Last thing he saw: Snake's open mouth

• Naturalist says he wore a special suit and was swallowed by a giant green anaconda


• "The last thing I saw was her mouth wide open before everything went black"


• Paul Rosolie says he survived the ordeal and the snake is fine, too

(CNN) -- Paul Rosolie says he was eaten alive by a giant green anaconda, the largest and most powerful snake in the world.

The herpetologist, naturalist and author presented himself as prey to the snake after putting on a special reinforced suit with helmet and devices to measure his vital signs, he says in a press release on the Discovery Channel website.

"She got me right in the face," he said. "The last thing I saw was her mouth wide open before everything went black. As this happened, she wrapped around me and took me off of my feet. I felt the suit cracking. It felt as if my arms were ripping out of their sockets."

Rosolie doesn't say much about the experience in the western Amazon, which was filmed in advance, because he wants everybody to tune into Discovery Channel's "Eaten Alive" show 9 p.m. Sunday ET.

However, he did say he spent an hour inside the snake, which was difficult because he's claustrophobic.

Some animal rights organizations complained but he says the snake came out fine. "I would not have done this if there were any real chance of hurting or stressing out the snake," he said.

Next, he wants to find the biggest anaconda.

"During an earlier expedition in the Amazon, we encountered a 26-foot-long anaconda that weighed hundreds of pounds," he said. "The snake for the 'Eaten Alive' project was big, about 18 feet long, but we know that there are even larger anacondas out there.

Hostage escapes Islamist extremists

• Lorenzo Vinciguerra fled while soldiers conducted law enforcement operations


• During the escape, Vinciguerra, 49, suffered a minor injury


• Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52, is still being held by the Abu Sayyaf militant group

(CNN) -- A Swiss hostage abducted two years ago made a daring dawn escape Saturday from Islamist extremists in the Philippines, the military said.

During the escape, Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 49, seized one of his captor's bladed weapons and attacked a guard and a kidnapper, said Col. Restituto Padilla, a spokesman for the Philippine military.

Vinciguerra wounded the two and fled, prompting other Abu Sayyaf rebels to shoot at him, Padilla told CNN affiliate 9TV. He suffered a minor injury on his cheek.

He fled while Philippine soldiers were conducting law enforcement operations in the area, Chester Ian Ramos, a local joint task force spokesman, told state-run Philippine News Agency.

"So the troops who were operating on the ground were able to recover him in that area of Barangay Timpook, where that incident happened, where they were operating," Padilla said.

Ramons said he escaped about 5:20 a.m. local time. He was treated at a nearby base hospital for wounds that weren't life-threatening, authorities said.

A second hostage, Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52, is still being held by the Abu Sayyaf militant group.

Rolling Stone apologizes for rape story

• Washington Post's media critic accuses Rolling Stone of "journalistic malpractice"


• Rolling Stone published a scathing report about an alleged gang rape at UVA


• The magazine is now apologizing, pointing to "discrepancies" in accuser's account


• A lawyer for the fraternity says there was no party on the date of the alleged attack

(CNN) -- [Breaking news update, posted at 5:45 p.m. ET]

The president of the University of Virginia said Friday the school will continue its focus on the issue of sexual violence on college campuses, despite doubts about an accuser's story published in Rolling Stone magazine. "We will continue to take a hard look at our practices, policies and procedures, and continue to dedicate ourselves to becoming a model institution in our educational programming, in the character of our student culture, and in our care for those who are victims," UVA President Teresa Sullivan said in a statement.

[Previous story, posted at 4:20 p.m. ET]

Rolling Stone magazine apologized to readers Friday for discrepancies in an article about an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house, with the publication's editors saying their trust in the woman who gave the account "was misplaced."

Rolling Stone editors made the choice not to contact the man who allegedly "orchestrated the attack on "Jackie" (the woman who was the subject of the article) nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her," a decision the magazine says it now regrets.

"In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced," Rolling Stone said.

The article chronicled the school's failure to respond to that alleged assault.

Rolling Stone: Our trust was misplaced

Allegations of rape at UVA

University of Virginia pledges zero-tolerance in rape cases

According to the magazine, Jackie, who at the time had just started her freshman year at the Charlottesville school, claimed she was raped by seven men at Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, while two more gave encouragement, during a party.

However, the University of Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi chapter did not have a party the night of September 28, 2012, the date when the reported attack occurred, the fraternity chapter's lawyer, Ben Warthen, told CNN. He said email records and Inter-fraternity Council records prove there was no party on that date.

Warthen said there were other discrepancies in the accuser's account. For example, the accused orchestrator of the alleged rape did not belong to the fraternity, the fraternity house has no side staircase, and there were no pledges at that time of year.

"It's not part of our culture," Warthen said. "It's just not true."

The magazine's decision not to seek comment from the accused is "outrageous," Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple told CNN on Friday. He wrote a blog post earlier this week examining problems with Rolling Stone's reporting.

"They're threading this whole thing through one voice," Wemple said. "This is what we call journalistic malpractice. ... It's really outrageous that Rolling Stone would have done this."

Rolling Stone's scathing report, detailing not just Jackie's graphic allegation of being raped and brutalized at a fraternity party, but also UVA's supposed indifference to victims of sexual assault, stirred a firestorm on the campus.

At a recent emergency meeting of UVA's governing board, Rector George Keith Martin said, "To Jackie and her parents, I say I am sorry. To the survivors of sexual assault and their families, I am also sorry."

The board unanimously adopted a resolution affirming a zero-tolerance approach toward rape and sexual assault cases, though what exactly that means remains to be seen.

"This type of conduct will not be tolerated at the University of Virginia," Martin said. "The status quo is no longer acceptable."

Catherine Valentine, a student reporter at WUVA, said the article emboldened women to come forward with stories of sexual assault, and that may stop following the magazine's apology.

"I'm worried that girls are not going to report now out of fear of being called liars," Valentine told CNN.

Landrieu has battle cry; who's listening?

• Sen. Mary Landrieu, despite lack of support from her party, insists she has a chance


• Some polls have her down by as much as 24 points to GOP challenger Bill Cassidy


• Louisiana voters go to the polls today in a runoff election

New Orleans, LA (CNN) -- Sen. Mary Landrieu is hoarse.

