Parents of actress Misty Upham feel the unresponsiveness of Auburn Washington Police as prejudice on her being a Black Foot Tribe member is partly to blame for her death. Upham's body, ID, and purse were found dead at the bottom of a 150-foot ravine near White River on October 16, according to Seattle Times, ten days after she was reported missing.
The 32-year-old Misty Upham, whose acting skill in Frozen River earned her a nomination for Indie Spirit Award in 2009 and was also seen in critically acclaimed films, Osage: August Count and Django Unchained, was suffering from bipolar disorder and had been suicidal, admitted her father Charles.
But parents Charlie and Mona Upham, believe Misty could have been alive still despite her suicidal tendency had the police acted promptly and cooperated on their request of locating her. Misty's parents reported the actress's vanishing act on October 6 after she was last seen in her sister's apartment the day before. But, Auburn Police did not classify her as 'missing person.'
In the October 14 interview with HollywoodLife.com, Misty's mom Mona expressed the family's disappointment "that the police are not doing more to help find Misty. Right now the only people looking for her are myself, my husband and son and daughter. I think if Misty was different-looking they would be doing a lot more to help find her."
Film maker and family friend Tracy Rector agrees on the role of the police for her death. In an interview with Deadline, he said, "The main thing her family wants people to know is that the Auburn Police Department would not cooperate in looking for Misty... There's a long history of police harassment and friction between the police and the Muckleshoot community here, and her family feels they dropped the ball and Misty perhaps would have been found if the police had taken it seriously."
