Discovery star Matt Brown's cause of death confirmed by Okanogan County coroner
Brown's brother Bear announced the death on TikTok after the body was identified in a river
The Okanogan County Coroner's Office has officially confirmed that Matt Brown, who featured in Discovery's Alaskan Bush People, died by suicide. He was 43.
Autopsy findings
An autopsy completed on Wednesday determined that Brown died as a result of a "single penetrating gunshot wound to the head," according to the coroner's report obtained by Deadline.
Contributing circumstances noted in the report include immersion in water — specifically a river — and the presence of methamphetamine in his system at the time of death. The body has since been released to the family for final arrangements.
Body discovered on 31 May
Brown's body was recovered on 31 May from a river situated south of Oroville, Washington. The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office stated that a 911 call was received on Wednesday from a member of the public reporting a man seated in the shallow waters of the Okanogan River.
The caller briefly looked away, heard a sound, and then observed the man "face down in the water drifting away in the current." A firearm was subsequently recovered from the water at the location where the man was last seen. A search operation that had been under way was suspended at 4pm on Thursday owing to severe weather conditions.
Brother Bear announces the news
On Saturday evening, Matt's brother Bear Brown broke the news to his followers in a TikTok video, confirming that a body found in a nearby river had been positively identified as his brother. He revealed that their brother Noah Brown had been present and had assisted in recovering the body from the water.
"This is an update about Matt," Bear said in the video. "They found a body in the river a few hours ago, and it was positively identified as being Matt. Noah [Brown, their brother] was with him and helped pull him out of the water, and Noah identified him."
"I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly. He struggled for a long time, as I've mentioned. I was so worried he was gonna end up OD'ed or something like that, I didn't think that he would hurt himself. It does look as though the injury is self-inflicted. Obviously, the coroner still has to look at him and stuff, but I thought that y'all guys should know that it is him," Bear added.
Bear's plea to followers
Bear had previously spoken publicly about Matt's long struggle with drugs and alcohol, expressing growing concern for his brother's wellbeing. In Saturday's video, he urged his audience to treat the family with compassion.
"Please be respectful to my family and to my mom. And please, watch the comments that you leave, guys. Sometimes, words can hurt more than fists can," Bear said.
He also reflected on the broader impact of online cruelty, noting that Matt himself had spoken about negative comments on his posts shortly before his death.
"A lot of people have logged negative comments on Matt's stuff too. One of his last videos, he was actually talking about how negative people were on his posts. And y'all should keep in mind that people on the other side of the screen, people that you're watching a video of, they're real people too."
Who was Matt Brown?
Matt Brown was the eldest child of Billy and Ami Brown, the family at the centre of the Discovery docuseries in which they documented their off-grid life. He appeared across the first eight seasons of Alaskan Bush People, from 2014 to 2019. His father, Billy Brown, died following a seizure in 2021 at the age of 68.
