Mitchell Guist dies: New details in ‘Swamp People’ case

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On the History cable hit ‘Swamp People,’ Cajun hunter Mitchell Guist was often inseparable from his brother Glenn. But when Mitchell died Monday, the two were apart.

The 47-year-old Guist was in a boat being towed by a barge on the Intracoastal Waterway in Louisiana, roughly 70 miles west of New Orleans, when he collapsed, Mike Waguespack, the sheriff of Assumption Parish, said in an interview Tuesday. A coworker in a neighboring boat saw what had happened and guided Guist’s vessel back to the dock about 100 yards away, where he called 911.

‘He fell backwards as if he had had a heart attack, stroke or some sort of seizure,’ Waguespack said of Mitchell Guist’s sudden collapse. Guist developed a fan base with his backwoods savvy on History’s ‘Swamp People,’ about alligator hunters in the Cajun wetlands.

The coworker did not wish to be identified, but it was not Glenn, who was not at the scene, the sheriff added.

An autopsy by the St. Martin Parish coroner’s office had not been completed as of late Tuesday. ‘This case is still pending and there is no comment,’ said Dr. Daniel Wiltz, the parish coroner.

Meanwhile, History will air a brief tribute this Thursday, with a more extended memorial later. ‘We are trying to decide the best way to honor Mitchell’s memory,’ a spokeswoman said.

This season of ‘Swamp People’ runs through July 12.

What do you think of Mitchell Guist and ‘Swamp People’? Sound off in the comments.

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-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)