The on-and-off partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who spent time in prison for her role in the murder of her abusive mother, was found dead inside his Louisiana home on his 34th birthday on Thursday in what authorities described as an apparent drug overdose.
asserted
authorities → spend → overdose
The sheriff’s office in Lafourche parish, Louisiana, confirmed Kenan “Ken” Urker – the father of Blanchard’s daughter – was discovered on Thursday after relatives asked police to conduct a welfare check at his residence.
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relatives → confirm → residence
According to a sheriff’s office report on the case, Anita Blanchard said she and her husband – who is Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s half-brother – went to Urker’s home and saw him lying unconscious through an outside window.
uncertain
him → accord → window
A man who was with the couple then entered the house through a window and found Urker unresponsive.
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Urker → enter → window
The sheriff’s office report obtained by the Guardian states that Urker was not breathing and was “cold to the touch”.
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Urker → obtain → touch
Authorities who arrived at the scene were “able to see Mr Urker from the living room area lying on his back in [a] bed”, the report said.
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report → arrive → bed
Deputies reported that they then walked in the direction of the room where the bed was “and located paraphernalia (syringes and spoon) in the bathroom next to a brown powdery substance”.
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bed → report → substance
Authorities also found a syringe and a handgun on the nightstand beside the bed.
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Authorities → find → bed
Besides being cold to the touch, Urker “appeared to have been there for an extended period of time”.
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Urker → appear → time
In an interview with People published on Friday, the 32-year-old Gypsy Rose Blanchard said that she believed Urker died from an overdose – though she said she did not know whether it was deliberate.
“I don’t know if it was intentional or not,” Blanchard said, adding that Urker “was not in a good state of mind lately”.
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Urker → publish → mind
The sheriff’s office report on Urker’s death confirmed the case had been called in to the agency as an evident overdose.
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case → confirm → overdose
In a statement to the news media, Brennan Matherne, the Lafourche parish sheriff’s captain, said Urker’s death remained “under investigation” as of Friday.
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death → say → Friday
Matherne also said investigators as of Friday had not discovered “any signs of foul play”.
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investigators → say → play
Blanchard previously spent eight years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the 2015 stabbing death of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.
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Blanchard → spend → mother
Dee Dee Blanchard was found stabbed to death in her home in Springfield, Missouri, in June 2015.
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Blanchard → find → June
Gypsy Rose Blanchard had provided her then boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, with a knife and hid in a bathroom while he killed her mother.
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he → provide → mother
Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
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Blanchard → plead → murder
Godejohn, whom Blanchard met online, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Blanchard → meet → parole
Dee Dee Blanchard’s murder drew widespread attention after it was revealed that she had forced Gypsy Rose to pretend she was seriously ill and undergo medical procedures she did not need.
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she → draw → procedures
Blanchard met Urker while serving her prison sentence, from which she was released in late December 2023.
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she → meet → December
She said on the We Need to Talk podcast in June that Urker had contacted her after watching Mommy Dead and Dearest, a 2017 documentary about Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee.
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Urker → say → Rose
As Gypsy Rose put it, Urker sent her a “supportive letter, not on any kind of romantic level” and included his phone number.
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Urker → put → number
Urker proposed in October 2018.
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Urker → propose → October
The pair later ended their engagement before reuniting in August 2019.
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pair → end → August
They eventually split again and spent several years apart.
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They → split → years
During that time, Blanchard married Ryan Anderson.
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Blanchard → marry → Anderson
Anderson and Blanchard later separated, with her announcing the split four months after her release from prison.
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her → separate → prison
Blanchard and Urker rekindled their relationship in April 2024.
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Blanchard → rekindle → April
Eight months later, they welcomed their daughter, Aurora Raina Urker.
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they → welcome → daughter
Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed reporting
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Vargas → contribute → reporting
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