Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown dead at 43 as brother speaks out

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.

The Brown family are in mourning after Bear confirmed the devastating news on TikTok, with new details emerging about Matt's final years painting a tragic picture.

Matt Brown, one of the original stars of Discovery Channel's Alaskan Bush People, has died at the age of 43 after his body was recovered from a river in Washington state.

His brother Bear announced the news in an emotional TikTok on Saturday evening, revealing that Matt had been found in the Okanogan River near Oroville.

"They found a body in the river a few hours ago and it was positively identified as being Matt," Bear told his followers.

In a detail that makes the whole thing even more gut-wrenching, it was their younger brother Noah who first spotted the body, and helped pull it from the water.

Matt had been found in the Okanogan River near Oroville (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

What do we know about how Matt Brown died?

A press release from the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office confirmed that a 911 caller had reported seeing a man sitting in shallow water in the Okanogan River. The caller later watched the man go face down in the water and drift away in the current.

Emergency services launched a search operation but were unable to locate a body at the time. Bear had already raised the alarm to fans online after going several days without hearing from his brother.

A firearm was also found near the water at the spot where Matt was first reported missing. An autopsy is yet to be carried out.

A press release from the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office confirmed that a 911 caller had reported seeing a man sitting in shallow water in the Okanogan River (Photo by: Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Matt Brown's battle with addiction in his final years

In his TikTok, Bear opened up about the struggles Matt had been facing behind the scenes, revealing he had been dealing with alcohol and drug addiction, as well as other personal issues he'd chosen to keep out of the public eye in recent years.

Reports had previously suggested Matt had become estranged from some members of his family.

Matt was a fan favourite across Alaskan Bush People's 14-season run on Discovery, appearing in close to 80 episodes before the show wrapped in 2022. The series followed the Brown family's off-grid life in the Alaskan wilderness and turned them into unlikely reality TV icons.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.

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