Misty Upham Tragedy

Many people know Misty Upham for her starring role in the 2008 film Frozen River. On October 5, 2014 the family of Misty shared via social media that they had not seen or heard from Misty since the previous weekend and that they were concerned for her welfare as she has had both mental and physical health issues in the past.

At the time of the announcement, the police did not open up a case or declare Upham as a missing person due to occasions in the past where they have been called during her disappearance but she had always been located soon after. I think that the police approached this the wrong way in this situation. 

They said that they never opened up a case because she had always been found within days after opening the case but this time by the time the family had contacted the local police department, Misty had already been missing for almost a week. The police also should not have just gone off of the previous record. If they would have not have gone off of what has happened in the past and opened up a missing persons case then you can’t help but wonder if they would have found Misty alive.

They found Misty on October 16, 2014 at the bottom of a cliff in the middle of a wooded area. She was discovered by her family during a small search party that they had organized with a few other members of their tribe. People believe that Misty’s death was an accident, that she tripped or slipped and fell down the cliff and that her life could have been saved if there had been a more open and thorough search done by the police department.

The family of Misty Upham is now speaking out about the lack of involvement they received from the local police department and telling people that if the department had gotten involved like it is their duty to do, they could have prevented Misty’s death. They have accused the department of lying and saying that they didn’t have evidence that pointed to Misty being a missing person when they really did and have told the media that the police department decided not to get involved because of past abuse to Misty.

I hope that the whole situation could have been completely avoided and I hope that they are able to get this figured out because I would never want something like this to happen to anyone else or anyone else’s family have to go through what Misty’s family went through. R.I.P. Misty Upham.

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