The Bachelor, currently in the middle of its 22nd season, is still a very popular show. Scores of people still tune in weekly in to see if their favorite contestant is going to go home with the gold -- and by gold, I mean a handsome man. The contestants who appear on the show thus get some level of fame and recognition, but I doubt that cast member Bekah Martinez expected that meant that meant getting recognized on a missing person report. According to this report, Martinez has been filed as "missing" since November of last year.
Viewers of the current season of The Bachelor know Bekah Martinez as the 22-year-old nanny from Fresno, California, sporting a trendy pixie cut. Her biggest quirk was that she was over 10 years younger than bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. (36), but now she's probably going to be known for something else. Martinez has been identified as the same woman from a recent missing person report that was filed back in November 2017. Obviously, Martinez is fine and the situation is less scandalous than it seems.
This all started when the North Coast Journal posted its cover story, "The Humboldt 35" to Facebook, and asked its readers if they recognized any of the 35 people who have been filed as missing from Humboldt County on the California Department of Justice's website. One did, and this person was a fan of The Bachelor. The reader noticed that The Bachelor's Bekah Martinez looked remarkably similar to one of the missing person photos. After comparing the photo with ones from Martinez's Instagram, the North Coast Journal did some digging and reached out to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. The deputy who originally took the report then called Martinez's cell phone number -- which was filed in the report -- and spoke to Martinez on Thursday. After getting confirmation that she was safe, he removed her from the list.
But how did she get on the list in the first place? The North Coast Journal reached out to Public Information Officer Samantha Karges, who told them that Martinez was reported missing on November 18 by her mother. Martinez had reportedly come to Humboldt County to work on a marijuana farm, and her mother had not heard from her since November 12. Interestingly enough, Martinez was active on social media during almost the entirety of the time she was "missing." (On September 17, she posted she was "giving up" social media, but was back posting on November 23).
The sheriff's office can't take someone off the missing list until they make contact with that person to confirm they are safe. They weren't able to contact Martinez directly, so on the list she stayed.
Rebekah Martinez, for her part, has had a good humor about the whole thing, commenting on the situation with a Twitter post.
Rebekah Martinez is currently still a contestant on The Bachelor which airs new episodes on Fridays at 8 p.m. on ABC. I doubt any of this will be directly addressed until the very end of the show, as episodes are likely already done filming.
