Gypsy Rose Blanchard breaks silence after father of her child Ken Urker dies aged 34
Gypsy Rose Blanchard has broken her silence with an emotional statement after the tragic death of her partner Ken Urker.
Urker, who was engaged to Blanchard, was confirmed to have died aged 34 on Thursday (1 October).
In a statement shared with LADbible, Lafourche Sheriff’s Office said officers had responded to a call at around 6.15pm where Urker was ‘found dead upon arrival’ at the home in Raceland, Louisiana.
His cause of death has not been revealed and the Sheriff’s Office it is 'continuing the death investigation'.
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However Blanchard has claimed that he had suffered an overdose, but that she doesn't know what he took or whether it was intentional.
Breaking her silence in a statement shared with PEOPLE, she said: “I don’t know if it was intentional or not.
"He was not in a good state of mind lately."
She continued: “I’m in disbelief. I can’t think. I’ve screamed until my throat burns.”
Ken was the father to their shared daughter Aurora, as Gypsy remembered him as her 'soulmate'.
She added: “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."
TMZ reported that Blanchard sent him a message wishing him a ‘happy birthday’ that went unanswered.
The couple were in an on/off relationship for almost a decade after first meeting as pen pals while Blanchard was behind bars.
At the time she was serving a 10-year-sentence after pleading guilty to the highly-publicised second-degree murder of her mother Clauddine ‘Dee Dee’ Blanchard in 2015.
Her mother had spent years pretending that Blanchard had various illnesses including leukaemia, muscular dystrophy and developmental issues.
Throughout Blanchard’s childhood, her mother would force her to use a wheelchair and had her fitted with a feeding tube and go through surgeries that she didn’t need.
Blanchard and Urker began writing to one another and chatted on the phone, with Blanchard previously saying: “I talked to him like I had known him my whole life and vice versa."
The year after Urker and Blanchard began speaking, they got engaged but the relationship broke down the following year.
Blanchard later went on to marry Ryan Anderson while still incarcerated in 2020, but they later split, giving Blanchard and Urker the opportunity to then rekindle their relationship in 2024 following her release.
Speaking in 2024 to E! News, Blanchard said: "It wasn't until I filed for divorce that I kind of really realised that that spark, that connection [with Urker] is even better than I expected.
"And we've grown a lot. I've matured. He's grown. And so I think right now is the time in our lives that it's the right time, right place, right everything."
In December 2024, the couple welcomed their little girl Aurora Raina Urker.
He also appeared on the show Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up alongside Blanchard.
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, US News
James Holt