Noah Brown has opened up about the final time he saw his brother, Matt Brown, just days after Matt was found dead in the Okanogan River in Washington on May 30.

In an interview published June 1 with Us Weekly, Noah reflected on their last interactions, saying he briefly saw Matt the day before he went missing in what he described as a quick, passing moment on the road.

“I actually saw him the day before [Matt went missing], just in one of those, like, driving by, wave-type situations,” Noah said, adding that he wished he had stopped for longer at the time. “I wish I had more time when I drove past. It was stopped, but…it is what it is.”

Noah explained that while their final physical encounter was silent, he felt comforted by the fact that their last real conversation had been meaningful and heartfelt. He recalled meeting Matt in a grocery store and sharing their usual goodbye phrase.

“I ran into him in the grocery store [and] the last thing I said to him was, ‘Okay, love you more, man,’ which was our thing,” he said. “You never know when the last time you’re going to see someone is, so [our family] always [says] how you feel right before you say goodbye, because it could be the last thing. Then that was it.”

Leading up to Matt’s death, Noah said their relationship was generally stable, though he acknowledged there had been some emotional distance in recent years.

“In the later years, I realized it was best to just kind of let him do his own thing,” he explained. “The stress of a large family gets to some people, and it’s just one of those things. Just let’s let him live his life.”

Still, Noah admitted he now carries regret over not spending more time with his brother. “I do wish, though, that there could have been more, but in the end, that’s kind of always how it is,” he said. “You always wish that you could have done more, no matter how much it was that you were doing.”

Bear Brown had earlier confirmed Matt’s death on May 30, noting that Noah was among those who helped recover his body from the river where he was found. At the time, Bear said an official cause of death had not yet been released but suggested he believed Matt may have died by suicide, citing long-standing struggles.

“He struggled for a long time, as I’ve mentioned,” Bear said in a TikTok video. “I was so worried he was gonna end up OD’d or something like that. I didn’t think that he would hurt himself. It does look as though the injury is self-inflicted.”

Authorities continue to await official findings as the investigation remains ongoing.

Source: eonline