Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown’s cause of death confirmed as suicide
Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown’s cause of death has officially been confirmed as suicide by authorities.
The reality star was found dead in Washington on Saturday, 30 May, with his devastated brother Bear confirming that Matt’s body had been found following days of searching.
"They found a body in the river a few hours ago, and it was positively identified as being Matt," Bear said in a video.
In a statement, Okanogan County Sheriff Office said the body was recovered by a ‘group of private citizens’ and then ‘positively identified as Matthew Brown’.
Advert
Now, the coroner's office has confirmed to Page Six that Matt 'died by suicide caused by a single gunshot wound to the head'.
The publication said his ‘subsequent immersion in water’ and ‘being under the influence of methamphetamine’ were ‘contributing circumstances’ in the death.
In the wake of the tragedy, the Brown family shared a statement with US Weekly paying tribute to Matt.
'Matt was intelligent, curious, creative, and endlessly fascinated by the world around him'
“It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we share the loss of our beloved son, brother, uncle, and friend, Matthew Brown,” the family said.
To millions of viewers, Matt was known as one of the original stars of Alaskan Bush People. To us, he was so much more.
"Matt was intelligent, curious, creative, and endlessly fascinated by the world around him. He was a gifted outdoorsman who felt most at home on the water, in the wilderness, or sharing what he had learned with others. He was an accomplished fisherman, an experienced boatman, and served as the radar operator on our family’s vessels.
"He loved adventure and never stopped exploring new ideas."
'He has been struggling for a long time'
His brother Bear took to TikTok to speak of the struggles Matt had faced recently, noting that he had been dealing with alcohol and drug addiction, as well as other personal issues he had chosen to keep out of the public eye.
"He has been struggling for a long time, you know, with alcohol and with drugs and stuff," Bear claimed in the video. "He has other issues and stuff, too. He has done a lot of stuff that people like, don’t even know about."
He then recalled how the last time he saw his brother was in a Walmart, saying: "That was the last time I saw him, you know, and he called me after that, and he said that he had fallen off the wagon, and I was like, 'Well, get back on it, man, you know, everybody falls off, you know, just get back on it, rehab if you’ve got to, you’ve got this, you fought it a lot before'.
"And that was the last call I had with him, and that was a little bit ago."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.
Claire Reid