The Louisiana Democrat has been shouting all week, rallying her supporters at campaign events up and down the state, fighting to hold off a challenge from Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy to the bitter end.

"The national race is over, but honey, our race is not over" she cries at a campaign rally on the eve of the runoff election.

But there's every indication that nobody's listening.

Saturday morning, when she arrives to vote, only four cameras are there to capture the moment, compared with what one staffer described as a gaggle 50-strong during the November 4 vote.

Landrieu has trailed in every public poll of the race. Most recently, in a poll out this week from Republican firm WPA Research, she was down by 24 points. Early voting among African Americans, a voting bloc key to her chances for a win, was down, but Republican early voting was up.

With Republicans locking down control of the Senate in the November elections, Louisiana lost some of its urgency for national Democrats. The National Democratic Senatorial Committee withdrew its investment early on in the runoff and left her to fend for herself, as did most of the major Democratic spending groups.

The lopsided fight frustrates Landrieu, who on Friday, unprompted, chastised the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for having "abandoned us."

"I just don't believe in leaving a soldier on the field, and that's what they did," she says.

She insists, despite the lack of support, she still has a chance, noting there's a precedent for her to orchestrate an unexpected, come-from-behind win.

"The first race I ran 18 years ago -- the same pundits said, the tide has turned, you cannot win, no Democrat can win in the South. Eighteen years ago they said that, and we did" win, Landrieu remembers.

In 2002, too, she pulled off a runoff win. Then, like now, she seized on a niche issue -- then it was a trade deal that would hurt farmers in the state, now it's a dispute over Cassidy's work for Louisiana State University -- to help boost her campaign in its last moments.

But this time, Louisiana political observers say the issue broke too late for it to gain much traction.

And the political tides have grown increasingly difficult for the senator during her time in office. The South has become increasingly red, and Landrieu is now the last remaining statewide elected Democrat in Louisiana, and the last Democratic senator in the Deep South.

President Obama remains deeply unpopular in Louisiana, and Republicans have successfully made the race a referendum on him, even as Landrieu focuses on her record.

Landrieu confronts mission impossible

Still, it's probably a good thing for Cassidy that few are listening to the race.

The congressman has been described as "awkward" and "really weird" by the press and his detractors. He's kept his campaign appearances to a minimum in the runoff -- spending nearly all of the last week of the campaign in Washington -- to reduce the chances, many speculate, that his unusual personal style could stymie his near-certain win.

That style is on full display during one of his two final campaign rallies on Friday. Out front of the event, he escalates to an unexpected, gleeful shout while thanking a supporter for voting for him.

Telling a reporter that the reason Republicans have gained so much strength in the South is the fact that "they're the party for working families," citing the GOP's support of the Keystone XL pipeline as an example, and he points a finger to the sky and raises his chin as though sermonizing.

Deflecting a question on why he hasn't been in the state all week, Cassidy tangles himself in the kinds of knots that have wound up in Democratic attack ads.

"It is the story that I'm doing my job as a congressman -- because people want to question me as to whether or not I'm doing my job as a doctor -- I've always shown up wherever I've been asked to be. And when I show up where I'm asked where I'm supposed to be is now a story ... because people ask me what," he says.

Cassidy pauses, then adds: "You see the paradox."

Asked about the evaluation made by others of his personal style, Cassidy brushes them off as unfounded bias from reporters who "read what other reporters have said and they write what the other reporters have said."

Cassidy takes Election Day off

Meanwhile, everywhere Landrieu goes she swoops in for a hug, tousles a child's hair, rubs a supporter's back.

But if the polls are to be believed, the kind caresses haven't done her much good.

Indeed, Democrats, it seems, are already starting to look past her probable loss Saturday toward 2016 as an opportunity to right the ship. Mitch Landrieu, the senator's brother and mayor of New Orleans, told a group of reporters Friday night that as soon as they start focusing on 2016, the "environment is going to start changing all across America."

"On Monday morning, the whole story's gonna be different," Mitch Landrieu promised a group of reporters during Landrieu's Friday night event.

He later added, "There's always another day."

Hambycast: Jazz and politics in the 'zombie runoff'

Bash: Crowley represents soul of CNN

Long-time CNN political correspondent Candy Crowley is leaving the network after 27 years.

Washington (CNN) -- It was July 29, 1998, the day after two Capitol Police officers were shot and killed on duty.

I was a green producer at the time, sent to the home of Jacob Chestnut just to get some footage. I called Candy, and she asked me to describe the house.

When I was about to hang up, I mentioned to Candy that there was a dented golf ball in the front yard. It was an aside that I didn't think much of, but she asked me to make sure we got video of the golf ball.

Later, when I saw the script, it was abundantly clear why, and how, Candy Crowley is the best writer in television news. Here was the lead:

"It's strange how in a matter of seconds...life's most ordinary things become heartbreaking. A vegetable garden - a dented golf ball. They are details of the life of Officer Jacob Chestnut. Capitol Hill policeman."

Candy's ability to tell a story in a way that captures so much with so few words -- writing to pictures in her inimitable style - is unmatched. But the story of Officer Chestnut also shows what kind of person Candy is at her core: She is a family woman who understands what is really important in life.

Candy's decision to leave CNN after 27 years will leave a void with her colleagues that goes well beyond her journalistic talents.

For most of us, Candy represents the soul of CNN.

It is no surprise that in the deluge of emails she is receiving about her departure, it is the ones about the personal impact she made on people in all corners of the company that mean the most to her.

One email from someone who was once her sound tech on a trip to South Dakota reminded Candy that she suggested he buy a gift for his wife before he went home. He did, and every time his wife sees her on television, she reminds him that she has a cherished piece of jewelry because of Candy's thoughtfulness.

In a cut-throat business full of, let's face it -- lots of divas and tough personalities -- Candy has had one producer for 24 years. The amazing Mike Roselli. Having a producer stay by her side for nearly a quarter century speaks volumes about what kind of person Candy is -- someone who inspires loyalty and love. (Though Mike jokes that it is because he is the only one who can remember her complicated Starbucks' order: triple grande all foam cappuccino, or as he calls it, a cup of air with a drop of milk.)

