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Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Partner Ken Urker Dies at 33
Confirmed
In Short: Gypsy Rose Blanchard's partner, Ken Urker, was found unresponsive on his birthday in Louisiana, according to multiple reports.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard's partner, Ken Urker, was found unresponsive on his birthday in Louisiana, according to multiple reports.
Blanchard and Urker had a complex relationship history. They became engaged while Blanchard was serving a 10-year prison sentence for her role in the death of her mother, but they later broke up.
They rekindled their relationship after Blanchard's release from prison in 2023 and welcomed their daughter, Aurora Raina Urker, in December 2024.
Blanchard also addressed the public scrutiny and cyberbullying Urker endured, stating, 'The cruelty directed toward him was something no human being should have to endure.
Urker and Blanchard first connected in 2017 when he wrote to her as a prison pen pal after watching a documentary about her.
Blanchard had previously married Ryan Anderson while in prison, but they divorced shortly after her release.
Blanchard's brother, Dylan, and his wife visited Urker's home to pick him up for dinner but found him unresponsive.
Autumn, Urker's sister, confirmed his death on a TikTok live stream Thursday evening.
Blanchard and Urker appeared together on the Lifetime show 'Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup.
What this adds
WarpBeat previously reported on Ken Urker's death, but this report provides additional details about the couple's relationship history and Blanchard's emotional response to his passing.
Background
Ken Urker, the partner of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and father of their child, was found dead Thursday in Raceland, Louisiana.
Ken Urker, partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, was found dead on his birthday in Louisiana.
What's confirmed
- Blanchard reportedly texted Urker “Happy Birthday” but did not get a response.
What's still developing
- Blanchard and Urker started dating again after she and Anderson split.
- “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 told People one day after his death.
- After being granted early parole, Blanchard was released from prison in 2023.
- “He will be deeply missed, forever loved, and never forgotten.” Blanchard rose to notoriety after she persuaded her then-boyfriend to kill her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard — who had for years claimed her daughter was suffering from leukaemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses.
- It later transpired that Blanchard, now 35, was perfectly healthy and not developmentally delayed.
- Urker proposed to Blanchard in October 2018, but they called it off shortly thereafter.
- Amid the divorce, Blanchard and Urker began spending time together again.
- “When we had broken up [it was like] ‘Oh, Aurora is never going to be born,’” Blanchard told PEOPLE in 2024.
- It was Blanchard’s then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn who perpetrated the crime in 2015, but Blanchard was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role.
- Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's former fiancé Ken Urker has died aged 34.
- “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.” Blanchard, who has described their daughter as "a beautiful reflection of her enduring spirit", asked for privacy for Urker's loved ones.
- She was released in 2023, having served to eight years behind bars for her role in the second-degree murder of her mother Clauddine 'Dee Dee' Blanchard.