'Moonshiners' Has Been Around for Over a Decade — How Many Cast Members Have Died?
Gone too soon.
Updated Dec. 5 2024, 4:52 p.m. ET
Discovery’s Moonshiners has been on television since its premiere in 2011. Their illegal business practices put the cast at risk of being arrested at every turn. Nonetheless, their bootlegging persists.
For over a decade, viewers have been following the lives of these moonshine bootleggers, and sadly, some have passed over the years.
Read on for details on the cast deaths.
Lance Waldroup died in March 2021 at the age of 30.
In March 2021, news outlets confirmed that Lance Waldroup was dead at age 30. According to TMZ, his mother discovered him unconscious in his bed. Shortly after, emergency responders arrived and pronounced the reality TV star dead.
He was last seen by his family smoking outside, and he later retired to his room to play video games. Months later, an autopsy revealed his cause of death.
Reports state that Lance was morbidly obese — weighing a total of 580 pounds at the time — and had ultimately died of congenital heart failure.
Before his death, Lance also struggled with opioid addiction and showed major symptoms of depression — but his infectious energy on Moonshiners made it really hard for viewers to tell. In the series, Lance worked alongside his dad, Jeff, operating their North Carolina-based bootlegging business.
Following news of Lance's death, Discovery issued a statement that remembered the longtime Moonshiners cast member as an “adventurous distiller who was always looking to take his flavorful recipes of moonshine to new heights,” the network told TMZ.
Jim Tom Hedrick died in 2023.
Jim Tom Hedrick, who appeared on Moonshiners from Season 2 until 2017 died in September 2023 after a battle with kidney cancer.
"Jim Tom Hedrick was a treasured member of the Moonshiners family and we share our condolences with his family and all those who loved him," Discovery said in a statement. He was 82 years old.
Popcorn Sutton committed suicide before the series premiere.
Popcorn Sutton wasn’t actually part of the Moonshiners cast, but he was loved all the same. The master moonshiner was in the business for decades up until he found himself in trouble with the law. In his early 60s, he was ordered to do time in federal prison. But before he could begin his sentence, he killed himself by way of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Two years after he died, footage of Popcorn from the 2002 documentary Mountain Men was used in Season 1 of Moonshiners.
Watch new episodes of Moonshiners Tuesdays on Discovery at 8 p.m. EST.