An actress based in and around Seattle, WA, for many years, screen performer Misty Upham drew heavily from her Native American ancestral background in selecting roles, which often reflected an ethnic angle; the majority of her early film projects also dealt explicitly with Native American issues. Upham first bowed onscreen in the early 2000s, in two projects helmed by the celebrated Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals): Skins and Skinwalkers (both 2002). Upham essayed one of her first leads in the 2008 Frozen River, as a Mohawk Indian who sustains herself economically by smuggling illegal immigrants over the border. She appeared in 2012's Django Unchained and had a major supporting role in August: Osage County (2013). On October 5, 2014, Upham was last seen leaving her sister's apartment on the Muckleshoot Reservation (near Auburn, WA) and was not seen again; her father reported her as missing the next day. On October 16, 2014, her body was found in the woods in Auburn, WA.