Every tragic Deadliest Catch death from over the years, and the legacies they left behind
Todd Meadows died as a result of an accident during filming
There’s been multiple heartbreaking deaths on Deadliest Catch since it first aired on Discovery, from Todd Meadows to Nick Mavar, and they all deserve to be remembered for their legacy. Todd’s death is the latest to hit the show, after a tragic accident during filming.
Todd Meadows
Todd Meadows died on February 25th following a tragic accident on a boat. Captain Rick Sheldford announced the news in a statement, writing: “February 25, 2026 was the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea. We lost our brother.”
Nick Mavar
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Nick Mavar was found dead on June 13. His body was sadly discovered in a boatyard. It comes four years after his appendix ruptured during filming. He died of natural causes, say reports. He left the Discovery Channel show in December 2020.
Nick McGlashan
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Fisherman Nick McGlashan served as F/V Summer Bay‘s deck boss until his death on December 28, 2020. He had a history of drug addiction and was found responsive in a hotel bathroom. The autopsy report stated his cause of death as a suspected overdose.
Mahlon Reyes
Deckhand Mahlon Reyes died in July 2020. He was a 38-year-old deckhand who died following an accidental drug overdose. Mahlon was rushed to a hospital in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana one day before after suffering a heart attack, and didn’t regain consciousness.
Blake Painter
Former captain of the F/V Maverick, Blake Painter died at the age of 38 in May 2018. He was a second-generation crabber who was discovered dead in his home on 25 May, after friends were unable to reach him for an extended period of time, CBS News reported.
Tony Lara
In August 2015, former captain of the Cornelia Marie, Tony Lara, passed away in his sleep from a heart attack at 50. He was in Sturgis, South Dakota, for the city’s annual motorcycle rally, at the time. The the crew of the Cornelia Marie called him a “true friend”.
Justin Tennison
Just four days after returning home from a fishing trip, deckhand and engineer Justin Tennison was found dead in a Homer, Alaska, hotel room on February 22, 2011. He passed away from complications related to sleep apnea, at the age of 33 years old.
Captain Phil Harris
Captain Phil Harris died in February 2010, at the age of 53. The captain and co-owner of the F/V Cornelia Marie had a stroke while offloading crab in port at Saint Paul Island, Alaska, and later passed away from an intracranial haemorrhage in hospital.
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