Mitchell Guist, Swamp People Cast Member, Dies

The star of the History Channel reality show collapsed while boating on Louisiana's Belle River

  • Share
  • Read Later
The History Channel

Mitchell Guist, left, and his brother Glenn, of the reality show Swamp People

Mitchell Guist, a cast member on the reality-TV show Swamp People, died on May 14 after collapsing onboard his boat, according to a Louisiana sheriff.

(PHOTOS: Who Wants to Be a Star? Photos from a Reality-TV Convention)

Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack told the Associated Press that Guist was pronounced dead at a hospital on Monday morning; the cause of death is still unclear. He was traveling on the Belle River when he suddenly fell down around 9 a.m. The boat returned to a landing in St. Martin, La., where attempts at resuscitating the History Channel star were unsuccessful.

(LIST: Top 10 Reality-TV Shows)

The History Channel told the AP that Guist would have turned 49 on Friday.

In a statement, the network said:

“We are extremely saddened to report that our friend and beloved member of the Swamp People family, Mitchell Guist, has passed away … Mitchell passed on the swamp, doing what he loved. We appreciate your respect for the Guist family’s privacy and hope you join us in sending our thoughts and prayers to his brother, Glenn, and the rest of the Guist family.”

The hit show follows a group of alligator hunters who live in the Atchafalaya River Basin swamp in Louisiana. Guist was featured on the show alongside his brother Glenn.

(MORE: The Bachelorette Watch: Emily Maynard Meets Her 25 Boyfriends)

According to the Guist brothers’ website, they were born and raised and still lived in the same house their grandparents once occupied on the Conway Bayou.

“The Guist brothers march to their own drummer. They are a backwoods duo who hunt, trap and fish to eat,” says the website.

MORE: Five Lessons About Work You Won’t Learn in School, from the Sklar Brothers