Ken Urker sent a cryptic message about his mental health just two weeks before he was found dead in his Louisiana home.
The 34-year-old told a mutual friend he was “surviving” during what the source described as a routine check-in following Urker’s split from Gypsy Rose Blanchard. The friend, who is close to both Urker and Blanchard, 35, said they reached out around two weeks ago with a simple message: “Hey, just checking in. ‘Cause I know it’s a hard time for both of you.”
“I love you to bits. I’m surviving right now. But thanks for checking in,” Urker replied, according to the source.
The friend said they did not read too deeply into the word “surviving” at the time and believed Urker was “doing okay.” Looking back, the exchange has taken on heavier meaning. The source noted that Urker’s mental health had been deteriorating for months and that this struggle ultimately led to the couple’s separation.
“She wanted him back obviously, and he just wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” the source said. “His mental health wasn’t good for the past few months.”
The same friend said the couple’s inner circle had been pushing for professional help. “We all just wanted him to kind of get better and see if he would get some therapy,” the source continued. “And [Blanchard] was just hoping that [getting back together] would be the outcome.”
That reconciliation never came. Urker and Blanchard began living separately two months ago and made their breakup official one month later, though they continued to co-parent their 1-year-old daughter, Aurora. Blanchard kept Aurora during the week while Urker took her on weekends, and the exes remained in constant communication about the child.
“They both just amicably, a month ago, said let’s just leave it here, have our space, and see where we’re at,” the source said.
First responders found Urker dead in his home last Thursday, which was his 34th birthday. The Lafourche Parish Public Information Officer confirmed the death to the outlet, and investigators stated they “found no evidence of foul play” while noting the probe remains open.
A police report obtained by the outlet detailed the scene: deputies discovered syringes and a spoon in the bathroom near a brown powdery substance, plus a syringe and handgun on the nightstand. Urker was found “lying on the bed on his back, cold to the touch, and appeared to have been there for an extended period of time.”
The mutual friend said Blanchard was stunned by the discovery of drug paraphernalia and the weapon. “We’re all just confused because there were no signs that he was going to do this,” the source said. “There were no signs he was gonna take these steps.”
The source also painted a picture of isolation in Urker’s final weeks, claiming he lacked a robust support network. “There’s a few times he messaged and said, ‘I’ve got nobody.’ So I’m like, well, I’m here. So I felt like he didn’t really [have support],” the source claimed.
Blanchard addressed Urker’s death publicly on social media, writing that he died of a suspected overdose. In a lengthy post, she called him “an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved” and declared he would “forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance, and even death can never erase.”
She also leveled sharp criticism at online tormentors. “The cruelty directed toward him was something no human being should have to endure,” she wrote, adding that Urker had faced “an unimaginable level of public scrutiny” and “relentless cyberbullying” across multiple platforms. She directed followers to an online harassment petition circulated in his memory.
Urker and Blanchard’s history stretches back to 2017, when they connected while she was serving prison time for the murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. They became engaged in 2018 but split the following year. Blanchard then married Ryan Scott Anderson in June 2022, though that marriage ended after two years. She and Urker rekindled their romance shortly after, and their daughter arrived in December 2024.
The Lafourche Parish death investigation is continuing.