Deputies in Raceland, Louisiana found 34-year-old Kenan “Ken” Urker dead inside his home Thursday evening, just hours after he failed to answer a birthday text message that had prompted a family member to check on him. Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Urker's former fiancé and the mother of his daughter, says she believes he died from an apparent overdose, though she says she does not know what substance was involved or whether his death was intentional or accidental.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office responded to a 6:15 p.m. call on October 1 at a residence on Double H Drive in Raceland, where deputies found Urker dead on arrival, according to Ground News. His death remains under investigation. Blanchard told People, as reported by TMZ, that an unidentified substance was found at the scene, but she said she had never seen Urker use drugs or other substances and was not aware that he had a drug problem.
A Birthday Text That Went Unanswered
According to VICE, Blanchard sent Urker a “Happy Birthday” text on October 1 that went unanswered, prompting her brother Dylan to visit Urker's home, where he discovered the body. The outlet reports Urker appeared to have been found unresponsive in his bed. Blanchard described Urker to TMZ as a responsible person who was intentional about being a father and partner, calling him an amazing father and saying he would remain her soulmate and “red string.”
Urker's sister Autumn said during a TikTok livestream that the family did not suspect foul play, the same account notes. Blanchard separately told People that Urker had “not been in a good state of mind lately” because of persistent online harassment, a detail reported by Thought Catalog. TMZ reports that Urker endured intense public scrutiny and cyberbullying, which Blanchard believes had a profound impact on him across platforms including TikTok and Reddit after he reconnected with her.
A Relationship That Began Behind Prison Walls
Urker first reached out to Blanchard in 2017, sending her a letter of support while she was incarcerated at Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center, after watching the 2017 HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, according to the same Ground News account. Blanchard had been convicted in 2016 of second-degree murder for her role in the 2015 killing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who subjected her to years of unnecessary medical treatments by fabricating conditions including leukemia and muscular dystrophy — a severe case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy that prosecutors factored into her plea deal, per AP News. Nicholas Godejohn, Blanchard's former online boyfriend who carried out the fatal stabbing, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2018 and is serving a life sentence without parole at Missouri's Potosi Correctional Center, according to Business Insider.
Urker proposed to Blanchard during a prison visit in 2018, and the two independently chose the name Aurora for a future child, inspired by their shared goal of visiting the Northern Lights once Blanchard completed parole, according to ComingSoon.net. The couple split after their engagement, and Blanchard went on to marry Ryan Anderson. Blanchard was released on parole from Chillicothe Correctional Center on December 28, 2023, after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence, according to CBS News.
Reconciliation, Divorce and a New Baby
Blanchard filed for divorce from Anderson in Lafourche Parish in April 2024 and finalized an uncontested settlement that December, without spousal support, after completing Louisiana's required six-month separation period, according to Collider. Around that time, she rekindled her relationship with Urker. The pair welcomed their daughter, Aurora Raina Urker, on December 28, 2024 — exactly one year after Blanchard's release from prison — and later confirmed Urker's paternity through a prenatal DNA test, according to the Hindustan Times.
No cause of death has been confirmed by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office or a coroner, and officials have not released autopsy or toxicology findings. Blanchard's account of an apparent overdose and the unidentified substance found at the scene reflects her own belief, not a determination from investigators, and the circumstances of Urker's death remain under investigation.