You know the kind of reporter Candy is by the relationships she forms. In 1996, Senator Bob Dole used to come to the back of his plane to hang out with Candy. In 2000, Governor George W. Bush used to do the same. And of course he gave her a nickname - Dulce.

To be sure -- Candy is also known for her witty, and wonderfully snarky, sense of humor. We can always rely on her to reply all to a political press release with quip that is not only funny, but also cuts through the spin in whatever the politician is saying. She can translate from political-ese into "oh I get it now" English like no one else can.

Candy has won more awards than any one mantel could ever hold: three Emmys, two Dirksens, two Joan Shornstein Barone awards, a Dupont, an Edward R. Murrow award, a Gracie Allen Award, the American News Women's Club Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the list goes on.

Her career began as a newsroom assistant for Metromedia radio on WASH-FM. She became an anchor for the radio network before moving to the Associated Press as a reporter, where she covered the Ronald Reagan White House. She then went to NBC News as correspondent.

Over the years, Candy has been synonymous with television political reporting.

She has been the one viewers turn to learn what is really going on inside the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, among others.

When it was time for President George W. Bush to leave office, he chose to speak to Candy.

But her experience is hardly limited to politics.

Candy was at the center of some of the most major stories of our time: the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast, the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy, Ronald Reagan's trips to China, Bitburg, and Bergen-Belsen, the United States 1986 bombing of Libya, and the terrorist bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

During the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, Candy became famous for reading the report from Independent Counsel Ken Starr, which has some racy passages, live on the air.

(Luckily for Candy, a Soap Opera lover, the impeachment trial broke for lunch every day during her program -- "All My Children." She often wondered if the Senators were watching too.)

In 2010, Candy became the only woman host of a Sunday morning interview show. It was a recognition of her years of hard work — thousands of hours and miles logged traveling to 50 states and around the world as a stand-out fixture of TV news.

It was a telling moment because of the way it was received at CNN: with universal delight.

The reaction was the same in 2012, when Candy was chosen to be the first woman to moderate a presidential debate in two decades.

So now, the obvious question -- why is Candy leaving?

The answer is simple, and it's the real deal: She is ready. Anyone who knows Candy, as I am privileged to, knows she has been thinking more and more about making a change for some time. She is at the top of her game, but is ready to try new things.

Now, if a politician said that he or she was leaving to spend more time with the family, Candy would be the first to call "B.S." on it.

But for Candy, it's the truth.

She has two beautiful young grandchildren who are her sun and her moon and everything in between.

Candy raised her two sons as a single mother, while doing all the work that made her a star. And though her sons turned out phenomenally (one is a brain surgeon, the other is a musician), she admits she feels like being a grandmother is "a second chance to be there."

As a working mother all those years, Candy had the "3 B" rule for her boys during the work day. Unless something was burning, bleeding or broken she could not talk much at deadline time.

Now "Candygram" as her grandkids call her (coined by Mr. Roselli), will be able to stay for visits "one more day" if they ask her to.

To be clear -- Candy is not going off into the sunset. She may stay in journalism, but has lot of other interests -- from being a homicide detective to someone who works in mental health.

When I went into Candy's office I told her that I'm happy for her, but selfishly -- for me and other colleagues, especially women, I am sad.

Candy has been a mentor to me for at least 15 years, since the day she called me out of the blue and said "Hi, I was just watching Oprah, and she says women need to reach back and help younger women coming up, so, like, um, do you want to have coffee?"

I was on the assignment desk at the time. After I picked my jaw up and said yes, we did have that coffee and have been friends ever since. She has helped me with my career, and given me advice on how to be a working mother in our crazy business. And I know I am not alone. She is there for everyone, for all of us -- not looking for accolades or fanfare.

Just because she's Candy.

Senator confronts mission impossible

• Sen. Mary Landrieu is in a tight runoff race on Saturday


• African-American voters will be key to her success


• Landrieu's GOP opponent ties her to Obama

(CNN) -- As Sen. Mary Landrieu soldiered through her re-election race this year with sinking poll numbers and the heavy drag of President Barack Obama, the refrain from her strategists and supporters was always the same: Don't count her out. She's a fighter. She will pull it off in the end.

But in the hours before a runoff election on Saturday, when the three-term Louisiana Democrat faces Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy, it is hard to find anyone predicting the kind of eleventh hour victory that Landrieu pulled off in 1996 and 2002 -- turning her into a political legend.

"Sen. Landrieu has been a fabulous closer," said Joshua Stockley, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. "Two of her three races, she was not supposed to win."

Keystone pipeline comes to Senate floor

Keystone protest on Sen. Landrieu's yard

Dems consider Keystone vote for Landrieu

Louisiana Senate race will go to a runoff

Landrieu is facing voters more than a month after the midterm elections that virtually wiped out Democrats in the South. She failed to clear a 50% threshold in November needed to avoid a runoff so Landrieu is heading into what could be the final race of her career battling nearly every trend that toppled Democrats this election cycle.

Her base has shrunk dramatically in a state where Republicans are ascendant and she is one of the last white Democrats in the South holding statewide office. Louisiana voters remain apprehensive about the uneven economic recovery, and suspicious of the President's health care law. Adding to her struggle, Landrieu is a symbol of incumbency at a time when frustration with the deadlock in Washington is at an all time high.

Her best argument -- clout -- evaporated Nov. 4th when the GOP took firm control of the Senate, diminishing the import of her race. Her embarrassing loss on the Keystone pipeline vote that she recently forced in the Senate only underscored Landrieu's diminished power in Washington.

READ: Landrieu's Keystone bill dies in the Senate

In the runoff phase, Landrieu has consistently trailed Cassidy, a physician. While there are many reasons to distrust midterm polling, the early vote numbers for Saturday's runoff also seemed to spell doom for the Democratic Senator.

"The percentage of whites is up. The percentage of men is up. The percentage of Republicans is up. The percentage of Democrats is down. None of these things are good for Sen. Landrieu," said Stockley, listing the trends in early ballots cast. "If she's holding a magic card, then everyone in the world wants to know why she hasn't played it yet."

