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'Alaskan Bush People' star Matt Brown found dead after brother pulled him from river

By
FOX Local
Entertainment
Published May 31, 2026 7:59 AM MST
Published May 31, 2026 7:59 AM MST
article

FILE: The Tinget town of Hoonah, Chichagof Island, Icy Strait. (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

WARNING: This article includes mentions of suicide. If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Line for free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide and CLICK HERE for more on the 988 Lifeline.

The Brief

    • "Alaskan Bush People" star Matt Brown has died. 
    • His brother Noah helped to pull his body from a river in Washington state Saturday. 
    • Bear Brown, Matt’s other brother, said it appears Matt’s death was a suicide.

Matt Brown, who starred in the reality show "Alaskan Bush People" along with his parents and six siblings, has died. 

His brother Noah helped to pull Matt’s body from a river in Okanogan County, Washington, on Saturday, his family said. He was 43 years old. 

Matt Brown’s death

What we know:

According to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office, on May 28, someone called 911 and said he had just spoken to a man sitting in shallow water in the Okanogan River south of Oroville, Washington. When the caller turned away from the man, he reportedly heard a sound, turned around and saw the man face down in the water drifting away from the current. First responders looked for him, but couldn’t find him. 

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

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Two days later, Matt’s brother Bear Brown confirmed that the body was found and identified as Matt Brown. Bear said their brother Noah helped to pull Matt’s body from the river. 

Bear said it appears "the injury was self-inflicted."

What they're saying:

"I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself," Bear Brown said in a video on TikTok. "He struggled for a long time."

In a video shared days earlier on Instagram, Bear said Matt was struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. He said he "wasn’t in a good place" and asked people to stop sending him money until Matt decided to get help. 

"Everyone thinks that the family has shunned him and won't have anything to do with him, but that's not actually the case. He didn't want anything to do with the family," Bear said in another post. 

‘Alaskan Bush People’

The backstory:

"Alaskan Bush People" was a reality TV series on Discovery that followed the Brown family, a husband, wife and their seven grown children who lived off-grid in Hoonah, Alaska. The show aired for 14 seasons before it ended in 2022. According to Entertainment Weekly, Matt Brown left the show early because of addiction.  

The Source: This report includes information from the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office, Bear Brown’s TikTok account, Discovery and Entertainment Weekly. 

Entertainment