Ben Cousins missing in LA
By Robert Grant and Peter Mitchell09:00 AEST Thu Nov 1 2007
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Perez mention: Cousins on gossip siteFallen AFL star Ben Cousins has reportedly gone missing in Los Angeles, where he was to check himself into a drug rehab centre.
The 29-year-old former West Coast Eagles footballer has failed to keep his Monday appointment to check in to the Malibu-based Summit Centre, according to News Limited.
"No one has any idea where he is," The Australian newspaper quotes a source close to the centre as saying.
"He's got everyone freaking out because LA's not a good place to be out doing what he may be doing.
"I just hope nothing bad happens to him."
Cousins, who is said to be battling addiction to cocaine as well as methamphetamines, was sacked by his club after a string of off-field incidents, some of them drug related.
The final straw came when his car was pulled over by police in central Perth last month. Cousins refused to submit to a driver assessment. Drugs, later found to be prescription issue, were found in the vehicle.
A possession charge was dropped and a Perth magistrate two weeks ago adjourned the case so that Cousins could return to the US for another stint of drug rehabilitation.
West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett also said on Wednesday he had doubted Cousins' intentions to return to rehab.
"It seems to us he never had any intentions to return ... we feel betrayed."
Cousins arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday morning and was picked up at the airport by two mystery blonde women in a sports car.
The newspaper says Cousins has not returned phone calls from people he met during the earlier stint at the centre.
The AFL Players' Association (AFLPA) has said it will support Ben Cousins' fight to play AFL again.
The Herald Sun newspaper reported on Thursday that AFLPA chief executive Brendan Gale would not rule out supporting Cousins if the troubled former West Coast star took legal action again the AFL.
The Herald Sun said the AFL Commission was expected to announce what action it will take after it meets on November 19-20.