Like all the other vulnerable Democrats facing re-election in red states this year, Landrieu faced long odds with a midterm electorate that is historically more white, wealthy and conservative than in presidential years.

When she was forced into the runoff by Louisiana's "jungle primary" -- she didn't even come close to the 50% threshold needed for an outright win -- she faced the more daunting prospect of turning out distracted voters on a Saturday in December, at a time when she and her allies are being heavily outspent by Republican allied groups.

"There's no perfect playbook for this kind of election," said Democratic Strategist Robby Mook, who managed the successful off-year election of Terry McAuliffe as governor of Virginia last year. At this juncture, "it's a turnout game, and it's pretty straightforward."

Landrieu's formula for victory Saturday is to pump up turnout among African-American voters across the state while drawing support, as she has in elections past, from independents and moderate Republicans in the counties that ring New Orleans.

That two-pronged strategy isn't so easy this year in a state that Obama lost by 17 points. She ran ads rebuking the President on Obamacare and energy issues, while trying to avoid alienating black voters. She selectively ran some of those ads outside the New Orleans media market.

She tapped her father, Maurice "Moon" Landrieu, for a series of father-daughter ads reminding black voters of the family legacy. As the mayor of New Orleans in the 1970s, Moon Landrieu won the respect of many black voters by desegregating the workforce and opening high-ranking city jobs and contracts to blacks.

But the collapse of the coalition that always carried Landrieu across the finish line was stunning on Nov. 4. Turnout was strong among black voters, who comprise about 30% of the electorate. But Landrieu's support among white voters slid to 18% from 33% in 2008. She lost ground among self-described independents and moderates, and even among women—one of her chief targets in her recent events.

The erosion of her support was particularly striking given the weaknesses of her opponent.

"Cassidy is a really stiff, wooden, uncommunicative candidate who is a bad speaker," said Pearson Cross, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. "He's your geeky family doctor."

READ: CNN Exclusive: Landrieu's campaign flight was charged to taxpayers

Democratic strategists privately mused that they wished Cassidy's wife -- a far more charismatic figure -- had run instead. But Cassidy relentlessly pounded the anti-Obama narrative and the line that Landrieu had voted with the President 97% percent of the time.

So far, it has worked.

"This election has not been about Cassidy," Cross said. "This election has been about the negative press that the President has gotten and the ability of Cassidy to tie Barack Obama and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid to Mary Landrieu.

In this final act Saturday, the Louisiana race will test the limits of the vaunted Landrieu turnout operation, particularly in Orleans Parish, which has been the family stronghold for generations.

After Hurricane Katrina, Landrieu operatives were vigilant about maintaining their voter data—scrubbing their voter files to make sure addresses and phone numbers were up to date after each purge of voters who had moved out of state by the Secretary of State's office. Landrieu's campaign also partnered with the Democratic Party to register scores of new voters across the state this year, focusing particularly on ushering new black voters into the party.

In Saturday's election, it is hard to underestimate the importance of Landrieu's turnout operation in Orleans Parish, which encompasses the city of New Orleans.

"They've always considered Orleans Parish to be their firewall," said Edward Chervenak, director of the Survey Research Center at the University of New Orleans. "They need that get out the vote machine operating in the city to help overcome the deficit she will face throughout the rest of the state."

She won her first race in 1996 by less than 6,000 votes -- but with a huge margin in Orleans Parish. In 2002, like this year, the Democratic Party pulled its ads and much of its financial support -- writing off the runoff race as a lost cause -- but she eked out a win in part by boosting black voters' share of the electorate above the level of the first round of voting -- an unusual feat for a runoff.

In Landrieu's best race in 2008 -- a year when she rode on Obama's coattails -- she won by more than 121,000 votes. But if you took out Orleans Parish, her margin was only about 21,500 votes.

Underscoring the importance of Orleans Parish, Landrieu brought in Ryan Berni -- the campaign manager for her brother, Mitch -- to head the campaign in a recent shakeup. Earlier this year, he helped Mitch Landrieu win a majority of the black and the white vote in Orleans Parish to become the first white mayor of the predominantly black city since his father left the office in 1978.

But the number of voters turning out to cast ballots in Orleans Parish dropped in the latest round of early voting. Landrieu's campaign insists that the numbers were skewed by the Thanksgiving holiday, and they are counting on high turnout on Election Day.

To many others, however, it just seemed like the latest sign of foreboding for a race that is unlikely to go well for Landrieu on Saturday.

The 'zombie runoff' in Louisiana

• Sen. Mary Landrieu is in a tough runoff election


• Landrieu to CNN: 'It's not over until it's over'


• Landrieu supporters are putting on a brave face

Hammond, Louisiana (CNN) -- Maybe she meant to, maybe she didn't, but Mary Landrieu reached straight for the encyclopedia of Things Losing Candidates Say.

The Louisiana Senator — an 18-year Washington veteran and outgoing chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, blessed with one of the most recognizable last names in southern politics — stepped away from a modest crowd of supporters at a campaign event here for an interview about her difficult runoff race against Republican Bill Cassidy.

"It's not over until it's over," Landrieu said of the campaign, which has been left for dead by national Democrats. "The only poll that counts is Election Day."

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A few of the reporters and political types standing nearby exchanged knowing glances.

As defined by political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, who curated the definitive list of "Things Losing Candidates Say" for Roll Call last year, the luckless phrase is a pretty good indicator that "you are losing the race at the time and have no empirical evidence to the contrary."

The evidence is stacked against Landrieu, who advanced to the runoff after losing a strategic bet that she would win Louisiana's non-partisan primary outright four weeks ago. Instead, she got 42 percent, far short of the 50.1% needed to win, and voters are now consolidating around Cassidy.

If Landrieu pulls it out on Saturday, it would be an epic fourth quarter miracle that would put Les Miles to shame. She will have to keep African-American turnout on par with the November primary, and somehow find a way to increase her support among white voters from the dreadful 18 percent she received last month, all in the middle of the holiday season. It's a near-impossible lift.

There hasn't been a gold standard poll of the race, but she's losing by 15 or 20 points depending on the survey.

