His daughter orchestrated the murder of her mother after suffering years of abuse, and where Gypsy-Rose Blanchard‘s dad is now is still very much in his child’s life. As you may know, Gypsy-Rose was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare form of abuse in which a caregiver exaggerates or induces illness in a person under their care to gain sympathy and attention.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and served a 10-year prison sentence. The one who carried out the slayings, her boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, received life behind bars without the possibility of parole. She was released from prison on December 29, 2023. Here’s where Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s dad is now.
Where is Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s dad now?
Rod Blanchard is still very much in his daughter’s life, as is his second wife and Gypsy-Rose’s stepmom, Kristy. Kristy and Rod share two other children and the family regularly spends time together. Today, Rod lives in Cut Off, Louisiana, and works as a shipmaster for Edison Chouest Offshore, according to his LinkedIn page.
Ron met Dee Dee when he was still in high school at age 17. Dee Dee, then 24, became pregnant with Gypsy-Rose, but Ron’s true feelings towards his wife soon became apparent. “I woke up on my birthday, on my 18th birthday, and realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be,” he told Buzzfeed News in 2016. “I wasn’t in love with her, really. I knew I got married for the wrong reasons.” He divorced Dee Dee before Gypsy was born and started dating Kristy 6 months after his daughter was born in 1995.
Rod maintained close contact with Gypsy until she was about 10 years old as mom and daughter moved away and Dee Dee began to lie about Gypsy’s true age. Rod told BuzzFeed that his ex-wife “created a web of lies” that made it difficult for Gypsy-Rose to escape. “[Dee Dee] got so wound up in it, it was like a tornado got started, and then once she was in so deep that there was no escaping. One lie had to cover another lie, had to cover another lie, and that was her way of life,” he continued.
In the HBO documentary from 2017, Mommy Dead and Dearest, Rod spoke about Gypsy’s crime and his complex feelings about it. “Yeah, it’s wrong, and there were other options that Gypsy had—which she tried some of those avenues and they didn’t work out,” he said.
“Bad as it sounds, she [Gypsy’s mom] asked for what she got.” Rod reconnected with his daughter while Gypsy-Rose was in prison and they slowly repaired their relationship. “She’ll always have a home here,” Rod told People in 2017. “We’ll put her on the right path.”
While talking about his daughter’s role in Dee Dee’s murder with Dr. Phil McGraw, Rod said “It’s hard to judge” his daughter for what she did. “I’m never going to question her or ask her why,” he said. “I feel guilty. How can I let this happen? Why wasn’t I there for Gypsy more?” he added. “I could have built that relationship with her. She wouldn’t have hesitated to call me and say, ‘Daddy, this ain’t right.’”
