Darrell Sheets has died. A swap meet proprietor and thrift store operator, Sheets became nationally famous in 2010, when he became one of the featured bidders on A&E’s long-running reality series Storage Wars. (Often accompanied by, and in some cases in competition with, his son Brandon.) Per Variety, Sheets died on Wednesday in Arizona, of what police are describing as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 67.
Sheets appeared on 15 seasons of Storage Wars between 2010 and 2019, when he suffered a mild heart attack that led him to step back from the show. (He still made occasional appearances in later seasons up through 2023.) Like most of the participants on the still-running series, Sheets made his living by bidding on abandoned storage lockers in California, and then re-selling his finds. (Which notably included what was reportedly the largest trove in the show’s history, a collection of paintings by artist Frank Gutierrez appraised at $300,000 in value.) A long-time presence on the show—celebrity fan Tom Hanks apparently had his own impression of him—Sheets was nicknamed “The Gambler” for his occasional high-risk bids. After retiring from the series, Sheets continued to operate in the thrifting world, running a store, Havasu Show Me Your Junk, near his Arizona home.
The Lake Havasu Police Department issued a notice on Wednesday morning stating that a male subject had been found dead in an Arizona residence. The body was subsequently identified as Sheets, along with a statement that his family had been notified of his death.
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