We have more tragic details about the death of Matt Brown.
As we previously reported, the Alaskan Bush People star’s body was recovered from a Washington river on Saturday.
His younger brother, Noah Brown, revealed that he was the one who helped find and identify Matt.
In a video posted to Instagram, Noah explained that he had been actively participating in the search effort for his older brother when the discovery was made.
“We found my oldest brother, Matthew,” Noah said. “I identified it as Matthew. My oldest brother, Matthew Brown, has passed away.”
According to Noah, he was present when search volunteers located Matt’s body in the river and helped bring him ashore before authorities arrived.
“I was there when we pulled him out of the river,” Noah said, adding that he later formally identified his brother using documents found on him as well as visual confirmation.
The reality star also thanked the volunteers, local residents and search groups who assisted in the effort, expressing gratitude to everyone who refused to give up hope during the search.
He then apologized to friends and supporters he had not yet been able to contact personally and acknowledged the overwhelming grief his family is experiencing.
“We hauled him up off the bank. And then, after the sheriffs got there and everything, the coroner did his thing, and I went down to identify that it was him,” Noah said, adding:
“It’s definitely Matthew. His ID and Social Security card was on him, and I was able to visually identify that it was Matthew.”
Perhaps most heartbreaking was Noah’s final message to his brother.
“I’m sorry it came down to this,” he said through tears.
Matt’s death has stunned fans of Alaskan Bush People, where he appeared as one of the original cast members when the Discovery Channel series premiered in 2014.
He later stepped away from the show to focus on recovery after years of publicly documented struggles with substance abuse.
The tragedy marks yet another painful loss for the Brown family, who also lost patriarch Billy Brown in 2021.
At this time, officials have not released a final coroner’s report. However, Matt’s brother Bear Brown has publicly stated that the family believes his death was self-inflicted and has spoken openly about Matt’s long struggles with addiction and mental illness.
For now, Noah’s words serve as a painful reminder that behind every headline is a grieving family trying to make sense of an unimaginable loss.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 in the United States to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Help is available 24 hours a day.