The parents of missing ’80s child star Andrew Koenig mysteriously walked out on an interview with CNN’s Larry King Live just minutes before they were due to go on the air Wednesday night — and their daughter is explaining why.
“[‘Larry King Live’] kept pushing the segment back and my dad was growing frustrated,” Danielle, the sister of the missing star, told Zap2it this afternoon. “When he realized there were only four and a half minutes left, he didn’t feel that was enough time to do my brother justice, so he left.”
The Koenigs reportedly felt “disrespected” that King devoted a large portion of the show to coverage of yesterday’s tragedy at SeaWorld, while they waited to spend the word about their son. Larry seemed to not know what to make of the Koenigs departure, Tweeting after the show: “Still not sure what happened with the Koenigs. I talked to them in the break and told them they were on next. Then they left….”
Andrew and Danielle’s parents, Walter – best remembered for his role as Pavel Chekov on Star Trek — and Judy, appeared on NBC’s The TODAY Show earlier on Wednesday to ask for the public’s help in the search for their son.
In a televised press conference yesterday, the elder Mr. Koenig fought back tears as he begged his 41-year-old son to call the family just to assure them he is alive.
“I just want to know you’re OK. If it means you just want to stay here (in Vancouver), that’s OK. You don’t have to come back. Just let us know that’s your intention.”
Andrew, who had a recurring role on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains, was last seen on Feb. 14. He disappeared during a trip to Vancouver and was reported missing by a friend after failing to show up for his flight home to Los Angeles on Feb. 16. Andrew, who has been battling severe depression for months, hasn’t been seen since he left a bakery in the city’s Stanley Park neighborhood nearly two weeks ago.
Neighbors in Andrew’s Venice, California community said he sold all his possessions before leaving Los Angeles.