Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown’s brothers speak out after his sudden death at 43
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Reality TV
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@mattbrown511
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Reality TV
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Alaskan Bush People star Noah Brown has addressed his brother's sudden death at the age of 43.
Matt Brown appeared on the Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People from 2014 to 2019 alongside his parents, Billy and Ami Brown, and his siblings.
The long-running reality TV series followed the Brown family as they lived off the grid in the wilderness.
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Noah confirmed that he identified the body of his brother Matt after it was recovered from a river in Washington state.
In an Instagram video posted on Saturday (30 May), Noah, the youngest of the seven Brown siblings, said he had been working with search groups to locate Matt.
According to Noah, the group he was with found the body at 3:27 p.m.
"I identified it as Matthew," Noah said. "My oldest brother, Matthew Brown, has passed away."
He added that the family is awaiting further information from the coroner’s report and thanked everyone involved in the search efforts, including local residents.
"I was there when we pulled him out of the river," he said. "We hauled him up off the bank. And then, after the sheriffs got there and everything, the coroner did his thing, and I went down to identify that it was him."
"It’s definitely Matthew," he continued. "His ID and Social Security card was on him, and I was able to visually identify that it was Matthew."
Addressing fans of Alaskan Bush People, Noah added: "I’m sorry it came down to this."
"I don’t know what to say," he added. "Anyway, it’s late. Say your prayers and tell people that you love that you love them while you can."
On Saturday, Matt’s other brother, Bear Brown, also shared a TikTok video in which he said Matt died by suicide.
"I didn’t think he would hurt himself, it does look like the injury is self-inflicted," Bear said. "Obviously, the coroner has to look at him and stuff, but I thought you guys should know it is him.”
In a TikTok video posted last week, Bear said Matt 'has been struggling for a long time with alcohol and with drugs,' but denied claims that the family had 'shun[ed]' him.
Instead, Bear said Matt 'didn’t want anything to do with the family'.
Bear said the last time he saw Matt was when they unexpectedly met at Walmart 'a little bit ago'.
According to Bear, Matt told him he had 'fallen off the wagon', and Bear encouraged him to seek rehab treatment.
Bear repeatedly said he 'would’ve never thought that Matt would take his own life'.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.