Murder: True Crime Stories - SOLVED: Gypsy Rose 1

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Dee Dee Blanchard convinced everyone that her daughter Gypsy Rose was terminally ill. Doctors believed her. Neighbors supported her. Charities built her a new home. But medical records told a different story. What they revealed would unravel one of the most infamous cases of Munchausen by proxy in true crime history. Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Murder: True Crime Stories! Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Crime House has the perfect news show for Spooky Season. Twisted Tales hosted by Heidi Wong. Each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late-night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real-life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters. And the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a crimehouse original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you. you get your podcasts new episodes out every monday this is crime house the bond between mothers and daughters is

incredibly important for young girls the relationship they have with their mom can impact the course of their entire lives she's not just the person who gave them life, she's also the one who shapes their reality, teaching them the difference between true and false, right, and wrong. It's a position of immense power, and it comes with a lot of responsibility. But what happens when the person who is supposed to protect you can't be trusted? Gypsy Rose Blanchard asked herself this very same question. Growing up, she and her mother, Claudine D.D. Blanchard, were inseparable. D.D. was a single mom, and Gypsy had a lot of health problems. They spent most of their time together in and out

of hospitals. D.D. took it all in stride. She dedicated her entire life to caring for Gypsy. Gypsy never questioned any of it. As far as she knew, it was her and D.D. against the rest of the world. But eventually a crack began to form, and Gypsy started to wonder, was she a patient or a prisoner? People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon. and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories,

a Crime House original, powered by Pave Studios that comes out every Tuesday and Thursday. At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following Murder, True Crime Stories, wherever you get your podcasts. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get ad-free listening,

early access to every two-part series, and exciting bonus content. This is the first of two episodes on the twisted case of Claudine D.D. Blanchard and her daughter, Gypsy Rose. Today, we'll meet D.D. and Gypsy will learn how D.D. remain dedicated to her daughter, even when Gypsy faced one awful illness after another. Through it all, their community banded together to give Gypsy the best life possible, sending her to Disney World and even giving her and Dee-Dee a new house. But there was one problem. Not everyone was convinced Gypsy was actually sick.

Next time, we'll follow along as Gypsy makes some startling discoveries about her mother. Before long, their relationship became strained. Gypsy was desperate to have her own life, but D.D. wasn't willing to let her go. Eventually, Gypsy only saw one way out, and it ended in murder. All that and more coming up. What's better than a well-marbled rib-eye sizzling? on the barbecue, a well-marbled rib-eye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled rib-eye you ordered without even leaving the kitty pool.

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Learn more at Amex.ca. slash Y Amex. On May 3rd, 1967, Emma Petrie had her sixth child, a girl she named Claudine. But from the beginning, she was known as Didi. The family lived in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. It was a small town deep in the Louisiana bayou with a proud Cajun culture. Most people there worked in the commercial fishing industry, including Emma's husband Claude. He spent most of his time out on the water, leaving Emma to care for the kids.

And while she loved all her children, D.D. was definitely her favorite. As the youngest, Emma was very protective of her. And that might have been because D.D. was apparently diagnosed with a heart murmur before they even left the hospital. Art murmurs are pretty common and usually disappear on their own over time. But Emma seemed to take the news of D.D. murmur very seriously while the other children ran and played emma held dd back if the older kids got too rowdy emma would send them away she'd tell them that dd needed to rest and that wasn't the only way emma singled dd out from her other children unlike her siblings dd wasn't expected to do

any chores well they had to work for their spending money dd was given whatever she wanted. In the beginning, it was small things like toys and clothing, but as she got older, Dede's requests became more extravagant. When she got her driver's license, D.D. asked for a car, and Emma didn't hesitate. She had clawed by her a used vehicle. He fixed it up until it was running like new. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Dede's biggest passion was beauty pageants. They combined two of her favorite things, dressing up and being the center of attention. Pagents aren't a cheap hobby, though, and the petries weren't wealthy. Still, Emma somehow managed to get D.D. everything she needed for the competitions, fancy dresses, new shoes, makeup, and hair products, anything to make D.D. feel like a princess. The special treatment didn't stop when D.D. turned 18. After she graduated from high school in 1986, D.D. decided to become a nurse's assistant. Claude and Emma were happy to pay for the courses she needed to take.

It apparently wasn't an option they'd given any of the other kids. Once D.D. got her certification, she started working at a local hospital. It seemed like D.D. was a committed employee, but she also played as hard as she worked. Like most 20-somethings, D.D. loved a night out on the town. She was out with some friends at a bowling alley one night when she met Rod Blanchard. He was 17 years old and still in high school. They got to talking and hit it off. Rod knew she was older, but he didn't know by how much. For some reason, Didi told him she was 21 when she was actually 23. They'd only been seeing each other for a few months when Didi told Rod she was pregnant.

Like Didi, Rod had been raised in the South, and he knew a baby on the way meant they should get married. So they did. But it wasn't the happily ever after D.D. hoped for. According to Rod, he woke up on his 18th birthday with a pit in his stomach. He knew he'd made a mistake by marrying D.D. He wasn't in love with her. When he told her, she flew into a rage. She tore their framed marriage license off the wall and hurled it at the ground. It shattered and sent shards of glass flying around the room. Rod's date calm. He simply packed his things and moved out.

Although he didn't want to be together, he still promised Didi that he would be there for their child. But D.D. wasn't giving up so easily. Throughout her pregnancy, she tried to win Rod back. For perhaps the first time in her life, she wasn't getting what she wanted. On July 21, 1991, D.D. gave birth to a baby girl. Dedey loved the name Gypsy, and Rod's favorite band was Guns and Roses, so they decided to name their child, Gypsy Rose. Choosing a name together was a sweet gesture, but it didn't change Rod's mind.

By the time Gypsy was born, their relationship was officially over. D.D. and Rod divorced, and she moved back in with her parents so they could help raise Gypsy. Like most new mothers, 24-year-old D.D. was exhausted and anxious, but it seemed like Gypsy was doing well. That all changed when she was three months old. D.D. became convinced that Gypsy was having trouble breathing at night. She claimed she took Gypsy to the pediatrician and learned that her daughter had sleep apnea. They sent Didi home with a monitor for baby gypsy to wear. If the machine detected a problem with gypsy's breathing, it would set off an alarm. Rather than reassured D.D., the monitor seemed to make her more nervous. To make

matters worse, Rod had started seeing someone else. His new girlfriend was a woman named Christy, who'd actually worked as a nurse's aide with D.D. for a while. Rod said things were getting serious with Christy and he wanted to introduce her to six-month-old gypsy. Didi agreed she definitely wasn't happy about it but at that point she had bigger things to worry about. Around this time gypsy was diagnosed with strabismus, a condition where one or both eyes don't align properly. Over time, the misalignment can cause the brain to ignore signals from the a weak rye to prevent double vision. Eventually, this can lead to partial or total blindness. If it's caught early, strabismus can be treated with glasses or therapy. But serious cases,

like gypsies, can require surgery to fix it. So in 1992, at just 11 months old, gypsy went under the knife for the first time. While D.D. sat in the waiting room. The nurses at the hospital would come by to check on her. Did she need anything? Had she eaten? They were just doing their jobs. But their attention seemed to awaken something in D.D. It reminded her of the feeling she'd had as a child, that she was more special than everyone else. It also distracted her from the fact that her baby was a child. in surgery, and despite Dede's anxiety about the procedure, everything went well. But when she and Gypsy returned home, Didi's family noticed that she seemed different. She'd always been an attentive mother, but now she watched Gypsy like a hawk. If there was even a hint that something might be wrong, she took Gypsy back to the doctor. As a nurse's assistant, D.D. had more medical nurse.

knowledge than anyone else in her family. So they had no choice but to take what she said at face value. If D.D. said Gypsy was sick, she must be right. When Rod finally asked D.D. what was causing one-year-old gypsy's many health issues? D.D. reportedly told him that gypsy had a chromosomal disorder. It sounded scary but vague. According to D.D., it meant Gypsy wasn't developing normally and it affected everything from her hearing to her digestive system and despite what dd said gypsy seemed relatively healthy to everyone else and she played with her cousins and spent a lot of time with her grandpa clawed fishing and riding along on his motorcycle then when gypsy was five years old there was an accident.

In 1996, Gypsy somehow fell off Claude's motorcycle and scraped her leg. By all accounts, it was a minor wound. But Didi flew into a panic. She started by wrapping Gypsy's leg in a bandage. Then suddenly she had her in a knee brace. Eventually, Gypsy was in a wheelchair.

No one even knew. where Dee Dee got the wheelchair. It just appeared one day. At first, it seemed like a fun new toy for Gypsy who taught herself how to do wheelies, but eventually it got old. Like any five-year-old, Gypsy wanted to run and play, things she knew she was perfectly capable of doing, but Didy kept insisting she used the chair. If Gypsy fought her on it, Didy would give her the silent treatment. This continued until Gypsy finally relented. But one day that year, Gypsy decided to push the boundaries at a family birthday party. D.D. had to run to the store for something, and Gypsy stayed behind. She sat in her wheelchair, watching the other kids bounce on the

trampoline. She desperately wanted to join them. Finally, she asked her aunts and uncles if she could jumped too. They said yes. So Gypsy got out of her chair and hopped onto the trampoline. She moved just as well as the other kids. But when Dee Dee came back, Gypsy dropped like a limp noodle. Didi stormed into the yard, yelling at her family that Gypsy was disabled. She angrily yanked Gypsy off the trampoline, put her back in her chair, and took her inside the house. It was a turning point for the rest of the family. Clearly, Gypsy could walk. So why was D.D. lying about it?

Afterwards, one of D.D.'s sisters called Rod to tell him that Gypsy could walk just fine. But when he called D.D. to confront her about it, she had a convincing answer ready. She explained that Gypsy's muscular disorder was progressive. Sometimes she felt good enough to walk, but using her legs only made the condition worse. As usual, D.D. sounded like she knew what she was talking about. To Rod, it seemed like D.D. was just being a concerned mom. Plus, he didn't feel like criticizing her. He carried a lot of guilt for leaving D.D. as a single mother.

Not that he wasn't helping out. From the moment they divorced, Rod had been paying $1,200 a month in child support, which meant he had to work a lot. Still, he did what he could to be involved in Gypsy's life. But D.D. was about to make that a lot more difficult. Did you lock the front door? Close the garage door? Yep. Installed window sensors, smoke sensors, and HD cameras with night vision?

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Explore the new Peloton Cross-Training Treadplus at OnePeloton.C.A. In 1997, 30-year-old D.D. Blanchard and her six-year-old daughter, Gypsy Rose, were living with her parents in La Forch, Parish, Louisiana. Didi didn't mind being back home. She'd always been her parents' favorite. She and her mom, Emma, were especially close. but that year tragedy struck at some point emma got sick it's not clear what happened but her health deteriorated quickly and in june emma passed away at 59 years old her death sent dd into a tailspin

after emma's funeral she took gypsy and left no one was sure where they'd gone or why until a few weeks later When it became clear that Didy was on the run from the law, she was wanted by the La Forch Parish District Attorney for writing bad checks. Didi was looking at prison time or a hefty fine. Instead of taking responsibility, she'd taken gypsy and gone on the lamb. For a time, they bounced around from place to place. Sometimes they stayed in public housing. Other times they resorted to shelters.

Didi had taken two of her mom's credit cards and maxed them both out, which only added to her list of financial crimes. Ra did his best to keep track of them so he could continue to visit Gypsy, but Didi kept moving farther and farther away to various small towns around southern Louisiana. When Gypsy asked why she didn't see her dad much, Didi said it was because he was an alcohol. She also claimed that Rod had left them because Gypsy wasn't the son he'd always wanted. None of it was true, but there was no one around to tell Gypsy otherwise. Slowly but surely, Didi continued to isolate her daughter from the rest of her family. Before long, Gypsy was convinced that the only person she could ever count on was her mother. Didi's supports meant everything to Gypsy, and it became more important when they eventually settled down.

In 1999, the duo found a home in New Orleans. There, 32-year-old Didi started telling people that 8-year-old Gypsy had been diagnosed with leukemia. She called Rod and his now wife, Christy, to share the news. They were her heartbroken. Gypsy had already been. in through so much and still relied on her wheelchair to get around. They couldn't believe she was suffering from cancer too. Dede's own family was more skeptical. After the wheelchair fiasco, they weren't sure if they could trust her. But then Gypsy's hair disappeared.

O'Didi admitted that she had shaved it off. However, she insisted that was only because it had already started falling out from the chemo. When Dee's family heard that, it became more difficult for them to deny that Gypsy was sick. Going through treatment was serious. Unfortunately, the bad news didn't stop at cancer. Shortly after the leukemia announcement, Gypsy had a feeding tube put in. D.D. had told doctors that her daughter had an aversion to eating, thanks to severe acid reflux she'd apparently had as a baby.

Didi claimed she needed the feeding tube to make sure that Gypsy was getting enough calories. Didi must have been very convincing because the doctors seemed to agree. The surgery itself was relatively minor. It took about 30 minutes to insert the tube through a small incision in Gypsy's abdomen. Even with the tube, Gypsy could and did eat by mouth. But now, Didi could put whatever she could put whatever she. she wanted into Gypsy's body whenever she wanted, and Gypsy didn't feel a thing. But shortly after gaining this new level of control, D.D. was forced to give it up, at least

temporarily. In 2003-year-old D.D. was in a pretty serious car accident. Chipsy was with her, but only suffered minor injuries. And D.D., on the other hand, nearly lost her first, foot. For once, she was the patient stuck in a hospital. While D.D. was being treated, nine-year-old Gypsy went back to live with her grandpa, Claude, and his new wife. Even though her mother wasn't there, Gypsy dutifully used her wheelchair to get around. By then, Claude didn't try telling her otherwise, but one thing he couldn't understand was the feeding tube. From what he could tell, Gypsy could eat just fine without it, but Claude wasn't her mother. After two months, Didi was released and joined Gypsy at her parents' house. Only now, Claude's new wife, Laura May,

was there. She was another one of Dee's former co-workers from her time as a nurse's aide. Claude and Laura May married less than a year after Dee's mom passed. The timing of it all made Dee Dee furious. She hated Laura May for taking her mom's place. She didn't let Laura May know that, though. Didi acted like a gracious house guest and even cooked dinner for the family. It was an adjustment, but it seemed like everyone was getting along just fine. But then Laura May started getting sick, and no one could figure out why. That is, until gypsy, accidentally spilled the beans. She was playing with Claude in the living room

when she pointed to a box in the corner. She told him, those were the special vitamins her mom put in Laura May's food. Claude was horrified. Gypsy had pointed to a box of Roundup, a powerful herbicide. Didi had apparently been poisoning Laura May's food. The house erupted into mayhem, and Laura May demanded that D.D. leave immediately.

Didi didn't argue. She packed up her and Gypsy's things and hit the road again. They moved back to the New Orleans area to a small town called Slidell. Right away, D.D. found Gypsy new doctors at Tulane University Hospital. Now, she was worried that Gypsy had muscular distrust. The team ran some tests and they found nothing. All of Gypsy's results came back completely normal. But D-D wasn't convinced.

Instead of trusting the data, she simply took Gypsy to a different doctor. By this point it was 2001 and Gypsy was 10 years old. She should have been mature enough to speak to her doctors directly and explain how she was feeling. And yet, Didi continued to do all the talking at their appointments. If anyone questioned her, Didi explained that Gypsy was developmentally delayed. She claimed that mentally, Gypsy was anywhere between five and seven years old. That was also why she didn't send Gypsy to a regular school. Although Didi insisted she was homeschooling Gypsy, it seemed like that had stopped a while ago.

and so Gypsy only had about a second grade education. And because of all that, Gypsy did seem slow for her age, and Dee-D made sure she looked the part too. She always dressed Gypsy in princess costumes and wigs. Whenever they were at the doctors, she made sure Gypsy had some sort of doll or stuffed animal with her. While Dee-D. spoke to the physician, and she instructed Gypsy to keep quiet and play with her toy.

And no matter what, she was never to move her legs. The performance worked a lot of the time. Gypsy's new doctors agreed to put her on anti-seizure medication and gave her a machine to help her breathe at night. She was also given prescriptions for anemia, asthma, allergies, and an alleged heart murmur. But while Dee-D might have fooled the medical community, she couldn't outsmart biology.

When Gypsy was 13 years old, she got her first period. She had no idea what was going on and was terrified. Instead of explaining what menstruation was and giving gypsy pads or tampons, Didi told her teenage daughter, to wear diapers. For Gypsy, the experience was horrifying. Sadly, there was another disaster right around the corner.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. The damage was extensive and devastating. Dede and Gypsy evacuated to a shelter for people with special needs in Cunning, about 30 minutes north of their home in Slidell. It was a month or so before they could get back home to check on things. When they did, there wasn't much left. While they were at the shelter, Didy and Gypsy met a volunteer doctor.

They told the physician about Gypsy's medical issues and how Didy was struggling as a single mother. Their story tugged on the doctor's heartstrings. The physician wanted to help them. them get back on their feet. So the doctor arranged for Didi and Gypsy to be evacuated to Aurora, Missouri. They were hundreds of miles from anyone who'd ever known them. For Didi, this was a dream come true. There was no one around to question her decisions when it came to Gypsy. Now they could truly start over. Just when she thought it couldn't get better, a local news

crew met their helicopter at St. John's Hospital where they were being dropped off. Reporters called D.D. an inspiration. They were amazed by how much adversity she'd overcome, and they wanted to know her story. Not only that, but they wanted to help her and Gypsy however they could. That included awarding Didi and Gypsy with a brand new house. Dede's smiled graciously, and hugged her daughter. To onlookers, Dee-D looked like a caring mother who'd prevailed against all odds.

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In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, Louisiana. What was a horrific tragedy for most people turned out to be a golden ticket for 38-year-old Dede Blanchard and her daughter, Gypsy Rose. They were taken out of New Orleans and flown to Aurora Miss. Missouri, free of charge, and given a brand new house. A news crew came to document their move in, a line of volunteers brought in box after box of donated items, quickly filling the empty rooms. Didi sat on their new couch and marveled at their generosity. By all accounts, Gypsy and D.D. were doing more than okay.

Now the problem was, no one else in their family had any idea. if they'd even made it out of Katrina alive. It had been two months since the hurricane, and there hadn't been any word from D.D. Rod and Christy Blanchard, Gypsy's father and stepmother, were frantically searching for her and Gypsy. Finally, around October,

Didi called Christy. She said they were in Missouri and were planning to stay there. That was certainly a surprise, but Rod was just relieved. to hear they were safe. Still, that didn't mean Gypsy was out of the woods when it came to her health issues. After getting settled, Didi took Gypsy to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, a larger city about 30 minutes from Aurora. There, they started seeing Dr. Robert Steele. Didi smiled

at the doctor apologetically, telling him that all of Gypsy's records had been destroyed. destroyed by the hurricane. But she mentioned that shouldn't be a problem. She could answer all of his questions about Gypsy's health history. However, when Dee-D. mentioned Gypsy's cancer, Dr. Steele asked about the specific diagnosis and what treatment Gypsy had received. D.D. couldn't say for sure. That was certainly odd.

But after what they just experienced, Dr. Steele decided to cut D.D. some slack. Over the course of their many visits, he ran a bunch of tests to see if they could piece together the information. But everything came back completely normal. There was no sign of any cancer. Dr. Steele figured that was because Gypsy was in remission. He also examined Gypsy for signs of the muscular disorder that D.D. insisted that she had. And previously, D.D. was convinced it was muscular dystrophy, but now she thought it might be cerebral palsy. Other than the fact that Gypsy used a wheelchair, Dr. Steele couldn't find anything to suggest she had a problem with her muscles. He assumed he was missing something

and referred Gypsy to a pediatric neurologist. That was how Didi and Gypsy ended up in the office of Dr. Bernardo Flasterstein. He ordered complete MRIs of Gypsy's brain and spine. Once again, everything came back completely clear. There was no neurological reason for Gypsy to be immobile. In addition to the imaging, Dr. Flasterstein physically examined Gypsy's legs. The first thing he noticed was that she still had good muscle. tone. That wasn't consistent with someone who hadn't walked in nine years. Like Dr. Steele, he didn't have an explanation. When he told D.D. his findings, she was not happy. In fact, she stormed out of his office with gypsy in tow. Flasterstein was baffled. He thought he was giving

her good news. After all, her daughter was healthy. Seeing Dede's reaction, only solidified a suspicion he'd had all along. In 2007, after two years of seeing the Blanchards, Dr. Flasterstein wrote a letter for Gypsy's file. In it, he detailed his fear that D.D. was the one who was actually sick. His diagnosis, Munchausen by proxy. Munchausen by proxy is a condition in which a caregiver induces symptoms of an illness or illnesses in someone else to gain attention

and sympathy. In other words, Dr. Flastercine thought D.D. was making everything up and that there was nothing wrong with Gypsy. He pointed to the fact that Didi had answers to some questions, but not others. He also looked at the data. Why else would all of Gypsy's tests have come back normal? The problem is, Munchausen by proxy, is extremely rare and difficult to prove. For some reason, Dr. Flasterstein didn't feel he had enough evidence to actually do anything about it. Because of that, he didn't report D.D. to any protective agencies. Even so, his letter remained in Gypsy's file, a file that D.D. regularly requested access to. That's probably why she abruptly stopped taking Gypsy to him.

As usual, D.D. simply found another physician. Sometime in 2007, D.D. brought Gypsy to an ear, nose, and throat doctor. This time, she was concerned that Gypsy drooled excessively. It's a common problem for those with cerebral palsy. Once again, D.D. blamed Hurricane Katrina for the lack of records. And this time, the doctors seemed to take her word for it. Gypsy had surgery to remove her salivary glands. The recovery was difficult.

They sent her home with painkillers, but even after the bottle was finished, Gypsy's throat still hurt. She knew that D.D. had Vicodin. She'd been taking it ever since the car accident. So Gypsy snuck a couple out of the bottle. It made her feel so much better that she kept going back for more. Eventually, D.D. began to suspect what Gypsy was doing and confronted her. But if there was one thing D.D. taught Gypsy. It was how to lie. And that's exactly what Gypsy did. And we don't know whether D.D. believed her or not, but it seems like it didn't come up

again. It's possible that D.D. was just too distracted to keep pressing the issue. Thanks to the local news features done on them, Gypsy and D.D. were working with a few charity organizations, and the benefits were rolling in. In 2008, Habitat for Humanity gave D.D. the keys to a brand new custom-built home in Springfield. It was fully wheelchair accessible with a large ramp in the front and extra wide doorways. There was even a jacuzzi tub to provide therapy for Gypsy's muscles. But it didn't stop there. Organizations like Make a Wish gave the pair all expense-paid trips to Disneyland and Disney World, and they were the perfect opportunity to show off Gypsy's extensive collection of princess costumes.

They even got to go backstage at a Miranda Lambert concert and meet the singer. It was all very fun and exciting. but none of it made Gypsy feel fulfilled. Although she had her mom, what Gypsy really wanted was friends. According to D.D., she was 14 years old. Gypsy was desperate to connect with people her own age. But D.D. made that nearly impossible.

Whenever they had company or were out in public, D.D. usually had her arm around Gypsy or was holding her hand. If Gypsy started to say something Dee-D didn't like, she'd give a quick squeeze. It was her silent command to stop talking now. Even when they weren't right next to each other, Dee-D-D was always lurking somewhere nearby.

Gypsy felt like she couldn't speak her mind at all, not even about normal teenage stuff, like having a boyfriend. So she turned to the one place, her mother couldn't reach her. The Internet. In 2009, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society sent Gypsy a laptop for Christmas. When D.D. went to sleep at night, Gypsy would go online. She created a secret Facebook account and started messaging other kids in the neighborhood.

She was desperate to become friends with some of the cool 17- and 18-year-old she'd seen around. Although Gypsy believed she was only 16 at this point, she'd always felt older. Before long, she realized why that was. Sometime in 2011, Gypsy came across a copy of her Medicaid card. Something about it caught her eye. It said she was born in 1991. Gypsy realized that meant she was 19, going on 20. not 16 like her mother said she was an adult gypsy was shocked and horrified if dd had been lying to her

about something as important as her age what else was she keeping from her it was a betrayal that gypsy would never recover from the cracks in their relationship were starting to form and they wouldn't stop until the glass house of Dede's lies shattered completely. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is murder true crime stories. Come back on Thursday for Part 2

on the murder of D.D. Blanchard and all the people. it affected. A Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your murder true crime stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad-free, and instead of having to wait for each episode of a two-part series, you'll get access to both at once plus exciting bonus content.

We'll be back on Thursday. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a crime Homehouse, original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Natalie Pertsovsky, Sarah Camp, Megan Hannam, Sarah Tardiff, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season. dive into the real-life events behind the world's most terrifying blockbusters and beyond.

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