Featured Image Credit: Dr Phil/Investigation Discovery
Topics: Crime, US News, Gypsy Rose Blanchard
Ben Thompson
Topics: Crime, US News, Gypsy Rose Blanchard
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who is currently in jail for the second-degree murder of her mother, had once written to supporters asking them to do her a favor.
Dee Dee Blanchard was found dead in June 2015, lying face down in her bedroom, with her daughter Gypsy later sentenced to 10 years behind bars for second-degree murder. Her boyfriend at the time, Nick Godejohn, pleaded not guilty but was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Since her death, it has been speculated that Dee Dee had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental illness and a form of child abuse in which a caregiver either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.
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Dee Dee had claimed that her daughter had leukaemia, asthma and muscle dystrophy, as well as having the 'mental capacity of a seven-year-old' due to brain damage.
Investigators later discovered that none of this was the case and Gypsy has maintained that her mother was controlling her through psychological and physical abuse.
The pair had also received benefits that included charity-sponsored visits to concerts and Disney World.
Back in 2019, she urged her supporters to write letters on her behalf to petition for her release.
In the statement, released in 2019, she pleaded: "Hello Friends and Supporters. I appreciate the continued encouragement throughout my prison sentence.
"Many of y’all have signed the Free Gypsy Blanchard petition created by my father, Rod Blanchard. Now, I must ask a favor.
"I am respectfully asking all who wish me an early release to please aid my father in his efforts for my freedom and write a letter expressing support for my early release to either the Missouri State Governor, Michael L. Parson, AND/OR the Division of the Missouri State Board of Probation and Parole."
Gypsy had a parole hearing in December 2021, but still remains behind bars at Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center.
After her imprisonment in November 2018, Blanchard has been the source of widespread interest, serving as the inspiration for the Amazon drama series The Act.
In the series, Patricia Arquette played the role of Dee Dee, while Kissing Booth star Joey King stepped into the shoes of Gypsy Rose.
The show has gone on to widespread acclaim, with Arquette scooping up an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, and King bagging a nomination for the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series.