On Saturday night, it was confirmed that one of the stars of A&E’s docuseries “60 Days In,” Nate Burrell, has passed away.
Chelsey Walker, Burrell’s sister, reported that her brother committed suicide on the night of Halloween. According to Walker, Burrell took his own life while out in downtown Allegan, Michigan. Supposedly, Burrell shot and killed himself in public.
Burrell, 33, wrote a lengthy Facebook post that served as a suicide note before killing himself. A section of it read, “This isn’t an admission of guilt. I’m just tired, I’ve been through so much in my life. The pain of my situation now hurts more than I ever imagined. I can’t keep going on.”
Burrell had just recently turned 33 and had more cause for celebrations. In fact, his wife, Jordan, was pregnant with a baby boy. The child is the couple’s first together. However, it seems that the couple broke up not long ago. Additionally, it seems that the relationship took a turn for the worst with his wife threatening to ruin his life.
“I can only imagine how bad this would all turn out,” Burrell wrote on Facebook. “All of the legal crap that would ensue after this with custody and everything else. You win! You have promised for weeks, you will ruin my life and I had no idea who I was messing with. You’re right, I didn’t know who I was messing with.”
Burrell “Loved His Family,” “Loved His Country”
The “60 Days In” star joined the military as a young man at the age of 19. He shared some thoughts in his suicide note about the nation’s outlook and treatment of veterans with mental health issues like himself. Burrell says he struggled with many aspects of day to day life since leaving the military.
Previously, he had checked himself into a hospital when he felt the urge to commit suicide. Burrell said it made matters even worse, instead of helping.
“I’d also like to mention the behavioral health side of our nation needs to be revamped and funded in a way its never seen. Our military and their families need it,” Burrell wrote. “You need a better system America. This is the reason veterans and our military are killing themselves at such a high rate. They aren’t getting the treatment they need …You should be ashamed of yourselves. All I wanted was help, I sought you and you treated me like an animal.”
Burrell’s sister remembered her brother as a “caring guy” who was “in a bad place.”
“Nathan loved his country, loved his family and was a very caring guy. He was just in a bad place,” Walker said of her brother. “He was very proud of being on ’60 Days In,’ and he really cherished his time on that show.”
“60 Days In” followed nine volunteers, including Burrell, who went to jail undercover. The volunteers entered jail for two months using fake identities while trying to highlight issues within the prison system.
Burrell served as a Marine from 2006 to 2010. He served two tours in Iraq as an infantryman. In 2014, Burrell earned an associate degree in criminal justice and law enforcement. He worked as an officer for Michigan’s Fish and Wildlife Services.
[H/T TMZ]