The actions of national Democrats are an even better tell. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee canceled its ad reservations for the runoff after Landrieu failed to win the Nov. 4 jungle primary outright, effectively ceding the airwaves to Cassidy and Republicans, who are outspending her 7-1 on television.

Supporters are putting on a brave face.

"Mary has always had close races and she always pulled them out," said Harold Ritchie, a state representative and funeral director from Bogalusa. "A lot of us are counting on that happening one more time."

Politically speaking, Louisiana is a weird place.

They have elections in odd years and run "jungle primaries." Politicians, state and local, genuflect before the gods of the oil and gas industry. It's a state that's twice voted an Indian-American Catholic Rhodes scholar into the governor's office (Bobby Jindal) and seems primed to succeed him with a Republican who reportedly liked to wear diapers while soliciting a prostitute in the French Quarter (David Vitter). There's a proud populist streak, a fraught racial history and a healthy dash of corruption.

"Louisiana politics is of an intensity and complexity that are matched, in my experience, only in the Republic of Lebanon," A.J. Leibling once wrote about the state. He was referring to the strange gumbo coalitions — white, black, cajun, redneck, uptown, downtown — that candidates assembled to win statewide elections.

But Liebling was scribbling those thoughts for The New Yorker in 1960. These days, elections are nationalized, waged on television and online, and not even the most Lousianan of Louisianans can safely count on surviving at the ballot box — no matter how much clout one has built up in Washington or how many LSU tailgates one attends.

Republicans have clobbered Landrieu with television ads tying her to President Barack Obama, whose approval rating in Louisiana, according to midterm exit polls, is 39 percent.

"The Republicans and her opponent Bill Cassidy have done a very effective job at creating an emotional target for voters to direct their frustration towards, and that would be President Obama," said New Orleans-based Democratic pollster Silas Lee.

Landrieu, first elected in 1996, compares herself to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Cassidy to an unknown rookie. Voting her out of office, she argues, would be akin to benching the star quarterback when the team needs it most.

The argument, though, has lost its resonance with Obama's waning popularity and the newly-in-charge Republican Senate majority, depriving Landrieu of her coveted position as chairwoman of the Energy Committee. But she is still making the case.

"Seniority is based on how many years you have served," she said. "Nothing has changed. I will have served 18 years. I have served with Democrats in charge, I have served with Republicans in charge. Nothing can take my seniority away. I will still be one of the highest ranking members of the Senate. I won't be chair. But I will be ranking member of the Energy Committee, and in that I will convene meetings of Democrats on Energy Committee, so Louisianans will still be at forefront, at the leadership table. I will still be part of the leadership team. That's much better than sitting on the back bench or sitting on the rookie bench."

Landrieu is spending the final week flogging Cassidy, a congressman and LSU physician, over a late-breaking news story about questionable paychecks he received for part-time medical teaching work he may or may not have done at the university in Baton Rouge.

"This story has legs," Landrieu said. "This story is breaking. You know, I wish it had broken a couple of weeks ago, but you know what? It broke now. Bill Cassidy cannot say, 'I am a doctor, I am higher than the law.'"

The argument feels like a Hail Mary, the last gasp of a zombie campaign that many Democrats are waiting for to die in a canebrake.

And even the senator admits how difficult it is to run a campaign when no one, in Louisiana or elsewhere, seems to be listening anymore.

"Nothing seems to be breaking through these days," she said with a sigh, deviating slightly from her message. "It's a very strange situation, all over the country. It's like people are just so mad, these commercials have really gotten people's emotions up. So getting people to focus on what really matters, leadership, honesty, integrity, hard work ..."

Landrieu trailed off.

"I am not going to give up," she said. "These last few days are really important."

Huge swastika found at bottom of pool

Police helicopter spots swastika in the bottom of a pool in southern Brazil

• A police helicopter spotted the swastika


• Police say the pool has had the swastika for 13 years


• No charges will be filed, according to police

(CNN) -- Civil Police in Brazil say one of their helicopters made a startling discovery -- a huge swastika in the bottom of a swimming pool.

One of their helicopters was assisting in a kidnapping investigation this week when officers spotted the symbol on a property in Pomerode, Brazil in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Jewish frat vandalized with swastikas

Local authorities say no charges would be filed, since the swastika is on private land and they say that the homeowner, who was not identified, is not promoting Nazism.

Woman finds swastika on McDonald's bun

Police say the pool has had the swastika for 13 years.

Though the swastika is an ancient and sacred symbol for some cultures, its recent history has been associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party who adopted it in 1920.

The Santa Catarina region has a history of European immigration -- including Germans and Austrians -- and hosts a popular Oktoberfest in the city of Blumenau every year that "preserves the customs of their ancestors from Germany to form colonies in the South."

After World War Two, Nazi hunters tracked down Franz Stangl in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was the commandant of the Sobibor and Treblinka extermination camps in Poland. He was arrested by Brazilian Police in in 1967 and died in a German prison in 1971.

Actress died from blunt force injuries

Click through to see people who died in 2014.

Ian McLagan, a fun-loving keyboardist who played on records by such artists as the Rolling Stones, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Springsteen and his own bands -- the Small Faces and its successor, the Faces -- died Wednesday, according to a statement from his record label, Yep Roc Records. He was 69.

American saxophonist Bobby Keys, who for years toured and recorded with the Rolling Stones, died on Tuesday, December 2. "The Rolling Stones are devastated by the loss of their very dear friend and legendary saxophone player, Bobby Keys," the band said on Twitter.

To the world, he was known as "Chespirito." Roberto Gomez Bolanos gained fame as a comedian, but he was also a writer, actor, screenwriter, songwriter, film director and TV producer. The legendary entertainer died Friday, November 28, at the age of 85.

British crime novelist P.D. James died Thursday, November 27, at her home in Oxford, England. She was 94.

Lebanese singer and actress Sabah, one of the Arab world's most prolific entertainers with a career spanning more than six decades, died Wednesday, November 26, in Beirut, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported. She was 87.

Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry is dead at the age of 78, a hospital spokeswoman said on November 23. Barry was elected four times as the city's chief executive. He was once revered nationally as a symbol of African-American political leadership. But his professional accomplishments were often overshadowed by drug and personal scandals.

Acclaimed film director Mike Nichols died on November 19. Nichols, pictured here with his wife, journalist Diane Sawyer, was best known for his films "The Graduate," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "The Birdcage." He was 83.

Jimmy Ruffin, silky-voiced singer of the Motown classic "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," died November 19 in Las Vegas. He was 78.

'Knight Rider" and "Battlestar Galactica" producer Glen A. Larson passed away November 14 after a battle with cancer. He was 77.

Actress Carol Ann Susi, best known for voicing the unseen Mrs. Wolowitz on "The Big Bang Theory," died November 11. She was 62.

Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, a member of the hip-hop group the Sugarhill Gang, died November 11 of complications from cancer. He was 55.

Tom Magliozzi, left, half of the "Click and Clack" team of brothers who hosted NPR's "Car Talk" radio show, died November 3. He was 77.

"House of Cards" actress Elizabeth Norment passed away at the age of 61, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed October 28 via Norment's sister Kate. According to the star's obituary in The Washington Post, Norment died of cancer on October 13 at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York.

Jack Bruce, bassist for the legendary 1960s rock band Cream, died October 25 at age 71.

Ben Bradlee, the zestful, charismatic Washington Post editor who guided the paper through the era of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and was immortalized on screen in "All the President's Men," died on October 21. He was 93.

Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta died on October 20, close friends of the family and industry colleagues told CNN. He was 82.

"August: Osage County" actress Misty Upham was declared dead by a Washington coroner after her body was found along a river in suburban Seattle on October 16.

Actress Elizabeth Pena died October 14, according to her manager. She was 55.

Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, the keyboardist in Jack White's backing band, died October 14. The musician also played with bands such as Mars Volta and Free Moral Agents. He was 38.

Mark Bell, who founded the highly influential techno-music duo LFO and later collaborated with Bjork on several iconic albums, died of complications from a surgery, his record label said October 13.

Actress and comedian Jan Hooks died in New York on October 9. Her representative, Lisa Lieberman, confirmed the death to CNN but provided no additional information. According to IMDb.com, Hooks was 57.

Geoffrey Holder, a versatile artist known for his ability as a dancer, actor and a pitchman for 7Up, died from complications due to pneumonia, his family's attorney said on October 6. Holder was 84.

Paul Revere, leader of the 1960s rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders, died October 4 at his home in Idaho, according to the band's website. He was 76.

Emmy-winning actress Polly Bergen, whose TV and movie career spanned more than six decades, died on September 20, according to her publicist. She was 84, according to IMDb.com.

Singer George Hamilton IV, known as the "International Ambassador of Country Music," died at a Nashville hospital on September 17 following a heart attack, the Grand Ole Opry said in a press release. He was 77.

Northern Ireland's former first minister and former Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley has died, his wife, Eileen, said in a statement on September 12. He was 88.

Richard Kiel, the actor best known for playing the James Bond villain "Jaws," died September 10 at a California hospital, St. Agnes Medical Center spokeswoman Kelley Sanchez said. He was 74.

Joan Rivers, the sassy comedian whose gossipy "can we talk" persona catapulted her into a career as a headlining talk-show host, best-selling author and red-carpet maven, died September 4. She was 81.

Jimi Jamison, lead singer of the 1980s rock band Survivor, died at the age of 63, it was announced September 2.

Acclaimed actor-director Richard Attenborough died on August 24, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported, citing his son. Attenborough was 90.

Don Pardo, the man whose voice introduced the cast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" for decades, died at the age of 96, the network announced August 19.

Skateboarding legend Jay Adams died of a heart attack August 14 while vacationing in Mexico with his wife. He was 53.

Ed Nelson, best known for playing a doctor in the 1960s nighttime soap opera "Peyton Place," died on August 13, his family said. He was 85.

Actress Arlene Martel, whom "Star Trek" fans knew as Spock's bride-to-be, died in a Los Angeles hospital August 12 after complications from a heart attack, her son said. Martel was 78.

Actress Lauren Bacall, the husky-voiced Hollywood icon known for her sultry sensuality, died on August 12. She was 89.

Actor and comedian Robin Williams died at his Northern California home on August 11. Williams apparently took his own life, law enforcement officials said. He was 63.

JJ Murphy, an actor who was set to join the "Game of Thrones" cast, died August 8, his agent said. He was 86.

Actor Charles Keating, who had been fighting lung cancer for several years, died on August 8, his son Sean Keating said. Charles Keating was known for his role of villain Carl Hutchins on the daytime drama "Another World." He was 72.

James Brady, the former White House press secretary who was severely wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, has died, the White House said on August 4. He was 73. Later in the week, authorities told CNN they are investigating it as a homicide.

Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, the last crewman of the U.S. plane that dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, died of natural causes on July 28, according to his daughter Vicki Triplett. He was 93.

James Shigeta, a prolific and pioneering Asian-American actor whose 50-year career included the movies "Die Hard" and "Flower Drum Song," died in his sleep in Los Angeles on July 28, his agent said. He was 81.

Skye McCole Bartusiak, who played Mel Gibson's youngest daughter in "The Patriot," died July 19, at her home in Houston, her mother said Sunday. She was 21. While investigators didn't immediately determine a cause of death, Bartusiak had been suffering from epileptic seizures, according to her mother.

James Garner, the understated, wisecracking everyman actor who enjoyed multigenerational success on both the small and big screens, died of natural causes on July 19. He was 86.

Broadway legend Elaine Stritch died July 17. According to her longtime friend Julie Keyes, Stritch died at her home in Birmingham, Michigan, surrounded by her family. She was 89 years old.

Blues guitarist and singer Johnny Winter died July 16 in a Swiss hotel room, his representative said. He was 70.

Nadine Gordimer, a South African author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, died on July 13, according to her family. She was 90.

Renowned conductor Lorin Maazel died from complications of pneumonia on July 13, according to his family. He was 84.

Grammy-winning jazz bassist Charlie Haden, whose music career spanned seven decades and several genres, died July 11, according to his publicist. He was 76.

