Misty Upham's relatives 'very heartbroken and afraid' following 'Frozen River' actress' disappearance
Misty Upham, best known for her roles in "Frozen River" and "August: Osage County," was reported missing after being last seen on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2014, in Auburn, Washington. She is shown here attending the premiere of "August: Osage County" in Los Angeles on Dec. 16, 2013. Credit: Getty Images / Kevin Winter
Relatives of a missing “Frozen River” actress say they have canceled an online fundraising campaign due to negative comments and are “very heartbroken and afraid,” six days after they say she disappeared.
Misty Upham, 32, was last seen Sunday, Oct. 5 after she left an apartment in Auburn, Washington, near Seattle, Reuters reported. Her sister lived there, and Upham told her family she was headed to visit friends, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Police said they responded to a suicide call from the apartment, but Upham — a prominent Native American actress and activist — was gone when they arrived.
Upham’s family had asked for financial support to help find her, but withdrew that request in a follow-up post on her Facebook account a few hours later on Friday. In their statement, her family members apologized for any offense a Fundly campaign “may have caused among Misty’s circle.”
“Please do not post any negative comments, it is hard enough to deal with our missing daughter, we dont need the added [accusations] or blame,” the Facebook post said. “Just know we are doing everything within our means to bring our daughter home safe.”
Upham is best known for her roles in 2008’s “Frozen River” and 2013’s “August: Osage County,” and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in the former, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the film, set in and around a Mohawk reservation in upstate New York, she played a single mother who smuggled people across the Canadian border into the U.S.
Charles Upham told The Hollywood Reporter that he fears his daughter is suicidal. He said she was behaving somewhat erratically after she changed her medication recently.
"I think that she is either in a place where she can’t get help — maybe she fell down and broke her leg and something, or she got in with the wrong crowd," the father told the publication. "I don't think she would have taken her own life. I don't want to think she is dead."
