Rosie O'Donnell said Tuesday that her 17-year-old daughter is missing, although police don’t believe she’s in immediate danger.
Chelsea O'Donnell was last seen a week ago, the TV personality said in a post to her website. She said the girl "stopped taking her medicine and is in need of medical attention," and was last seen with her therapy dog.
Police were looking for Chelsea O'Donnell in the New York suburbs. Rosie O'Donnell has a home in Nyack, police there said. Chelsea was officially reported missing to South Nyack police by her family on Sunday, after she didn't come home Aug. 11, police said. Police said they do not believe the teen is in immediate danger.
Cindi Berger, a spokeswoman for Rosie O'Donnell, confirmed that her daughter is suffering from a mental disorder.
"Chelsea, like millions of people, lives with mental illness," Berger told NBC News. "It has been a difficult road for Chelsea and her family and they just want her back safe."
Berger said Chelsea was in touch with her birth mother, Deanna Micoley, in the past year. In a National Enquirer article in March, Micoley alleged that her daughter was not legally adopted. O'Donnell contests that allegation.
Berger said that Rosie O'Donnell did not try to stop the communication, and said the family has no reason to believe for now that Chelsea went to look for her birth mother.
O’Donnell gave this description of her missing daughter:
She was wearing a black sweatshirt hoodie, dark ripped blue jeans, women’s grey converse sneakers and a black backpack. Chelsea has a large tattoo on her right side of a dream catcher with the word ‘Breathe.’
The dog, named Bear, was described as a six-month-old, 9-pound, black and brown terrier.
The teen doesn’t have a history of running away, South Nyack-Grand View Police Sgt. Daniel Wilson told reporters.
She had a backpack with her, but no cellphone or laptop. Several calls from unknown numbers were also made to the home this week, Wilson said.
"There was no argument or anything that was any type of heated situation," before Chelsea went missing, Wilson said. Police are still developing leads and reaching out to her friends.
O'Donnell, 53, stepped down earlier this year from her second run as a panelist on "The View."
Anyone with information on the girl’s whereabouts was asked to call 845-358-0206.
