“Alaskan Bush People” star Matt Brown died by apparent suicide at the age of 43, according to his brothers.
His brother, Bear Brown, announced his death Saturday on TikTok. “They found a body in the river a few hours ago and it was positively identified as being Matt,” he said while clearly shaken up.
“I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly, he struggled for a long time as I’ve mentioned, and I was so worried he was gonna end up, you know — like OD’d or something like that — I didn’t think that he would hurt himself.”
Bear continued, “It does look as though the injury is self-inflicted.”
Another brother, Noah Brown, said he identified a dead body as his brother Saturday on social media. “My oldest brother, Matthew Brown, has passed away,” he continued.
Bear advised that the coroner would proceed with an examination to determine Matt’s official cause of death.
TMZ shared dispatch audio from a search for a coprse, and personnel could be heard saying a backpack was recovered but a gun was thought missing.
Matt appeared in 79 episodes of “Alaskan Bush People” from 2014-2019.
Concern for his well-being grew in May during a livestream in which he appeared nude, rambled incoherently, wandered around the streets aimlessly, held a gun and was seemingly intoxicated, according to TMZ.
Family sources told TMZ that the majority of Matt’s family was estranged as they were no longer able to aid him with his issues with addiction. Gabe Brown was reportedly the sole member of the family who had contact with him from time to time. (RELATED: Hockey Legend Claude Lemieux Dead At 60)
Bear appealed to the public to give his family some space to come to terms with this tragic loss. He asked his followers to be kind when commenting on social media, noting, “Sometimes words can hurt more than fists can.”
Matt’s death has not officially been ruled a suicide, autopsy results are pending.