'Alaskan Bush People' Son Breaks Silence on Father's Death, Reveals New Look

Alaskan Bush People star Gabe Brown resurfaced on Instagram for the first time in almost a year, sharing an emotional Instagram post over four months after his father Billy Brown's death. In his message, Gabe, 29, noted how times have changed for the family and how loved ones are never truly "gone from our hearts." The caption was accompanied by three new photos of Gabe, showing off his fully-grown beard.

"Being happy used to be easy," Gabe wrote. "There was nothing to be sad about. Sure there were always ups, and downs, but at the end of the day as long as I could look around, and see those faces of the ppl I love happy was easy." He went on to note that times have changed as they "must," but rooms still seem "empty without" his father.

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"I carry on from day to day, remembering those things you'd say, tears of pain run down my face they try to take your special place, I wake up dreaming we have to be apart, yet those we [lose] from our sight are never gone from our hearts," Gabe wrote. "Fret not, those that believe will be together again in God's eternal kingdom. Wait, and watch."

Hundreds of Gabe's followers showed their support, including his brother Bear Brown, who commented with three clapping emojis and liked his younger brother's post. "You got a kind heart be strong and be there for your family God bless you," one fan wrote. "That's true. Remembering is good," one fan wrote in response to Gabe's moving post. "Just never let your grief overtake your love of life and the loves of your life, those you love here and now. I understand that's hard I've been through it. But you also have to live and love again."

Billy died on Feb. 7 at age 68 after suffering a seizure at the Brown family home in Washington. According to police documents obtained by The Sun, Gabe was one of the first people to speak with the police, alongside his mother Ami Brown, when investigators arrived. Gabe did not make a public comment on his father's death, but Bear has issued several statements on how the family is doing. "He lived his life on his terms, off the grid, and off the land, and taught us to live like that as well," Bear wrote in one post. "We plan to honor his legacy going forward and to continue with his dream."

Gabe's post on Friday was his first Instagram post since May 8, 2020, when he shared a photo of another new look. He showed off a ponytail he got thanks to his sister, Snowbird Brown. "Love my fallout 4 pip-boy... TY Birdy girl," he wrote. Gabe is married to Raquelle Pantilla, and welcomed their first child, daughter Sophie, in 2019.