'Alaskan Bush People' Star Matt Brown's Official Cause of Death Revealed — Inside His Final Days

The official cause of death for "Alaskan Bush People" star Matt Brown has been confirmed. His final days were marked by a series of heartbreaking personal setbacks.

The cause of death for "Alaskan Bush People" star Matt Brown has officially been determined, just over a week after his body was discovered in a Washington river.

Matt's death was ruled a suicide by the Okanogan County Coroner, the result of a single gunshot wound to the head. According to the autopsy, his subsequent submersion in the water was noted as a contributing circumstance.

Toxicology results further revealed that he had been under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of his death. His remains have since been released to his family for final arrangements.

His body was first spotted by a witness who called 911 after seeing something alarming in the water. The witness had briefly looked away before hearing a loud noise — and upon turning back, discovered a man floating facedown in a swift current. That man was later identified as Matt, who was 43 years old.

Shortly after the discovery, Matt's younger brother Bear Brown, 38, took to social media to share what he called "some really bad news."

Bear revealed that the family had already feared the worst, noting that Matt — who had a long history of substance abuse and had grown estranged from those closest to him — was believed to have taken his own life. At the time, he stopped short of a full confirmation, saying he couldn't yet be certain.

That certainty came just one day later.

"They found a body in the river a few hours ago, and it was positively identified as being Matt," Bear said in a follow-up video. "I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly. He struggled for a long time, as I've mentioned, and I worried he was going to end up, like, OD'd or something like that. I didn't think he would hurt himself."

Bear also shared that their brother Noah Brown had been present at the scene and "helped them pull [Matt] out of the water," as well as provide a positive identification. On Sunday, May 31, Bear and brother Josh released a joint statement formally confirming Matt's passing.

In the days that followed, a fuller picture began to emerge of the turmoil Matt had been experiencing in the lead-up to his death. Chay Moore — a family friend of the Browns and part of the crew that helped recover Matt's body — spoke to Page Six about the last time he had seen Matt, less than three weeks before the tragedy.

According to Chay, the reality star had been weighed down by a string of misfortunes all converging at once.

"He couldn't get his pickup truck running, and that was part of his frustration on that day was the truck's not going to get running — he can't go on his trip," Chay recalled. "[He] broke up with his girlfriend. All of these things hit him at the same time on that day."

Matt had been in a relationship with a woman named Jamie prior to his death. While Chay was uncertain of the exact timing of their split, he said he knew "it was definitely on his mind" the day he last saw Matt.

Without his truck, Matt had been left to navigate life on foot and by public transport. "He had been walking and riding buses and, you know, from town to town to survive," Chay said. "He was using buses and stuff."

Despite the reported breakup, Jamie played a pivotal role in the search for Matt. "Matt's girlfriend was really, really pushing us hard to get it moving and get out there on that water," Chay shared. "I think she had a notion of where she thought he was, you know, in her mind, I think."

Bear also addressed the relationship in a TikTok video, describing it as "a girl he really liked." "I guess he had been drinking too much. I don't know all the details to it," he said.

He went on to speak candidly about his brother's wider struggles. Matt "has been struggling for a long time with alcohol and with drugs," Bear acknowledged — but pushed back on any suggestion that the family had turned their backs on him. Rather, he said, it was Matt who "didn't want anything to do with the family."