Body Of Former Reality TV Star Matt Brown Pulled From Okanogan River

The search for a man who was seen floating in the Okanogan River last week has come to end following the discovery of his body near Oroville over the weekend.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office says 43-year-old Matthew Brown was pulled from the river after his body was spotted by a group of private citizens on Saturday afternoon.

Brown had been the focus of an intensive search since Wednesday, May 27, after a 9-1-1 caller reported they'd been talking with someone while wading in the river prior to seeing them floating face down and being carried away by its current a few minutes later.

Sheriff's deputies and officers with the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife used numerous watercraft, aerial drones, and divers to search for the man over the course of several days before the discovery of Brown's body on Saturday.

Although Sheriff's officials never stated the man was thought to be Brown, widespread speculation that it was the former reality television star quickly spread on social media, after several entertainment news outlets reported that members of his family had said it was likely him.

Brown had previously appeared in the Discovery Channel show “Alaskan Bush People,” but stepped away from the program in 2019 after publicly citing his struggles with alcoholism and associated mental health issues.

According to reports from TMZ, Yahoo!, and Entertainment Weekly, Brown had recently been seen in the vicinity of the Driscoll Island Wildlife Area, near to where his body was eventually found and where it's also believed by many that he'd recently filmed several videos later posted online which depicted him wandering naked and intoxicated while holding a firearm.

Police did recover a firearm from the water where Brown had last been seen alive, but have yet to confirm his possible cause and manner of death, which will be determined later this week via autopsy through the Okanogan County Coroner's Office.