Search For 'Alaskan Bush People' Star Matt Brown Suspended

Authorities have announced that they have suspended the search for Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown, who is feared dead by his family.

In a press release on Saturday, May 30, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) says that they suspended search efforts to find “the male reported deceased in the Okanogan River.”

“Deputies and a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife agent used boats, personal watercraft, sonar and divers to search an expanding area near the last location the male was seen,” the release read. “A canine from Spokane, trained in detection of human remains, was deployed and implements were used to drag the river bottom. The male has not been located; no signs of the male have been located.”

Authorities added that the river conditions “deteriorated and hampered search efforts” due to “rainfall from the previous night.”

“The active river flow increases the likelihood that the male has not remained near the location last seen,” the press release said, adding that the search has been suspended due to “dangerous river conditions.” They also said that the exact identity of the male “is not confirmed.”

This comes after Brown’s family has expressed that they fear he is dead, with his brother, Bear Brown, posting a TikTok video saying that Matt might have taken his life. Specifically, he said, “witnesses say that he was seen in a river, at a river or close to a river.”

The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office told TMZ that they received a call, with a person reporting they saw a “man sitting in shallow water along the Okanogan River south of Oroville.”

“Authorities say the caller looked away briefly, then turned back to find the man face down in the river before he was swept away by the current,” TMZ wrote.

Matt became a known figure on Discover Channel’s The Alaskan Bush People, which aired from 2014 through 2022.