'A bad situation': Chanel Banks shares her side of the story after her family reported her missing

LOS ANGELES (TCN) -- Chanel Banks, the "Gossip Girl" and "Blue Bloods" actress whose family reported her missing, spoke to "True Crime News" exclusively about her whereabouts and how she left town to get herself "out of a bad situation."

Banks' mother and cousin reported her missing to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), saying she had not been seen or heard from in several weeks. Police conducted welfare checks at her apartment, but Banks wasn't there. Banks, however, says she was never missing in the first place.

She said, "I had to take myself out of a bad situation. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to that, and what transpired from that is what you are seeing in the media now, specifically from the people I've gotten away from."

"True Crime News" has not corroborated Banks' claims, but we have reached out to her family.

Banks revealed that over the last few months, she "noticed the leash was getting longer, so I took advantage of that, and I kind of made preparations to head out, so to speak." She believes that her decision to get out of town "really bamboozled" her mother and made her "really upset."

She said she made attempts in the past to leave, but her mother always halted those plans.

Law enforcement located Banks in Texas on Nov. 13 and she verified her identity to them, but her family did not believe it was actually her. "True Crime News" also spoke with Banks on FaceTime this week and saw her license as proof. She told "True Crime News," "It wasn’t enough that the LAPD verified my identity. It wasn’t enough that the Texas law enforcement verified my identity. It wasn’t enough that there was a camera with me, speaking on it clear as a day, saying, 'Please leave me alone.' It wasn’t enough."

According to Banks, she hasn't spoken extensively to her cousin in 10 years. She explained that she talked to her cousin "very briefly" about three weeks ago when the cousin was with Banks' mother. Banks said her cousin got her phone number, and "she sent me a text once, but I this is not someone I have a relationship with. We definitely don't have a sister-sister relationship."

Banks told "True Crime News" that she feels grateful for the people who checked in on her and she looks forward to seeing what her future holds.