‘Alaskan Bush People’ star Matt Brown found dead in river

Alaskan Bush People, which aired from 2014 to 2022, followed the Brown family as they lived deep in the Alaskan wilderness

Published Jun 01, 2026  •  Last updated 9 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Selfie of Matt Brown, former star of Alaskan Bush People. Photo by Matt Brown /Instagram

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Matt Brown, known for his five-year run on Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People, has died at the age of 42.

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A body pulled from the Okanogan River in Washington state was identified as Brown’s, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The cause and manner of death will be determined by the coroner.

His brothers, Noah and Bear Brown, took to social media to announce Matt’s death, with Noah noting he was there when his brother’s body was pulled from the water.

He explained how he had been working with search-and-rescue groups to find Matt before the group he was with discovered him on Saturday.

“I identified it as Matthew,” an emotional Noah said on Instagram. “My oldest brother, Matthew Brown, has passed away.”

Details of the discovery of the body

The sheriff’s office said Wednesday that it launched a search after a caller reported having spoken to a man sitting in a shallow part of the river south of the city of Oroville.

“A caller reported to Okanogan 911 that he had just spoken to a male sitting in the shallow water,” Sheriff Jodie Barcus said in a statement. “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.”

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A gun was found Wednesday near where the man in the water was seen, according to the sheriff.

Matt Brown in Chopaka, Washington, in 2024. (Instagram) Photo by Matt Brown /Instagram

Matt spoke about his struggles

Alaskan Bush People, which aired from 2014 to 2022, followed the Brown family as they lived deep in the Alaskan wilderness.

Matt was a cast member from its debut until 2019.

During his time on the show, he was open about his struggles with alcohol.

Matt’s other brother, Bear, spoke on TikTok about his older brother’s struggles and confirmed Matt took his own life.

“It does look as though the entry is self-inflicted,” he said.

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Bear added: “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 going to end up like OD’d or something like that. I didn’t think that he would hurt himself.”

Bear went on to ask people to be respectful and kind as the family deals with the tragedy.

In Noah’s video, he added: “Say your prayers and tell people that you love that you love them while you can.”

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