CASPER, Wyo. — Josh Saunders, the Casper native and internet personality known to thousands of fans as King Cobra JFS, died Thursday at the age of 34.
His father, Clint Saunders, made the announcement online Friday, saying that he found his son unresponsive in his apartment. Initial conversations with the coroner indicate Josh may have died in his sleep from organ failure, Clint said.
Josh leaves behind a YouTube channel with over 117,000 fans and over 5,000 videos documenting his life and thoughts on the world at large. Josh was a prolific musician, was an obsessive fan of Ozzy Osborne and was proficient with woodworking, crafting wands, walking sticks and other items for sale to fans of the King Cobra brand. He filmed himself playing guitar, experimenting with novel beverage and culinary combinations and railing against the “trolls.”
“Josh was harassed and bullied terribly his whole life,” Clint said in his video. He said Josh struggled constantly with depression, suicidal ideation and alcohol. He said Josh was also renowned for his kindness, hospitality and respect for life.
“We weren’t even allowed to kill insects; we had to save them,” Clint said.
Despite the relentless harassment, the King Cobra channel garnered him support he might not have had otherwise.
“You guys helped him more than you can ever know, because you made him feel like a person,” Clint said. “I can never repay you for that. Thank you for supporting him, encouraging him, and for all the gifts you sent.”
Josh’s death has sparked an outpouring of reflection from fans across the country and in his home town.
“After over a decade of consuming Cobra’s content, there were many highs and lows,” Casper resident Michael Sanford told Oil City News. “But he stayed true to himself and I will always admire him for that. YouTube and Casper have lost a real, genuine, authentic person.”
Longtime Casper resident and King Cobra fan Jeff Cater agreed, saying that what may have started as an exercise in watching someone be weird on the internet turned into an abiding fascination and respect.
“People stuck around because he was sincere, had funny jokes and was just an interesting dude all around,” Cater told Oil City News. “How many self-proclaimed warlocks stream their lives for us almost every day? It takes a different kind of energy to even do that, and a different kind of strength to keep doing that despite the miserable haters and trolls.”
Cater added that King Cobra also provided solidarity the social oddballs of Casper, a city more widely known for rodeos and roughnecking.
“It hits hard with Cobra because our feet had trodden the same paths and it’s easy to put ourselves in his shoes,” Cater said. “Our eyes have seen the same sights; we’ve heard the same trains crossing intersections; we were subject to giant plumes of smoke when the mountain was on fire.
“My favorite bits were probably when he would stream around the holidays; he was always so happy and festive in his own way. He loved having a good time, and the vibe he put off was more than a bit contagious.”
