Todd Meadows

On 25 February 2026, shortly after 5 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard received notice from the Aleutian Lady that Todd Meadows had fallen overboard about 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea. Crew recovered him unresponsive about ten minutes later. Resuscitation was unsuccessful, and his body was brought to Dutch Harbor. The Coast Guard opened an investigation. His death certificate listed drowning with probable hypothermia and submersion of the body in cold water; the manner of death was ruled an accident. He was 25. Captain Rick Shelford mourned him publicly. Discovery Channel issued a statement of sympathy. Family asked that filmed footage of the incident not be broadcast. A memorial was held on 14 March 2026 at Abundant Life Church in Elma, with a reception in Montesano. Cremation followed transport to Anchorage, according to reporting on the death certificate.

Todd Morgan Meadows was born on 28 March 2000 to Lucas and Angela Meadows and was raised in Elma and Satsop, Washington. He attended school in Elma and grew up as the oldest of six siblings, with brothers Derik, Jacob and Jordan and sisters Mackenzie and Rozlyn. Family accounts describe a childhood spent outdoors around Pacific Northwest waters. He was a member of the Elma Church of God and enjoyed fishing, hunting, camping and country drives. In high school he coached younger siblings in wrestling; his mother later said brother Jordan's state wrestling success owed something to Todd's mentoring.

Meadows began commercial fishing on a charter boat based out of Westport, Washington, then crabbed off the Washington coast before working out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. In May 2025 he joined the Aleutian Lady, captained by Rick Shelford, as a deckhand for his first season on a vessel featured on Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. Colleagues and his fiancée said he was unused to cameras and mainly wanted to fish and earn for his family. Season episodes featuring that crew had not yet aired when he died.

Meadows was a father to sons River, Lawson and Kolson, and claimed Aspen as his own. He was engaged to Kennady Harvey, with whom he had Lawson and Kolson; River was from a previous relationship. He is also survived by parents Lucas and Angela Meadows of Satsop, grandmother Ila Meadows, grandparents Connie and Dennis Lambert, and extended family. His best friend and fishing partner was Alex Carr-Gonzalez. Those who knew him remembered an adventurous spirit and the time he spent with people closest to him.

Meadows is remembered in Washington fishing communities and among Deadliest Catch viewers as a young deckhand who died in the trade he loved while providing for three young sons. Fundraising for his family raised tens of thousands of dollars. Captain Shelford and crewmates spoke of him as a hard-working, joyful shipmate. His death renewed attention to the dangers of Bering Sea crabbing documented by the long-running series since 2005.