Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's Fiancé Ken Urker Found Dead at 34
Blanchard detailed her dream wedding plans months before Urker's death, which occurred on his 34th birthday.
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's on-off fiancé, Ken Urker, was found dead at his Louisiana home on his 34th birthday, five months after Blanchard had spoken excitedly about their plans for a dream wedding. Urker's body was discovered on Thursday with syringes, a handgun, and a powdery substance nearby, according to police. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed that deputies responded to a Raceland residence after a 6:15 p.m. call and found Urker deceased upon arrival. An investigation into his death is ongoing.
In May, just months before his death, Blanchard had shared her vision for a large wedding ceremony, contrasting it with her 2022 marriage to Ryan Anderson in a prison visitation room. "I don’t want to have a quickie wedding. I want to have the big wedding," Blanchard told TMZ. "I want to have the poofy dress, I want to have the family there… I deserve my wedding."
Blanchard and Urker began corresponding in 2017 while she was serving a prison sentence for her role in the murder of her abusive mother, Claudine 'Dee Dee' Blanchard. Urker proposed in 2018, but they later split, and Blanchard married Anderson. Following her release on parole in December 2023, Blanchard divorced Anderson and reunited with Urker in early 2024. The couple shared a 21-month-old daughter, Aurora Raina Urker, born in December 2024.
In the wake of Urker's death, Blanchard expressed her belief that he may have succumbed to an overdose, stating he had not been in a good state of mind. She also claimed Urker had been subjected to relentless cyberbullying, which she believes had a profound impact on him. "Ken was an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved," Blanchard said in a statement to TMZ. "He would forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance, and even death can never erase."
Blanchard vowed to ensure their daughter would grow up knowing Urker's love and his true character beyond online commentary. Urker's sister, Autumn, reportedly confirmed his death on TikTok, sharing that his last words to her were "I love you."
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's story garnered national attention after she was convicted for her part in the 2015 murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Dee Dee had subjected Gypsy-Rose to years of abuse, including fabricating illnesses and keeping her child from the public eye as part of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Gypsy-Rose's then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, stabbed Dee Dee to death. Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was released in December 2023 after serving nearly 10 years of her sentence.