LAFOURCHE PARISH, LA — Kenan “Ken” Urker, the on-and-off partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and the father of her daughter, was found dead inside his Louisiana home on Thursday, his 34th birthday. Authorities described the death as an apparent drug overdose.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said relatives asked police to check on Urker at his residence. Deputies later confirmed he was dead at the scene. As of Friday, the case remained under investigation, and officials said they had not found signs of foul play.
Relatives asked deputies to check on Urker at his home
A sheriff’s office report said Anita Blanchard and her husband, who is Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s half-brother, went to Urker’s house and saw him lying unconscious through an outside window. A man who was with the couple then entered through a window and found Urker unresponsive.
The report said Urker was not breathing and was cold to the touch. Deputies who arrived at the home could see him from the living room area lying on his back in bed. The report said he appeared to have been dead for an extended period of time before authorities arrived.
Deputies found syringes, a spoon, brown powder and a handgun
According to the sheriff’s office report, deputies found paraphernalia in a bathroom near a brown powdery substance. The items listed included syringes and a spoon. Authorities also found a syringe and a handgun on the nightstand beside the bed.
Brennan Matherne, a captain with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, said Friday that the death was still under investigation. He said investigators had not discovered any signs of foul play. The case had been called in to the agency as an evident overdose.
Blanchard said she believed he died from an overdose
In an interview with People published Friday, Gypsy Rose Blanchard said she believed Urker died from an overdose, though she said she did not know whether it was intentional. She said he had not been in a good state of mind lately.
Blanchard also wrote on Instagram that Urker had endured intense public scrutiny and relentless cyberbullying across social media platforms, including TikTok and Reddit. She said the cruelty directed at him was something no one should have to endure.
A relationship that began in prison and continued after her release
Blanchard met Urker while she was serving an eight-year prison sentence for her role in the killing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. She was released in late December 2023.
She said on the We Need to Talk podcast in June that Urker first contacted her after watching the 2017 documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest. She said he sent a supportive letter and included his phone number. The pair became engaged in October 2018, later split, and reunited in August 2019 before separating again.
The couple reunited in 2024 and welcomed a daughter
During the time they were apart, Blanchard married Ryan Anderson. The two later separated, and Blanchard announced the split four months after her release from prison. She and Urker rekindled their relationship in April 2024.
Eight months later, they welcomed their daughter, Aurora Raina Urker. Urker’s death comes after a relationship that had remained in the public eye for years because of Blanchard’s past and the attention surrounding her family story.
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