ALASKAN BUSH PEOPLE Matt Brown found dead in Okanogan River by private search party
Alaskan Bush People star Matthew Brown has died. Matt’s body was found in Washington’s Okanogan River by a private search party on Saturday — less than two days after his brother, Solomon Isaiah “Bear” Brown, posted a video stating he had reason to believe Matt had taken his own life.
Bear Brown confirmed Matt’s body was found with an Instagram video posted yesterday. “They found a body in the river a few hours ago, and it was positively identified as being Matt,” Bear said. “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 say that Matt likely took his own life. “It does look as though the injury is self-inflicted,” he said. “Obviously, the coroner and stuff still has to look at him and stuff, but I thought that y’all guys should know that it is him.”
According to Bear, their brother Noah was at the river where the body was found. Noah “helped them pull [Matt] out of the water” and identified the body as that of his brother.
Here is the updated press release from Okanogan County Sheriff Jodie Barcus:
On Saturday, May 30, 2026, a group of private citizens conducting a search along the Okanogan River located a deceased individual in the river.
The individual was recovered and brought to shore, where he was positively identified as Matthew Brown.
Matthew Brown has been transferred into the custody and care of the Okanogan County Coroner. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Coroner’s Office.The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office extends its condolences to Mr. Brown’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.
No further information is being released at this time pending the ongoing investigation.
Jodie Barcus, Sheriff
Matt’s age at the time of his death is unclear. People states he was 42, while TMZ is reporting Matt was 43 when he died.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
