What happened to Matthew Brown? Alaskan Bush People star's cause of death, detailed

Matthew Brown, who is known for being one of the stars on Alaskan Bush People, has passed away. Brown's brother, Solomon Isaiah Freedom Brown, aka, Bear Brown, confirmed his death via a video on Instagram.

While the corner hasn't given an official report regarding the cause of death, Matthew Brown's family believes that his death was self-inflicted. Here's everything we know about the Alaskan Bush People star's demise.

Alaskan Bush People star Matthew Brown's cause of death

Matthew Brown became known for being part of the Brown family, around whom the Discovery Channel show Alaskan Bush People was made. He was the eldest son of Blly and Ami Brown and is now survived by his mother and his six siblings (Billy Brown passed away in 2021). The show aired from May 2014 to December 2022, but Matthew Brown left the show in 2019 due to his addiction to alcohol.

For the past few years, Matthew Brown has been estranged from his family. He kept himself out of the spotlight and built a personal following on YouTube (amassing over 65,000 subscribers and 8 million views), where he documented his life and recovery away from everyone.

In a recent Instagram video, Bear Brown stated that he had run into Matthew at a Walmart some time ago. That was the last time he had seen his brother, and Matthew had called him a little after that saying he had

"fallen off the wagon"

regarding his sobriety. Bear had encouraged him to return to recovery or get himself admitted to rehab. Bear hadn't spoken to Matthew since then, and in the same video, Bear shared with his followers that he had heard reports of witnesses who had seen Matthew near a river in Washington. Witnesses had claimed various things like seeing Mathew's body floating in the river, him walking around the river, etc.

Authorities were alerted, but Bear had then said he couldn't confirm the news of Matthew's death, as he hadn't received any confirmation himself. But on May 30, 2026, Bear posted another video in which he confirmed that Matthew Brown has been found dead in a river in Washington. In the video Bear said,

"They found a body in the river a few hours ago, and it was positively identified as being Matt,"

He continued,

"I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly. He struggled for a long time, as I've mentioned, and I worried he was going to end up, like, OD'd or something like that. I didn't think he would hurt himself."

Bear went on to add that while the corner was yet to give a final report, it looked like Matthew Brown's death was self-inflicted. Their brother, Noah Darkcloud Brown was the one who helped the audhorities pull out Matthew's body from the river, and identity him.

Bear also asked viewers to not blame his family for Matthew's death, as all the family has tried to do is help him. Unfortunately, Matthew had allegedly refused to take any help from his family. As Bear said:

“Please be respectful to the family, to my mom especially."

He continued,

"Please don’t attack my mom. Mom cares very much for Matt and always has.”

Bear has asked the viewers to be respectful of his family and to be kind. Matthew Brown was 42 years old when he passed away. So far, his exact cause of death is yet to be confirmed, but everything about the case suggests that he took his life after struggling with addiction for years. Stay tuned for more updates.

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