On Monday, MTV confirmed that 21-year-old "Buckwild" star Shain Gandee was found dead in a vehicle in West Virginia after being reported missing over the weekend.
The situation surrounding the death was shrouded in mystery, but today TMZ is reporting Gandee "may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning," according to sources close to the death investigation.
Gandee's 1984 Bronco was found completely submerged in mud in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception.
The truck was so buried in mud that the exhaust pipe was submerged, causing carbon monoxide to be the likely cause of death for Gandee, his uncle, and a third unidentified person who were all in the vehicle at the time to go off-roading -- or as Gandee's hobby is dubbed on the MTV show, “mudding.”
"The photos seem to support the theory that the passengers died from carbon monoxide poisoning because the deadly fumes from the car could not escape through the tailpipe," explains TMZ of the below photos posted on their site.
“I spoke with Shain’s father, who is devastated as you can imagine,” said "Buckwild" producer J.P. Williams, who reached out to the Gandee family by phone upon hearing the news. “But he said something that I thought was pretty profound, which is that his son died doing what he loved to do.”
While Gandee was not shooting the MTV reality show at the time of his death, production has been suspended as the network decides how to proceed.
“We’re taking a few weeks to give the cast a chance to get a handle on this because they’re devastated, and then we will all address where do you go from here,” confirmed Williams, adding that it's a decision that ultimately will be made by MTV.
And despite the MTV show bringing newfound fame to the 21-year-old West Virgina native, it didn't bring fortune.
Gandee's family is currently organizing a memorial "mud run" (an off-road trucking event) to ease the financial strain on Shain's family in the wake of the "Buckwild" star's death, reports TMZ.
"I know the strain they are going through," Gandee's cousin Ashley told TMZ. "It's hard to provide a proper burial. It's already tough with the loss of family members ... expenses are tough as well."
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