What happened to Kristin Cavallari’s brother, Mike Cavallari?

Kristin Cavallari rose to fame in 2004 thanks to MTV’s popular reality show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. Unfortunately, the celebrity would make the headlines in 2015 for a tragic reason involving her brother, Michael Cavallari.

After Kristin and Mike’s parents divorced, she moved from Devenr to Illinois with her mother. After her freshman year in high school, she moved to Laguna Beach, California, to live with her father and brother. Thanks to this drastic change in her teenage years, Kristin eventually ended up in Laguna Beach, where her feud with Lauren Conrad turned her into a villain we all loved to hate. She would return to MTV for The Hills, a spinoff of the beloved reality show.

But Mike didn’t follow in his older sister’s footsteps, avoiding the spotlights. Regardless of their different life choices, the two were close growing up, making Mike’s fate more tragic – in 2015, his body was found two weeks after the young man was reported missing.

How did Mike Cavallari die?

Before his passing, Mike Cavallari was dealing with mental illness and substance abuse, two factors that might have contributed to his death. In an episode of Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, Kristin describes her brother’s frequent mood changes, which led the family to speculate about him suffering from bipolar disorder. His unstable behavior also got him in trouble with the law.

In November 2014, Mike was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. As a first offender, he got away with only $390 in fines and a three-year probation. However, in November 2015, he got arrested again after allegedly holding a shotgun outside a woman’s apartment following a discussion. Mike posted bail for violating his parole but was at the risk of going to prison due to his probation period. That might be why he decided to leave Orange County on Nov. 27, 2015.

The last image of Mike before his passing comes from the security camera of a gas station in Utah, where he stopped to buy supplies. His car was found by the police the following day, abandoned in the state’s Grand County region. His phone and computer were still inside the vehicle, which showed no sign of forced entry or traces of blood. Mike’s body would only be recovered on Dec. 10, 2015, in the Utah desert, about three miles from where he left his car. The most likely cause of death was deduced to be hypothermia, meaning he froze to death after getting lost in the sands. He was 30 years old.

Since Mike’s death, Kristin has been vocal about her unconditional love for her sibling. The celebrity frequently mentions her brother in interviews and social media posts, celebrating his memory. Kristin’s spiritual beliefs have also helped her overcome her grief, as she holds tight to the certainty she will see her brother again in another life.