instead.

http://usa.51xrw.com/MissingPersonNotice-Abductions-California%20Lost-6277-Michael%20Darnell%20Bell_6277.html

http://www.missingpersonsofamerica.com/2013/09/michael-bell-last-seen-in-la-in-2011.html
 
He disappeared without a trace six years ago. His mother has never stopped looking

http://www.fresnobee.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/carmen-george/article173623676.html

Six years after the disappearance of her only son, De’Anna McKnight-Bell still finds herself taking detours home through new neighborhoods to look for him. She stops beneath bridges to check homeless encampments and scans the faces of people walking down the sidewalk.

“I’m constantly looking to see if that’s my son. … I’m never going to give up,” she says.

There have been few clues to track. Bell, who was living in Los Angeles, didn’t tell family where he was going the day he went missing. His mother knows only what CHP officers who picked him up said he told them – that he had left a religious service he didn’t like. Bell owned a Church of Scientology book and was studying that faith, McKnight-Bell says, but she wasn’t aware of her son regularly attending any church.

Detective Samuel Soto with the Los Angeles Police Department says Bell’s case remains open, although there’s been no new information since he disappeared.
 
Michael Darnell Bell
Michael-Bell-85164_0.jpg


MISSING SINCE: 09/16/2011
SEX: Male
DOB: 01/26/1986
RACE: Black
HEIGHT: 6
EYES: Brown
WEIGHT: 190 lbs.
HAIR: Black
SCARS/MARKS/TATTOO: Mike tattoo on unknown arm, Bell tattoo on unknown arm, pierced ears
DENTAL X-RAYS AVAILABLE: Yes

Michael was last seen on September 16, 2011, in Los Angeles. His vehicle was found abandoned in Fresno County.

Contact
AGENCY: Los Angeles Police Department
PHONE NUMBER: (213) 996-1800
CASE NUMBER: 111118099
 
rbbm.
Help Find Michael Darnell Bell
Missing Michael Bell


''On September 11, 2011 Michael Darnell Bell drove his sister to the airport and was to join her, and their mother, in Ohio nine days later, he never made it. Bell was seen, on video taken from his apartment complex, exiting and re-entering his apartment in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles. He appeared to have been carrying various items out from his apartment and was captured leaving for the last time at about 3 o’clock the afternoon of September 16th, 2011. He is presumed to have left the area in his mother’s blue, four-door, 2002 Toyota Camry sedan with Ohio license plate BS20VB, as he is later found sitting in the same vehicle by CHP officers at approximately 3 am the morning of September 17th, 2011. Bell told the officers he ran out of gas and had been on his way back to Los Angeles. The officers refused to leave him stranded on the freeway and had taken him to the Chevron Gas Station at 46330 W. Panoche Rd, Firebaugh, CA, in Fresno County.


The car was left where Bell had been approached, on the southbound side of the 5 freeway near Russell Avenue and north of the Chevron Gas Station. Bell told the officers he had come from a religious retreat and did not appear to be in any distress. After arriving at the gas station, Bell thanked the officers and told them he would be alright. He was last seen walking towards the outside door of the gas station’s restroom. Two days later, the car Bell had been driving was impounded for having been left abandoned. Bell’s sister and mother returned to Los Angeles on September 22nd, 2011, after not being able to reach him by phone. They found his cell phone in his apartment as well as food left to spoil in his microwave. The last conversation Bell’s mother had with him was on September 16th, the day he is last captured on video leaving his apartment. He is then reported missing by his family.



The ensuing investigation has failed to identify Bell’s whereabouts or any information revealing what occurred after he’d been left at the Chevron Gas Station. Michael Darnell Bell is described as a male black with black hair, brown eyes, 6 feet tall, and 190 lbs. He has the tattoos “Mike” and “Bell” on his arms as well as the accomplishments of his father, Michael Darnell Bell Sr. and the names of his sisters “Ashawnta” and “Shekinah”, on the top of his wrists. He was 26 years old when he was reported missing. His case has been profiled by various news outlets including KTLA and The Fresno Bee as well as a number of missing persons websites such as the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and The Charlie Project.

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should contact the LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS

(800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may also visit www.lapdonline.org, and click on “Anonymous Web Tips” under the “Get Involved-Crime Stoppers” menu to submit an online tip. Lastly, tipsters may also download the “P3 Tips” mobile application and select the LA Regional Crime Stoppers as their local program. Independent of any City or other reward offers, anonymous tipsters using the LA Crime Stoppers program may be eligible for up-to a $1,000 cash reward based on arrest only

(no conviction required).


1-800-222-TIPS (8477)

P3 Tips Mobile App

www.LACrimeStoppers.org

________________________________________________________________________________
 

41iRk4jAbGL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

''What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Vanished?"
How could someone so full of life and energy, just vanish from the face of the earth? Is that even possible?

Vanished Without A Trace The Michael Bell, Jr. Case is based on a true story.

The Author, mother of three children knows how it feels to one day realize that one of your children; her only son, a former Michigan State Football Player, brother, father, entrepreneur, and friend to many, just vanished from the face of the earth.

Driving to New York City from Ohio with her two daughters for a weekend getaway, her mother's intuition kept pulling at the core of her soul, that something wasn't right with her son.

Come on this journey, as a mother travels from Ohio to California searching for her missing son.''

41iRk4jAbGL._AC_SX60_CR,0,0,60,60_.jpg

5167RkG4d7L._AC_SX60_CR,0,0,60,60_.jpg

See all 2 images
 

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