Drummer Tommy Ramone, the last living original member of the pioneering punk band The Ramones, died on July 11, according to the band's Facebook page. He was 65.

Eileen Ford, who founded the Ford Model Agency 70 years ago, died July 9 at the age of 92, the company said.

Richard Percy Jones, the actor who gave Pinocchio his voice in the 1940 Disney movie, died at his California home on July 8. He was 87.

David Legeno, known for playing Fenrir Greyback in the "Harry Potter" movies, was found dead July 6, by hikers in a remote desert location in Death Valley, California. He was 50. "It appears that Legeno died of heat-related issues, but the Inyo County Coroner will determine the final cause of death," read a press release from the Inyo County Sheriff's Department. "There are no signs of foul play."

Rosemary Murphy, an Emmy Award-winning actress known for her roles in the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" as well as TV soap operas "All My Children" and "Another World," died July 5 at the age of 89. The New York Times cited cancer as the cause of death.

Olympian and World War II hero Louis Zamperini, the subject of the book and upcoming film "Unbroken," died July 2 after a recent battle with pneumonia. The 97-year-old peacefully passed away in the presence of his entire family, according to a statement.

Walter Dean Myers, a beloved author of children's books, died on July 1 following a brief illness, according to the Children's Book Council.

Paul Mazursky, a five-time Oscar nominee who directed and wrote such films as "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," "An Unmarried Woman" and "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," died at the age of 84, his agent said July 1.

Actor Meshach Taylor died June 28 at his Los Angeles-area home, his agent, Dede Binder, said. He was 67. Taylor had fought a terminal illness and faded markedly in recent days, Binder said. His wife, children, grandchildren and mother surrounded him as he passed away.

Legendary soul singer Bobby Womack died June 27, according to Womack's publicist. He was 70.

Character actor Eli Wallach, seen here in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," died on June 24, according to a family member who did not want to be named. Wallach was 98.

Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died June 16 at the age of 54, according to a release from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Gwynn, who had 3,141 hits in 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres, had cancer.

Radio personality Casey Kasem died June 15. He was 82 and had been hospitalized in Washington state for two weeks.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll died June 13. He had suffered from Alzheimer's and heart disease. He was 82.

Ruby Dee, an award-winning actress whose seven-decade career included triumphs on stage and screen, died June 12. She was 91.

Former baseball star Bob Welch passed away on June 9 after suffering a heart attack, according to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 57.

British actor and comedian Rik Mayall, who appeared in the TV series "Blackadder," died June 9 at the age of 56, his agent said. The cause of death was not immediately reported.

Chester Nez, the last of the original Navajo code talkers credited with creating an unbreakable code used during World War II, died June 5 at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Navajo Nation President said. Nez was 93.

Ann B. Davis, who played Alice the maid on "The Brady Bunch," died from a subdural hematoma on June 1. She was 88.

Maya Angelou, a renowned poet, novelist and actress, died at the age of 86, her literary agent said on May 28. Angelou was also a professor, singer and dancer whose work spanned several generations.

Australian racing legend Jack Brabham died on May 19, according to Brabham's son David. Brabham, 88, was a three-time Formula One world champion.

Malik Bendjelloul, the Oscar-winning director of "Searching for Sugar Man," died suddenly on May 13, police said. He was 36.

H.R. Giger, the Swiss surrealist artist whose works of sexual-industrial imagery and design of the eponymous creature in the "Alien" movies were known around the world, died on May 12. He was 74.

Former professional tennis player Elena Baltacha died at the age of 30 after losing her battle with liver cancer on May 4. Before retiring in November, she had reached a career high of 49th in the world rankings.

Al Feldstein, who guided Mad magazine for almost three decades as its editor, died on April 29, according to a Montana funeral home. He was 88.

Oscar-nominated British actor Bob Hoskins, known for roles in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Mona Lisa," died April 29 at age 71, his publicist said.

Hall of Fame basketball coach John "Dr. Jack" Ramsay, who became a television analyst years after winning a league championship with the Portland Trail Blazers, died on April 28, according to his longtime employer ESPN. Ramsay was 89.

Former Barcelona soccer coach Tito Vilanova, who had been battling cancer, died at the age of 45, the club announced April 25.

Country singer Kevin Sharp died from "complications due to cancer" on April 19, his mother told CNN. He was 43.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the middleweight boxing contender who was wrongly convicted of a triple murder in New Jersey in the 1960s, died April 20 at the age of 76, according to Win Wahrer, the director of client services for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the influential, Nobel Prize-winning author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera," passed away on April 17, his family and officials said. He was 87.

Jose Luis "Cheo" Feliciano, a giant of salsa music and a Puerto Rican legend, died in a car crash April 18 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to police. He was 78.

Days after being inducted into World Wrestling Entertainment's Hall of Fame, WWE superstar Ultimate Warrior died April 8. Born James Hellwig, he legally changed his name to Warrior in 1993. He was 54.

Comedian John Pinette, 50, was found dead in a Pittsburgh hotel room on April 5. Pinette died of natural causes stemming from "a medical history he was being treated for," the medical examiner's spokesman said. An autopsy will not be done because his personal doctor signed the death certificate.

Mickey Rooney, who started as a child star in vaudeville and went on to star in hundreds of movies and TV shows, died April 6 at the age of 93.

DJ Frankie Knuckles, a legendary producer, remixer and house music pioneer, died March 31 at the age of 59.

Kate O'Mara, the British actress best known for playing Joan Collins' sister on the 1980s show "Dynasty," died March 30. She was 74.

Ralph C. Wilson Jr., the founder and longtime owner of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, died at age 95, the team announced March 25.

Gwar lead singer Dave Brockie died March 23 at the age of 50, his manager said. The heavy-metal group formed in 1984, billing itself as "Earth's only openly extraterrestrial rock band." Brockie performed in the persona of Oderus Urungus.

James Rebhorn, whose acting resume includes a long list of character roles in major films and TV shows, died March 21, his representative said. Rebhorn was 65.

L'Wren Scott, a noted fashion designer and girlfriend of musician Mick Jagger, was found dead of an apparent suicide March 17, according to a law enforcement official. She was 49.

