Gypsy-Rose Blanchard said Ken Urker, the father of her daughter, faced an “unimaginable level of public scrutiny” and was “relentlessly cyberbullied” before he was found dead at a Louisiana home, according to the Daily Mail. Urker was found Thursday, Oct. 1, which was his birthday. His cause of death has not been determined.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office told TMZ, “We responded to a residence in Raceland today after receiving a call at 6:15 p.m. Kenan Urker, 34, was found dead upon arrival. At this time, we are continuing the death investigation.” Lafourche Parish Coroner Kayla Breaux later told the outlet that an autopsy was scheduled at the Jefferson Parish Forensic Center in Harvey and that standard toxicology tests would be performed.
Family sources told the outlet that Blanchard’s brother, Dylan, found Urker at the home. Blanchard had texted Urker “Happy Birthday” that day but did not hear back. Urker’s sister confirmed his death in a TikTok livestream Thursday night and said his last words to her were “I love you,” People reported.
Blanchard’s message for their daughter
In a statement, Blanchard said, “Ken was an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved.” She added that Urker “will forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance, and even death can never erase.” Blanchard said the “cruelty directed toward him was something no human being should have to endure,” and that the harassment he faced online had a “profound impact” on him.
She said she would make sure their daughter grows up “knowing how deeply her father loved her” and who he was “beyond what strangers on the internet chose to say about him.” The couple’s daughter was born in Louisiana on Dec. 28, 2024, one year to the day after Blanchard was released from prison on parole. Blanchard and Urker met through her prison’s pen pal program, and they were engaged before splitting.
She married Ryan Scott Anderson in 2022 while still in prison. Blanchard announced her separation from Anderson in March 2024. She confirmed in April 2024 that she and Urker were back together, and she announced her pregnancy that July. Blanchard served time for her role in the 2015 killing of her mother, Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.
She conspired with her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, who stabbed Dee Dee at their Springfield, Missouri, home in June 2015. Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years. She served about eight and a half years of that sentence before her release. Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
The case drew national attention and was the subject of the 2019 Hulu series The Act, starring Joey King and Patricia Arquette.
Published: Oct 2, 2026 02:25 pm