The cause of death for “Alaskan Bush People” star Matt Brown has officially been ruled a suicide.
Brown suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Okanogan County Coroner said, per Entertainment Weekly. “Subsequent immersion in water” and “under the influence of methamphetamine” were also listed as contributing factors in his death. He was 42 years old.
Brown’s body was pulled from a river in Washington on Saturday, days after his brother, Solomon Isaiah “Bear” Brown, took to social media, telling followers that he feared the Discovery Channel alum had died by suicide. His other brother, Noah Brown, was among the private searchers who located Brown’s body, and he was able to help identify him.
“Witnesses say that he was seen in a river … or close to a river and that he took his own life and that they saw him floating on the river, and they called the police,” said Bear on TikTok. He added that authorities had been “scouring” for the body.
“All the witnesses are saying it was Matt. … It looks like it is,” he said.
Bear also claimed his older brother had “been struggling for a long time with alcohol and with drugs,” adding that he “didn’t want anything to do with the family.” He also revealed the final moments he shared with his brother, telling fans he’d “fallen off the wagon” amid a bad breakup.
Still, he said he “would have never thought that Matt would take his own life.”
The reality series, “Alaskan Bush People,” aired for 14 seasons on Discovery Channel before wrapping in 2022. It followed Brown and his family, chronicling their day-to-day lives living off the grid in Alaska.