Ken Urker, the longtime partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, was found unresponsive at his home in Raceland, Louisiana, on Thursday by a family member. The discovery came after he failed to respond to a “happy birthday” text from Blanchard.
Blanchard, 35, known for her role on “Life After Lockup” and for her 2015 conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, said she believes Urker’s death was caused by an overdose, though she said the circumstances remain unclear.
“I don’t know if it was intentional or not. He was not in a good state of mind lately,” Blanchard said in a statement to People.
In the same statement, Blanchard described Urker as her “forever soulmate” and said the loss has left her reeling. “I’m in disbelief. I can’t think. I’ve screamed until my throat burns,” she wrote.
Blanchard also said Urker had faced “relentless” cyberbullying before his death and called on the public to remember “there is a real person behind every screen, every headline, and every comment.”
A relationship forged behind bars
Blanchard and Urker first began communicating in 2017 while she was incarcerated. Urker reached out to her after watching the documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest,” which chronicled the abuse she said she suffered at her mother’s hands before the killing. He proposed to her during a prison visit in 2018, but the couple split the following year.
Blanchard went on to marry Ryan Scott Anderson in July 2022. After that marriage ended in divorce in 2024, she and Urker reconciled. The couple welcomed a daughter, Aurora, in December 2024, following what Blanchard described as an “unexpected” pregnancy.
Speaking to People in 2025 about their renewed relationship, Blanchard said rekindling things with Urker let her see him with a “whole broader spectrum” of understanding than she had in her twenties. “When we first met, we were both young. We were in our mid-20s, so we grew up. Learning each other is almost like dating a new partner, but then it’s the old partner too,” she said.
As recently as March 2025, Blanchard told People she was certain the relationship would last. “I’ve always felt that way about him,” she said, describing Urker as her “forever.” She also discussed the couple’s decision to attend therapy together, saying it helped them get an outside perspective rather than relying solely on family opinions. “It’s nice for us to have someone in the middle. They can see my side, they can see his side and give us an honest opinion,” she said.
Urker’s death comes roughly a year after those comments. No further details on the circumstances of his death have been released.
