Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown is dead at 43, his brother, Bear Brown, confirmed in an emotional video shared on social media.

At roughly midnight going into the morning of Sunday, May 31, Bear, 38, took to Instagram with a heartbreaking update on Matt, after revealing on Friday that his older brother was missing and feared dead.

“They found a body in the river a few hours ago, and it was positively identified as being Matt,” the Discovery Channel star revealed.

Matt was the eldest of Ami Brown and the late Billy Brown‘s seven kids. Behind him were sons Joshua “Bam Bam” Brown, Solomon “Bear” Brown, Gabriel “Gabe” Brown, and Noah Brown, and daughters Amora “Snowbird” Brown and Merry Christmas “Rain” Brown.

In his video, Bear explained that Noah “helped them pull him out of the water” and identified their deceased brother.

“I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly,” an emotional Bear admitted. “He struggled for a long time, as I’ve mentioned. And I was so worried he was going to end up, you know, like, OD’d or something like that. I didn’t think he would hurt himself.”

The bereaved brother continued, “It does look as though the injury is self-inflicted. 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.”

To conclude his update, Bear sent a direct message to social media followers. “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… One of his last videos, he’s actually talking about how negative people were on his posts. And you guys should keep in mind that people on the other side of your screen, people that you’re watching a video of, they are real people, too.”

In the comments, Instagram users flooded Bear with prayers and condolences, with one follower writing, “So sorry for your loss, love and prayers to you and your family.”

Another shared, “Oh my goodness!! I am so deeply sorry to you and your family.”

Someone else echoed, “Nothing but prayers for you and your family. Special prayers for your mother.”

A different follower commented, “I’m sorry. And so sorry for Noah. That will forever traumatize him.”

Meanwhile, yet another Instagram user wrote, “I’m so sorry, Bear! I can’t believe this! Your mother must be devastated! You all are in my prayers!”

Alaskan Bush People aired on the Discovery Channel for 14 seasons from 2014 to 2022.

Source: tvinsider