Drummer Scott Asheton, who co-founded and played drums for the influential proto-punk band The Stooges, died March 15. He was 64.

Comedian David Brenner, a regular on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," died after a battle with cancer, a family spokesman said March 15. He was 78.

Actress Sheila MacRae, who portrayed Alice Kramden in a 1960s revival of "The Honeymooners" on "The Jackie Gleason Show," died on March 6, according to her family. She was 92.

Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia, seen here in 2006, died February 25 of an apparent heart attack. He was 66. De Lucia transformed the folk art of flamenco music into a more vibrant modern sound.

Actor, writer and director Harold Ramis, seen here on the far left with fellow "Ghostbusters" Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray, died at his Chicago-area home on February 24. He was 69. Other popular Ramis films include "Stripes," "Groundhog Day" and "Analyze This."

Maria von Trapp, seen here posing with a photo of her family, was the last of the singing siblings immortalized in the movie "The Sound of Music." She died February 18 of natural causes at her Vermont home, according to her family. She was 99.

Journalist Garrick Utley died at age 74 following a long battle with cancer, his wife of 40 years said in February. Utley worked for CNN after his 30-year career at NBC News.

Devo guitarist Bob Casale, known by fans as "Bob 2," died February 17, his brother and band mate announced. Casale was 61.

John Henson, the son of Jim Henson who is perhaps most notable for his portrayal of Sweetums on "The Muppets," died after a "sudden, massive heart attack," his family's company said on February 15.

Veteran actor Ralph Waite died at 85 on February 13, according to an accountant for the Waite family and a church where the actor was a regular member. Waite was best known for his role as John Walton Sr. on 'The Waltons."

Sid Caesar, whose clever, anarchic comedy on such programs as "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" helped define the 1950s "Golden Age of Television," died on February 12. He was 91.

Hollywood child star Shirley Temple, who became diplomat Shirley Temple Black, died February 10 at her Woodside, California, home. She was 85.

Joan Mondale, the wife of former Vice President Walter Mondale, died on February 3, according to a statement from the family's church.

Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent drug overdose, law enforcement sources said February 2.

Maximilian Schell died on February 1 in a Austrian hospital with his wife by his side, his agent Patricia Baumbauer said. He was 83. Schell was nominated for an Oscar three times. He won in 1962 for "Judgment at Nuremberg."

Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, known for classics such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)," died of natural causes in New York on January 27, his grandson told CNN. He was 94.

Ruth Robinson Duccini, who played one of the Munchkins in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz," died on January 16. She was 95.

Former Playboy centerfold Cassandra Lynn Hensley was found dead at a friend's home in Los Angeles, the coroner there said on January 17. Hensley was 34. Her cause of death was not immediately known.

Hiroo Onoda, center, salutes after handing over his military sword on Lubang Island in the Philippines in March 1974. Onoda, a former intelligence officer in the Japanese army, had remained on the island for nearly 30 years, refusing to believe his country had surrendered in World War II. He died at a Tokyo hospital on January 16. He was 91.

Russell Johnson, center, stands with Alan Hale Jr., left, and Bob Denver in an episode of "Gilligan's Island" in 1966. Johnson, who played "the professor" Roy Hinkley in the hit television show, passed away January 16 at his home in Washington state, according to his agent, Mike Eisenstadt. Johnson was 89.

Ariel Sharon, whose half century as a military and political leader in Israel was marked with victories and controversies, died on January 11 after eight years in a coma, Israeli Army Radio reported. Sharon was 85.

Franklin McCain, seen center wearing glasses, one of the "Greensboro Four," who made history for their 1960 sit-in at a Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter, died on January 10 after a brief illness, according to his alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University.

Larry Speakes, who served as President Ronald Reagan's press secretary, died January 10 at his home in Cleveland, Mississippi, following a lengthy illness, according to Bolivar County Coroner Nate Brown. He was 74.

Poet Amiri Baraka, who lost his post as New Jersey's poet laureate because of a controversial poem about the 9/11 terror attacks, died on January 9, his agent said. Baraka was 79.

Sir Run Run Shaw, the media tycoon who helped bring Chinese martial arts films to an international audience, died at his home in Hong Kong on January 7 at age 106, the television station he founded said.

Stage, TV and film actress Carmen Zapata, who founded the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts as a means of of introducing "the rich and eloquent history of the diverse Hispanic culture to English-speaking audiences," died on January 5 at her Los Angeles home. She was 86.

Portugal football legend Eusebio, who was top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, died from a heart attack on January 5 at age 71, said his former club, Benfica.

Alicia Rhett, who had been one of the oldest surviving cast members of the classic film "Gone With the Wind," died on January 3 in her longtime hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, a retirement community spokeswoman said. She was 98.

Singer Phil Everly, left -- one half of the groundbreaking, smooth-sounding, record-setting duo the Everly Brothers -- died on January 3, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 74.

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• Investigators found actress Misty Upham's body at the bottom of an embankment


• The medical examiner says she died from blunt force injuries


• The manner of her death has not yet been determined, the medical examiner says


• Upham's father has said she wasn't suicidal; police say there's no sign of foul play

(CNN) -- Actress Misty Upham, whose body was found in October along a river in suburban Seattle, died from blunt force injuries to her head and torso, the King County Medical Examiner said Thursday.

The manner of her death has not yet been determined, the medical examiner's office said.

Investigators found Upham's body during a search for the missing actress. It lay at the bottom of a steep embankment near the White River.

Coroner: Body found is Misty Upham's

Upham, 32, was last seen alive October 5 walking from her sister's apartment, according to a statement sent to media outlets by her father, Charles Upham. Authorities say she died that day, but it wasn't until more than a week later that investigators found her body.

Her father said she had bipolar disorder and bouts of depression and anxiety, but he didn't think she was suicidal. Police have said they don't have evidence of foul play.

Upham had small roles in "Django Unchained" and "August: Osage County," and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in 2008's "Frozen River." She's also had roles in the TV series "Big Love" and the TV movie "Skinwalkers."

CNN's Todd Leopold and Brandon Griggs contributed to this report.