Missing “Alaskan Bush People” star Matt Brown’s family fears the Discovery Channel alum has died by suicide.
Brown, who lives in Washington state, allegedly “took his own life” late Wednesday night, his brother, Bear, announced in a TikTok Thursday. The latter added that he “can’t confirm that it’s 100% true right now.”
“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. He said authorities have been “scouring” for the body, but have yet to discover it, though, “All the witnesses are saying it was Matt. … It looks like it is.”
Bear added that his brother “has been struggling for a long time with alcohol, and drugs,” and “didn’t want anything to do with the family,” contrary to the perception the family had chosen to “shun” him.
Bear said he’d also encouraged his brother to maintain sobriety, both during a recent run-in at Walmart and in a subsequent phone call, as Matt was struggling with a breakup.
Bear requested respect for the family, and their mother, Ami, in particular, as he said he “would never have thought that Matt would take his own life.”
It would appear, at least judging by the activity on Matt’s Facebook account, which both prior to and since Wednesday, has churned out a slew of posts to his 135,000 followers.
“I feel so worthless at times, and it makes me hate myself a little more,” he wrote Wednesday. “I no longer want to feel worthless every time I wake up, and I don’t want to hate myself even more. I just want peace in my heart. I just want to feel that I am enough and worthy.”
Early Thursday, one post advocated for “emotional independence,” while another read, in part, “The strongest people aren’t the ones who never get abandoned. … At the end of the day, your relationship with yourself is the one that must survive every version of your life.”
Brown, or his account, posted throwback videos Thursday afternoon, and late that night, wrote: “Sometimes, the hardest task you must do everyday is to keep going. … Something inside you whispers hope to get up and urge you to fix yourself.”
While some were baffled by the posts amid Bear’s claims, others pointed out the ability to schedule posts, depending on the type of account.
It’s unclear whether Brown is currently responsible for those posts, previously scheduled them, or someone else is running the account, at present.
The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office told TMZ they were notified on Wednesday of a man being swept off by the current in Okanogan River Wednesday near Oroville, about 180 miles north of Spokane. As of Friday morning, a body had not yet been found.
Matt — who was on “Alaskan Bush People” from 2014 to 2019 — made headlines with a recent YouTube video in which he was naked and allegedly intoxicated in a public park and carrying a firearm.
Family insiders last week told TMZ that nearly all of Matt’s relatives, including his mom, had severed ties around 2021, due to considering him “too toxic” both for their safety and brand.
Earlier this week, Bear said he regularly prays for Matt, who “just blames the family for all of his problems, even though the family didn’t do anything, except to try to help him.”