A file photo of Rosie O'Donnell. (Image courtesy: AFP)
Comedian Rosie O'Donnell's 17-year-old daughter Chelsea, who disappeared for a week in New York before being found by the police, reportedly spent the days she was missing with a man she met on dating app Tinder.
Chelsea O'Donnell took a bus to the Jersey Shore to stay with 25-year-old Steven Sheerer, New Jersey police told
ABC News. No drugs were apparently found in Mr Sheerer's house, nor evidence of an intimate relationship. Police also revealed that Chelsea said she wanted to stay with Mr Sheerer but that they took her back home. For the time being, Steven Sheerer faces no charges.
A representative from Tinder told
ABC News: "This is a very upsetting situation. We have security measures in place to help verify each user's authenticity. Users age 13 - 17 can only connect with other users in that same age range on Tinder. If we learn that a user has lied about their age in order to interact with users outside of their appropriate age group, we delete their profile immediately." (Also Read:
Rosie O'Donnell's Teen Daughter Found a Week After Disappearing)
Chelsea, who reportedly lives with mental illness, left her home in Rockland County, New York, on August 11. On August 18, Rosie announced the disappearance on Twitter:
Soon after, Chelsea was found by New Jersey police:
Cindi Berger, a spokeswoman for Rosie O'Donnell, revealed that Chelsea was last seen by her family on August 11. The 17-year-old left home with her six-month-old therapy dog, a black terrier named Bear, Ms O'Donnell said in a statement (now been removed) on her website. Chelsea is believed to have stopped taking medication for an undisclosed mental illness and "is in need of medical attention," the statement added.