‘Alaskan Bush People’ star Matt Brown was dealing with breakup, broken-down truck in days leading up to death: ‘Hit him at the same time’

“Alaskan Bush People” star Matt Brown was going through a lot emotionally in the days leading up to his death, a friend of the family exclusively tells Page Six.

Brown’s body was pulled put of the Okanogan River in Washington state Saturday, and his brother Bear said he died by suicide.

Page Six spoke to Chay Moore of Stardog Champion K9 Thursday, a family friend of the Browns who was also part of the crew that pulled Matt’s body out of the river. Moore said he saw Matt less than three weeks prior to discovering his body, and that the reality star was going through stressful situations.

“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,” he told us.

“[He] broke up with his girlfriend,” he continued. “All of these things hit him at the same time on that day.”

Matt was dating a woman named Jamie prior to his death, and while Moore said he didn’t know the exact time frame of their breakup, he said he knew “it was definitely on his mind” on the particular day he saw Matt.

“He had been walking and riding buses and, you know, from town to town to, to survive,” he also said of the hardships Matt was facing after his truck broke down. “He was using buses and stuff.”

Moore said Jamie was instrumental in finding Matt’s body.

“Matt’s girlfriend was really, really pushing us hard to get it moving and get out there on that water,” he shared. “I think she had a notion of where she thought he was, you know, in her mind, I think.”

“She basically spearheaded the searchers on that river,” he added.

In a TikTok video last week, Bear said that Matt was “going through a really bad breakup” with “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 also said that Matt “has been struggling for a long time with alcohol and with drugs,” but he insisted the family did not “shun” him. Instead, Matt allegedly “didn’t want anything to do with the family.”

In Bear’s video over the weekend confirming Matt’s death he shared, “I didn’t think he would hurt himself, it does look like the injury is self-inflicted.”

Matt and Bear’s youngest brother, Noah, also confirmed that they found Matt’s body in a river and said he was the one who identified him.

The Brown family appeared on Discovery Channel’s “Alaskan Bush People” between 2014 and 2019. The reality series followed the family of nine as they lived off the grid in the wilderness.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.