YouTube star Caleb Logan Bratayley dies suddenly of 'natural causes'

Caleb Logan Bratayley(13) passed away from an "undetected medical condition" last Thursday.

Caleb's mother broke the news to his fans on Instagram, writing that he "passed away of natural causes".

"This has come as a shock to all of us. Words cannot describe how much we will miss him. His incredibly funny, loving and wonderful spirit made us all fall in love with him as a YouTuber, friend, brother and son".


The YouTube Channel 'Bratayley' was a YouTube channel which showcased three American kids - Caleb(13), Hayley(7) and Annie(10), run by their mother Katie. It was set up originally for the family's youngest member, Hayley, but became a family vlogging channel. The name 'Bratayley' is a pseudonym, combining the words 'Brat' and 'Hayley'.


Daily 'video blogs' of the family's life became incredibly popular on YouTube, racking up over 1.6m subscribers and over 1bn views.


Caleb was the breakout YouTube star of the family, also starring in collab channel 'Truthplusdare', running his own channel 'blazenoutlaws' and recently launching a third channel together with his sisters called 'OMMyGoshTV'.


Caleb's parents uploaded the final video blog of the young star, in which he discussed what he would ask his future self. In the blog, he laughs and tells the camera he would ask "is Taco Bell still around?". He adds: "I'd probably ask is there any new sports". The footage was filmed the day before he passed away suddenly.


On Sunday, the family uploaded a video tribute to their son. They announced that they would be pausing their vlogs to allow the family time to deal with their loss.


In the description, Katie wrote:


"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."


The Anne Arundel County Police Department responded to a medical emergency at the family's Maryland residence last Thursday. An investigation into the cause of death is ongoing but police have said they do not suspect foul play in the death of the teen. Speaking to PEOPLE magazine, the Director of Media Relations said that "nothing appeared to be criminal, nothing was suspicious and there was no foul play". Several reports have cited an "undiagnosed medical condition" as the cause of death.