Matt Brown’s – A Washington state search for Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown ended with his body found in the Okanogan River and identified by authorities, while his brother Bear Brown confirmed the death and Noah Brown said he helped locate and identify the remains.
For the Okanogan River search, it started as a missing-person effort—and ended with a body taken from the water and identified as Matthew Brown.
In an updated press release shared Sunday. May 31. 2026. the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said a group of private citizens conducting a search along the river located a deceased individual on Saturday. May 30. 2026. The release added that the individual was recovered, brought to shore, and “positively identified as Matthew Brown.”.
Sheriff Jodie Barcus signed the statement, which said Matthew Brown was transferred into the custody and care of the Okanogan County Coroner. The coroner’s office will determine the cause and manner of death.
The Sheriff’s Office extended condolences to Mr. Brown’s family and loved ones, and the release concluded that “no further information” would be released because an “ongoing investigation” is underway.
The announcement landed hours after Bear Brown, Matt’s brother, confirmed the death publicly on TikTok on Saturday. Bear said their other brother, Noah Brown, was with the group of private citizens when they located their oldest brother’s remains.
“They found a body in the river a few hours ago and it was positively identified as being Matt,” Bear, 38, said. “Noah was with them and helped them pull the body out of the water. Noah identified [Matt].”
While the official cause of death had not been publicly revealed at the time, Bear speculated that Matt’s death was “self-inflicted.” He said he “never would have suspected” Matt would “hurt himself,” despite saying his brother “struggled for a long time.”
Bear also said he worried Matt might “end up ODed or something like that,” but that he did not think his brother would “hurt himself.”
In the same video, he asked viewers to be respectful to the family and to their mother, and urged people to “watch the comments” because “sometimes words can hurt more than fists can.” He referenced one of Matt’s last videos in which Matt discussed negative reactions to his posts.
Later, Noah broke his silence after Bear’s post, confirming he identified Matt’s body. In a video. Noah said that for “the past couple of days. ” he’d been working with search and rescue groups. and that at 3:27. “the group that I was working with located the missing body and I identified it as Matthew.”.
“My oldest brother, Matthew Brown, has passed away,” Noah told the camera. He said he was present when the body was pulled from the river, and that after the sheriff arrived, “the coroner did his thing,” after which Noah went down to identify that it was his brother.
Authorities have said the investigation is ongoing and that no further information will be released, as the coroner determines how and why Matt Brown died.
Matt Brown Alaskan Bush People Okanogan River Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office Jodie Barcus Okanogan County Coroner Bear Brown Noah Brown TikTok private citizens search May 30 2026