Search for man believed to be “Alaskan Bush People”’s Matt Brown suspended after reports that he took his own life

Key points

• Authorities have suspended their search for an unidentified man believed to be Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown in the Okanogan River.

• Bear Brown posted a video earlier this week saying witnesses told him that his brother Matt “took his own life” and was seen “floating in the river.”

• A press release from the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office indicated that the man’s identity has not been confirmed.

Authorities have suspended an investigation into the suspected death of a man believed to be Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown.

After the reality star’s brother Bear Brown said witnesses told him that Matt “took his own life” and was seen “floating in the river,” the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office announced in a press release on Saturday that it has called off its search for a “male reported deceased in the Okanogan River” due to “dangerous river conditions and pending information to focus search efforts.”

Bear addressed his fears for his brother’s safety in a video posted on TikTok on Friday. “Witnesses say that he was seen in a river, at a river, or close to a river, and that he took his own life, and then they saw him floating in the river,” he said. “They called the police, and they’ve been trying to find the body. So far, they haven’t been able to. All the witnesses are saying it was Matt.”

Matt Brown on ‘Alaskan Bush People’
Credit: Discovery/youtube

In his most recent videos uploaded to his YouTube channel, Matt indicated that he was in Brewster, Wash., and Oroville, Wash., both of which are in Okanogan County.

The OCSO detailed its investigation in a press release on Thursday. “A caller reported to Okanogan 911 that he had just spoken to a male sitting in the shallow water of the Okanogan River south of Oroville,” the release read. “The caller turned away from the man sitting in the river, heard a sound, turned back toward the man in the water, and saw the man was face down in the water drifting away in the current.”

The release also noted that “a firearm was recovered from the water in the area where the male was last seen.”

In both press releases, the OCSO said the identity of the man at the center of the investigation has not been confirmed.

Matt Brown
Credit: Matt Brown/Instagram

Bear has expressed that he is near certain that his brother is dead. “It’s a very, very, very small chance that it’s not him,” he said in a follow-up video. “It’s like 99 percent him.”

Matt’s brother Gabe was seen speaking with authorities near the river this week, TMZ reported.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to the OCSO and Bear Brown for comment and further information.

The OCSO detailed the extent of its investigation in Saturday’s press release. “Deputies and a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife agent used boats, personal watercraft, sonar, and divers to search an expanding area near the last location the male was seen,” authorities said. “A canine from Spokane, trained in detection of human remains, was deployed and implements were used to drag the river bottom. The male has not been located; no signs of the male have been located.”

Matt Brown
Credit: Matt Brown/Instagram

The OCSO said rainfall and increased river current speed increase “the likelihood that the male has not remained near the location last seen.”

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Alaskan Bush People aired for 14 seasons on Discovery Channel from 2014 to 2022. The show centered on the Brown family as they lived off the grid together in Alaska. Matt exited it due to issues with addiction in 2019.

In his video, Bear indicated that Matt had been battling addiction in the period leading up to his disappearance. “He has been struggling for a long time with alcohol and drugs,” Bear said. “He has done a lot of stuff that people don’t even know about, and everyone thinks that the family has shunned him and won’t have anything to do with him, but that’s not actually the case. He didn’t want anything to do with the family.”

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