Matt Brown’s sister-in-law Twyla Byers has slammed others’ “selfish” tributes following the singer’s tragic death.
“I want to honor my brother and his life, but being selfish is a little too much for me,” she captioned an Instagram Reel Wednesday that showed a montage of the late “Alaskan Bush People” star.
“Then this is the last time for now. Rest in peace little brother.”
Page Six has reached out to Byars for comment.
Matt went missing on May 27, and the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said a 911 caller “heard a noise” in the Okanogan River and turned around to see a man “flowing face down in the current.”
Brown’s brother Bear Brown shared the “really bad news” with his followers on social media, saying he had been told that Matt, the Brown family’s eldest brother, had “taken his own life.”
On Saturday, Bear shared the shocking news on TikTok that Matt had died by suicide. He was 43 years old.
Bear said Matt’s body was recovered from a river in Washington state.
“A body was found in the river a few hours ago and it has been positively identified as Matt,” he said in a heartbreaking update.
Bear said Noah Brown, the youngest of seven Brown children, was the first family member to see Matt’s body and “helped pull him out of the water.”
“I never thought Matt would hurt himself. It looks like self-harm,” Baer said, adding that his brother suffered from alcohol and drug addiction as well as “other issues” that he kept private.
Bear also asked fans to be respectful and refrain from leaving negative comments as the family mourns.
On Monday, Noah revealed that he met Matt the day before he died.
It was “kind of like going through a wave situation,” he told Us Weekly. “I wish we had more time as we drove by,” Noah confessed. “But… it is what it is.”
The 33-year-old also recounted Matt’s last conversation with his late brother “a couple of weeks before” he passed away.
“I ran into him at the grocery store, and the last thing I said to him was, ‘Okay, love me more,’ and that was our promise,” Noah recalls.
“You never know when you’re going to see someone for the last time. So (our family) always (say) how we feel right before we say goodbye, because it could be the last time,” he added. “Then that’s it.”
Noah said he and Matt had a “good” relationship but had “kept their distance” before his death.
Matt appeared in 79 episodes of Alaskan Bush People from 2014 to 2019, starring his parents Billy and Ami and his siblings.
The Discovery Channel series followed the Brown family as they lived off the grid in the wilderness.
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
