How Did Matt Brown Die? Real Cause of Death as Horrifying River Details Revealed

Matt Brown, the former Alaskan Bush People star, died by suicide in Washington state last month after a gunshot wound to the head and subsequent immersion in a river, according to an autopsy report released by the Okanogan County Coroner and obtained by Page Six.

Until now, details around Brown's death had been pieced together from family statements and witness accounts near the Okanogan River in Oroville. The coroner's findings now provide the first official account of what happened to the 40 year old and what was found in his system at the time.

The autopsy says Brown's manner of death was suicide, caused by a 'single penetrating gunshot wound to the head.' It also lists 'subsequent immersion in water' as a contributing factor, confirming that he entered the river after the shot was fired. Toxicology tests also found methamphetamine in his system, underscoring the addiction struggles his family say he faced for years.

Brown's body is being released to his family for final arrangements. Authorities in Washington have not issued any further public comment beyond the coroner's ruling, and there has been no suggestion of third party involvement.

Witness Account And River Search

Questions about how Matt Brown died first emerged on 27 May, when a witness called 911 after spotting a man wading in the Okanogan River near Oroville. The witness later told authorities they briefly looked away before hearing a loud noise, then saw the man floating face down in the fast moving current.

That account, first reflected in police updates and later relayed by the Brown family online, was already grim before the autopsy confirmed the gunshot wound. A search and recovery operation followed, with local responders working in difficult conditions to recover the body from the river.

The next day, Brown's younger brother Bear Brown went public with what he had been told, posting a sombre video in which he said he had 'some really bad news' and believed his brother had taken his own life. At that point, the body had not yet been formally identified, and Bear said he was relying on information from witnesses and authorities.

'He was seen in a river, at a river or close to a river,' Bear, 38, said, describing how someone saw a man 'floating down the river' and called police, who were 'trying to find the body.' He added that 'all the witnesses are saying that it was Matt,' while stopping short of certainty before the identification was complete.

Family Grief And Long Struggles

The confirmation came later, when Bear told fans that authorities had positively identified the remains from the Okanogan River as Matt's. In a later TikTok update, he said their youngest brother, Noah Brown, was the first family member to see Matt's body and helped recover it.

'Noah helped them pull the body out of the water and Noah identified [Matt],' Bear said, offering a rare glimpse into the family's role in the final steps of the recovery.

Bear also spoke openly about what he believed may have led to his brother's death. He said Matt had 'been struggling for a long time with alcohol and with drugs' and claimed that in recent years he 'didn't want anything to do with the family.' Those comments are his own account, not a formal diagnosis, but they sit alongside the methamphetamine finding in the autopsy and Matt's public history of addiction issues.

Even so, Bear said he never expected this outcome. 'I would've never thought that Matt would hurt himself. It does look as though it was self inflicted,' he said at the time, before the coroner's ruling used the same language.

The Brown family became widely known through Discovery's Alaskan Bush People, which launched in 2014 and followed their off grid life in Alaska. Matt was part of the original cast and one of the show's best known faces before leaving in 2019.

Authorities have not indicated that any further investigation is pending beyond the autopsy findings. Outside the coroner's report and the family's statements, little else has been officially confirmed, so further speculation about Matt Brown's final moments should be treated with caution.