Ami Brown, the mom in the “Alaskan Bush People” family, was only 15 years old and still in school when Billy Brown, then 26, seduced her and took her away from her family in Texas. Billy, who was originally from an affluent family in a Fort Worth suburb in Texas, was orphaned at the age of 16 after he lost his parents and sister in a private plane crash. By the time he was 26, Billy was working as a plumber, had already been married and had fathered two children. After 37 years of not being able to see her daughter, Ami’s 84-year-old mom Earlene and 57-year-old brother Les Branson shared in an interview the truth about Billy Brown, the so-called “devoted” patriarch of the “Alaskan Bush People.”
How ‘ABP’s Ami and Billy Brown met
Ami Brown’s brother Les said in a recent interview that "ABP" patriarch Billy met Ami when he was working as a plumber in his mom Earlene’s home.
Les' cousin, who was working for Billy, introduced the plumber to the family in order to take care of a plumbing job that needed to be done in the family’s home. “And that’s when he [Billy] first met Ami,” commented Les.
Les describes Billy Brown as a “rugged individualist” and said that the more he got to know Billy back then, he discovered that the now famous “Alaskan Bush People” man was actually “very charismatic.” “He could talk a cat of a milk truck,” says Les and explains that he nor his mom Earlene were initially concerned because even though Billy kept his seduction of Ami a secret for quite some time, they considered Billy Brown to be a reputable and honorable person.
Lies, lies, and more lies
While Ami Brown’s brother Les is doing the major talking at the beginning of the interview, Ami’s mom is speaking out vehemently when it comes to the true character of the “Alaskan Bush People” man. “He lied about his age,” says Earlene, and he lied about being rich, about keeping Ami in school and allowing her to go to college, and about having contact with her family.
“He gave the impression that he was very wealthy and came from a wealthy family. He seduced us with the trappings of wealth,” Les explained about what the now 64-year-old “Alaskan Bush People” patriarch did 37 years ago.
Like many moms, Earlene dreamed of Ami having a church wedding in Texas, not living some family live in the Alaskan outback.
However, by the time she found out about her young daughter’s relationship with an older man, it was too late. At the age of 15, Ami was already so smitten from the attention and love of a 26-year-old man that she told her mother that she would marry and go with Billy Brown -- with or without -- her mom's permission.
From Texas to Alaska
Earlene, who really would be considered the grandma for the “Alaskan Bush People” family, says that Billy Brown lied, “lied through his teeth.” Instead of allowing Ami to finish her high school, he whisked her off to numerous states. After selling his plumbing business, Billy Brown took Ami and their two young sons Matt and Joshua to Alaska to seek their fortune.
For mom Earlene and brother Les, the “Alaskan Bush People” patriarch had broken all promises to them. For the past 37 years, they have not seen Ami. While they remain to live in Fort Worth, Texas, Ami is spending her life with her family of seven children in the Alaskan outback – and in numerous other parts of the United States.
