Ken Urker, the partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and father of her child, was found dead Thursday in Raceland, Louisiana. He was 34 years old.
Captain Brennan Matherne of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Department confirmed to Variety that deputies responded to a residence at 107 Double H Drive, Lot 4, following a call received at 6:15 p.m. Upon arrival, officers discovered Kenan Urker deceased. The department stated that the death investigation is ongoing.
A source close to the family told People magazine that Urker was found unresponsive by a relative inside the home on his 34th birthday.
Urker gained public attention as a regular on the Lifetime reality series “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup,” which aired for two seasons. In a review of the show, Variety noted that while the spotlight can feel empowering after years of obscurity, it often represents “a very precarious and often unsustainable place to be.”
Blanchard and Urker initially connected through a pen pal program while she was incarcerated for her involvement in the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. The couple became engaged but later separated. Blanchard subsequently married and divorced Ryan Anderson before reconciling with Urker in 2024.
The couple welcomed a daughter, Aurora, in December 2024.
Blanchard pleaded guilty in 2015 to second-degree murder after alleging years of abuse by her mother. Her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn, was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. Blanchard served eight and a half years before her release.
Thirty-four is far too young. One can only imagine the shock and grief Blanchard is feeling right now.
The show really showed how fragile their situation was. It’s shocking that it ended this way at such a young age.
Wait, did they get back together? I thought they had split up for good after her other marriage.
I never followed the case closely, but this is incredibly sad. Losing someone on their birthday is heartbreaking.