Kenan "Ken" Urker, partner of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, was found dead inside his Louisiana home on his 34th birthday after a welfare check, with deputies reporting no signs of foul play.
Loved ones requested the check after Urker failed to show up for work, and the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed he was discovered unresponsive inside the residence on Thursday. Fox News reported the case remains under investigation.
Anita Blanchard, whose husband is Gypsy Rose Blanchard's half-brother, went to the home with her husband and another man. They spotted Urker lying unconscious through an outside window. The accompanying man entered through the window and found Urker not breathing and cold to the touch.
Deputies noted Urker appeared to have been there for an extended period. Investigators recovered syringes and a spoon next to a brown powdery substance in the bathroom, plus a handgun, two shot glasses, and a syringe on the nightstand beside the bed.
The sheriff's office stated there are "no signs of foul play." Officials added they would issue a new statement if that changed or if major updates emerged.
The evening before, around 8:45 p.m., Urker had been at church with Anita Blanchard and her husband. He mentioned feeling depressed and upset. Later that night, at approximately 11 p.m., he made a TikTok live video while driving and said nothing.
Urker, who turned 34 on the day he was found, had built more than 36,000 followers on TikTok. His employer and Anita Blanchard grew concerned when he did not appear for work the next day and contacted law enforcement.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard told PEOPLE she believes Urker died of a drug overdose. She said he had not been in a good state of mind lately and left open whether it was intentional.
"I don’t know if it was intentional or not. He was not in a good state of mind lately."
On Friday she shared a photo of Urker on Instagram to her one million followers, drawing nearly 100,000 likes within hours.
"You will always be my greatest love story. You will be remembered and loved forever."
In an Instagram Story she addressed the pressure he faced online.
"Ken endured an unimaginable level of public scrutiny and relentless cyberbullying across social media platforms, including TikTok and Reddit. The cruelty directed toward him was something no human being should have to endure. I believe the tremendous weight of that scrutiny and harassment had a profound impact on him, and I hope his passing serves as a reminder that there is a real person behind every screen, every headline, and every comment."
She added that she would make sure their daughter Aurora, born Dec. 28, 2024, grows up knowing how deeply her father loved her beyond what strangers said about him.
Urker and Blanchard had gotten engaged in 2018 while she was incarcerated, later separated, then reunited and welcomed their child. Blanchard was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years for second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard, alongside then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, who received life without parole. She was released on parole in December 2023 after serving 85 percent of her sentence. The case inspired the Hulu series "The Act."
No official cause of death has been released, and toxicology results are not yet public. The investigation continues in Lafourche Parish.
Online pile-ons extract a real human cost, and families are left to pick up the pieces when the comments stop.
