Tragic Loss: Alaskan Bush People Star Matt Brown Passes Away at 43

The search for Matt Brown, a star of the reality TV show “Alaskan Bush People,” has come to a heartbreaking conclusion. The 43-year-old was found deceased on Saturday.

Matt’s brother, Bear Brown, shared the sad news through a TikTok video, disclosing that a body had been discovered in a river located in northern Washington state just a few hours prior.

Authorities later confirmed the body to be that of Matt Brown. His brother Noah was present and assisted law enforcement in retrieving Matt’s body from the water.

Bear indicated that Matt may have died by suicide, noting the presence of a wound that appeared to be self-inflicted, although he did not specify the wound’s exact location or severity.

“I never imagined he would harm himself,” Bear expressed to his TikTok audience, reflecting on Matt’s struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, which he battled before his untimely death.

‘He struggled for a long time with addiction and I was so worried for a long time that he was going to OD. I didn’t think that he would hurt himself.’ 

Brown appeared on Alaskan Bush People with his family from 2014-2018. 

The desperate search for Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown has come to a tragic end as the 43-year-old was discovered dead on Saturday 

Bear said that the coroner allowed him and other family members to see Brown’s body following his retrieval from the river.

Bear also asked that the public ‘respect [the] family’ amid their grieving and to ‘watch the comments’ that they leave on social media about Brown.

‘Sometimes words can hurt more than fists can,’ said Bear, who noted that one of Brown’s last social media posts was about the ‘negativity’ he had received online.

He concluded the TikTok video with a final plea to the public to be ‘kind’ to the Brown family. 

In dispatch audio obtained by TMZ on Saturday, personnel who responded to the scene found a backpack and a phone, but ‘no person or body’ at the time. 

Later, personnel also found an empty holster inside the backpack. 

The holster was believed to hold a revolver and an individual shared in the audio that the gun could have gone in the water with Brown.  

Bear’s heartbreaking update comes just two days after he tearfully revealed on Thursday that multiple witnesses had seen Matt in a river in Okanogan County.

He had voiced fears that his brother may have taken his own life at the time.

Brown, who appeared on Alaskan Bush People from 2014-2018, had vanished days earlier

The news of Brown’s death came hours after authorities suspended the search for the previously unidentified man in Washington’s Okanogan River

The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it is investigating a report of an unidentified man swept away in the Okanogan River on Wednesday.

But on Saturday, TMZ reported that authorities had suspended the search for the unidentified man.

The decision came after an extensive multi-agency search operation failed to uncover any sign of the missing man. 

According to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office, per the outlet, deputies were joined by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel, dive teams, sonar operators, boats, personal watercraft and even a cadaver dog as crews combed a widening stretch of the river near Oroville on Friday. 

Despite the massive effort, authorities said no evidence was found.

Officials noted that recent rainfall had caused water levels to rise and currents to intensify throughout the day, making conditions increasingly hazardous for search teams.

Investigators believed the river’s strong flow may have carried the body far beyond the area where he was last seen, significantly complicating recovery efforts.

Bear previously said his last conversation with Brown took place at a Walmart before Bear left for Florida.

‘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. Everybody falls off. Just get back on it. Go to rehab if you’ve got to. You’ve got this.”’

‘Everyone thinks that the family has shunned him. That’s not actually the case. 

Brown’s brother Bear voiced fears that Brown may have ‘took his own life’ after ‘witnesses [said] that he was seen in a river’

‘Please be respectful to the family, to my mom especially,” he said. “Please don’t attack my mom. Mom cares very much for Matt and always has.’

Bear said his brother had recently had a ‘really bad breakup’.

Per a Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office press release a caller called 911 on Wednesday, May 27, to report that ‘he had just spoken to a male sitting in the shallow water of the Okanogan River south of Oroville, WA.

‘The caller turned away from the man sitting in the river, heard a sound, turned back toward the man in the water and saw the man was face down in the water drifting away in the current.’

Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS responded to the location but were unable to locate the male in the river. 

The release added, ‘Additional Okanogan County Deputies responded to the location with one boat, two jet ski type watercraft and an aerial drone. Also assisting in the search was the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife with a boat.

‘A firearm was recovered from the water in the area where the male was last seen.

Per a Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office press release a caller called 911 on Wednesday, May 27, to report that ‘he had just spoken to a male sitting in the shallow water of the Okanogan River south of Oroville, WA; stock image of Okanogan County seen above in 2025  

‘The search for the male continued until dark at about 8:45 PM and resumed on in the morning of 5/28/2026 with watercraft, divers and aerial drone. The search is on-going.’

The Daily Mail has contacted the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office for further comment.

A family member told TMZ they saw Brown around 8am Wednesday near Driscoll Island Wildlife Area off Highway 97 in Oroville, Washington, less than a mile from where the witness saw the man in the river.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.