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'Buckwild' Star Died Of Accidental Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

We told you on Monday about the death of one of the stars of the MTV reality show Buckwild. The Kanawha County, W.Va., Sheriff's Office said there were no signs of foul play in the death of Shain Gandee, 21, his uncle David Gandee, 48, and a third, unidentified person. On Tuesday, there's more news: The sheriff's department said all three men died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"The manner of death is accidental," a statement from the department said.

The department also identified the third person as Donald Robert Myers, 27. All three men were from the Sissonville area of Kanawha County.

More from the statement:

"The vehicle and bodies were found by one of Shain Gandee's friends who was searching the trails and ridges in the area for him and the others. The vehicle sat unevenly, but upright, and was partially submerged in deep mud. Mud was covering the lower part of the passenger side door of the vehicle, but the driver's side of the vehicle was above the mud. The muffler of the vehicle was completely below the surface of the mud.

"The Bronco was found next to a ridge-top trail. That section of the trail itself was passable for four-wheel drive vehicles. However, the Bronco was in a mud pit next to the trail. That area is accessed by following the wooded trails for approximately one mile from Shain Gandee's residence, near Thaxton Hollow in Sissonville."

An MTV spokesman told The Associated Press that shooting for the second season of Buckwild had been suspended. The AP has also been reporting on Miley, one of the most popular cast members on Buckwild, who was dubbed "Gandee Candy":

"Gandee was a true outdoorsman, shedding modern conveniences such as cell phones and computers for his proud redneck ways. He loved to hunt, ride all-terrain vehicles and go "mudding," or off-road driving. He went mudding in the show's first episode and ruined his pickup truck's motor."

As we told you Monday, Gandee and his uncle had been reported missing over the weekend. They told patrons at a bar at 3 a.m. on Sunday that they were going off-roading in the 1984 Ford Bronco.

Buckwild, which was filmed last year around Sissonville and Charleston, followed the adventures of a group of young friends. Last month, MTV said the series was drawing about 3 million viewers per episode and was the most popular original cable series among 12- to 34-year-olds on Thursday nights.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.
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