Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s partner Ken Urker dies at 34

Ken Urker, Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s partner and the father of their daughter, was found dead Thursday at a home in Raceland, Louisiana. It was his 34th birthday.

Deputies responded to the residence around 6:15 p.m. and found Urker dead, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said. The office is investigating his death and has not confirmed a cause. It told NBC News that investigators found no evidence of foul play.

Blanchard told People magazine that Urker died from an overdose. Authorities have not confirmed her account.

“Ken was an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved,” Blanchard said in a statement to People. She described his death as a shock. “I’m in disbelief,” she said. “I can’t think. I’ve screamed until my throat burns.”

Urker and Blanchard share a daughter, Aurora, whom CBS News reported is 21 months old. Blanchard said she wants their daughter to grow up “knowing how deeply her father loved her and who he was beyond what strangers on the internet chose to say about him.”

Blanchard and Urker connected while she was in prison for her role in the 2015 killing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. NBC News, citing Variety, reported that they met through a pen pal program. CBS News reported that the couple were engaged in 2018. They later separated and resumed their relationship in 2024, after Blanchard’s separation from her former husband, Ryan Anderson.

Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, fatally stabbed Dee Dee Blanchard and was sentenced to life in prison. Blanchard has said her mother abused her for years and forced her to pretend she had serious illnesses. Blanchard was released from prison in 2023 after serving seven years.

In her statement to People, Blanchard said Urker had faced intense scrutiny and harassment online. “Ken endured an unimaginable level of public scrutiny and relentless cyberbullying across social media platforms, including TikTok and Reddit,” she said. “The cruelty directed toward him was something no human being should have to endure.”

Blanchard said she believed the scrutiny and harassment had a profound impact on Urker. The sheriff’s office said its investigation into his death is continuing.