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Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who spent more than seven years in prison for her mother’s murder, is speaking out after her former fiancé and the father of her daughter was found dead on Thursday.
Ken Urker was 34.
He was found unresponsive in his Raceland, La., home on Oct. 1, his birthday.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Department told CBC News it is still investigating his death, and at this point in the investigation, it has found no evidence of foul play.
Blanchard, speaking exclusively to People and TMZ, said an unidentified substance was found at the scene, and she believes Urker died of an overdose. Police have not confirmed the cause of death.
“I don’t know if it was intentional or not,” Blanchard told People. “He was not in a good state of mind lately.”
She also told the publication that Urker was the subject of intense scrutiny and cyber-bullying throughout their relationship.
“I believe the tremendous weight of that scrutiny and harassment had a profound impact on him, and I hope his passing serves as a reminder that there is a real person behind every screen, every headline and every comment,” she told People.
Rocky road to love
Blanchard and Urker connected in 2017, when he wrote to her in prison after watching the HBO Documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest.
The film explains how Blanchard’s mother, Dee Dee, was believed to have factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA) — formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy — and for years allegedly forced her daughter to use a wheelchair and feeding tubes she didn’t need.
In her early 20’s, Blanchard and then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn came up with a scheme to murder Dee Dee.
Godejohn is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and was still incarcerated when Urker proposed to her in October 2018. They briefly called off their engagement, before reuniting in 2019.
Blanchard and Urker separated again for several years, during which time she married Ryan Anderson, and then publicly separated from him in December 2023, four months after she was released from prison.
New beginnings and reality TV
In June 2024, the docuseries Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up premiered on the Lifetime channel.
It followed Blanchard as she reintegrated into society, finalized her divorce from Ryan Anderson and rekindled her relationship with Urker.
Blanchard and Urker had a baby together in December 2024, a daughter named Aurora Rain Urker.
Following his death, Blanchard told People that Urker was a devoted parent and the love of her life.
“Ken was an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved. He will forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance and even death can never erase.”
Blanchard appeared on the We Need to Talk podcast in June of this year, where she talked about her tumultuous childhood, revisited the night her mother was killed and how she’s trying to move past her dark history.
CBC News has reached out to one of Blanchard’s former representatives for further comment.
