YouTube star Caleb Logan Bratayley died suddenly of “natural causes” on Thursday, according to a post on the family’s official Instagram page.
Caleb, 13, died at 7:08 p.m., the post on the page managed his mother stated.
“This has come as a shock to all of us. Words cannot describe how much we will miss him,” the post continued. “His incredibly funny, loving and wonderful spirit made us all fall in love with him as a YouTuber, friend, brother and son. We know you tune in to watch each day and eagerly anticipate new videos but ask that you bear with us while we deal with this tragedy as a family. Please help us honor our baked potato.”
The Bratayley family is popular on YouTube for its home videos, with its page amassing more than a billion views.
Maker Studios, the Disney-owned digital media company that counts the Bratayleys among its creators, confirmed the news in a separate post on its Instagram account.
“We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of Caleb from Bratayley, a beloved member of the Maker family,” Maker’s post stated. “Our love, support, thoughts, and prayers are with the Bratayley family.”
A rep for Maker said the company had no further info to share at this time.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that Caleb, whose real name was Caleb LeBlanc, died after suffering an “unknown medical emergency,” according to the police in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Police and members of the fire department responded to the home around 7 p.m. and he died at the hospital. The police added that “there are no suspicious circumstances” and there’s no criminal investigation underway, adding that a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
On Saturday, the Bratayleys posted a video that they claimed was made on Wednesday, in which a healthy-but-tired-looking Caleb eats breakfast with his sisters. Later Caleb spends a minute alone with the camera and ponders what he’d ask his future self. “Is Taco Bell still around?” he asks at one point. In an onscreen annotation, the family writes, “It is with our deepest sorrow to report that the Instagram announcement was indeed true. In addition to our desire to give the Internet community the chance to begin the grieving process, we also wanted to post this video to show a healthy and happy Caleb doing what he loved. Thank you for all the love and support that everyone has shown our family. And we ask for continued love and support as we move through the grieving process.”
At the end of the clip, the following message appears onscreen: “Unfortunately Caleb passed away the day after we made this video. He will never get to meet his future self. None of us will and we are very sad because he would have been great. Please kiss your kids and tell them you love them every day. You never know what day will be their last.”
On Sunday the family posted the below 21-minute montage of Caleb’s best moments.
