Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown has died at the age of 43.
The reality TV star’s brother Bear took to social media to reveal on Saturday (30.05.26) that his older sibling’s body had been found in a river, days after he revealed Matt had likely passed away.
He said in a new clip shared on TikTok: “They found a body in the river a few hours ago and it was positively identified as being Matt.
“[Brother] Noah was with them and helped them pull the body out of the water. Noah identified [Matt].”
Matt had struggled with substance abuse and had been to rehab twice, and though he had “struggled for a long time”, Bear insisted he “never would have suspected” his troubled sibling would “hurt himself”.
He added: “I was so worried that he would end up ODed or something like that. I didn’t think he would hurt himself.”
Bear confirmed an autopsy has not yet been carried out on Matt’s remains, though it is believed his death was “self-inflicted”.
And the 38 year old urged people to be “respectful” when talking about the tragedy.
He said: “I would ask people to please, please be respectful to my family and to my mom. Please watch the comments that you leave, guys.
“Sometimes words can hurt more than fists can … In one of [Matt’s] last videos, he was talking about how negative people were on his posts. You guys should keep in mind that people on the other side of your screen, people you are watching a video of, are real people too…
“I would just ask you to please, please, please be kind. Especially with my siblings … Please leave my family out of it.”
The update came after Bear shared a video on Thursday (28.05.26) in which he expressed his concerns that Matt had taken his own life.
He said on TikTok: “”I’m being told that late last night that Matt took his own life. Witnesses say that he was seen in a river, at a river, or close to a river, and that he took his own life, and then they saw him floating in the river. They called the police and they’ve been trying to find the body. So far they haven’t been able to. All the witnesses are saying it was Matt.
“He has been struggling for a long time with alcohol and drugs.
“He has done a lot of stuff that people don’t even know about, and everyone thinks that the family has shunned him and won’t have anything to do with him, but that’s not actually the case. He didn’t want anything to do with the family.”
According to TMZ, Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous call on Wednesday (27.05.26) about a man in the shallow waters of the Okanogan River in Washington state. The caller looked away, but when they turned back, the man was allegedly being swept away by the current as he lay face down in the river.
Alaskan Bush People ran on the Discovery Channel for 14 seasons from 2014 to 2022 and followed the Brown family as they lived off grid in Hoonah, Alaska.
Matt quietly left in 2019 and has since run his own YouTube Channel.
The programme ended a year after family patriarch Billy Brown passed away at the age of 68 following a seizure.
