Shain Gandee, one of the stars of MTV’s West Virginia-themed reality show Buckwild, was found dead this morning along with his uncle and one other person, according to local police. KDKA with the details:
The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department said Monday in a news release that 21-year-old Shain Gandee and his uncle, 48-year-old David Gandee, were last seen around 3 a.m. Sunday at a bar in Sissonville.
Sheriff’s deputies issued a missing persons advisory for Gandee, 21, and his uncle, David Gandee, 48, earlier this morning. Family members spent most of Easter Sunday searching for the men before calling 911 to report them missing. They were last known to be driving Shain Gandee’s vehicles, a 1984 red and white Ford Bronco with oversized tires. Foul play isn’t suspected.
According to MTV News, Gandee was “one of the most popular cast members” on the show, “earning the nickname ‘Gandee Candy’ for his wild stunts and sunny disposition.” The Charleston Gazette, meanwhile, offers his bio with a dash of media criticism, noting that he became the show’s breakout star thanks to what the network “portrayed as his wild, country-boy ways”:
Referred to by some of the other cast members as a “redneck MacGyver,” Gandee was the architect of many of the show’s stunts and hijinks, including converting a dump truck into a swimming pool. Gandee, an avid outdoorsman, eschewed modern technology like cellphones and computers, had nothing to do with social media and loved taking his truck “mudding,” hunting and going four-wheeling.
MTV signed up for a second season of the show shortly before season one’s finale aired in February. For those unfamiliar with the show, here’s the MTV promo for the first season:
