Welp, this is very bonkers and incredibly sad.
BuzzFeed has a brilliant, riveting long read about Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blancharde, a mother and daughter from Springfield, Missouri. The abbreviated version of their tragic story goes something like this:
Dee Dee and Gypsy were a seemingly sweet mother-daughter combo. They lived in a small pink house that was built for them by Habitat for Humanity. That's because Gypsy had a variety of illnesses that she lived with since birth that left her pale, skinny, and confined to a wheelchair. Her mother Dee Dee was her faithful caretaker, making sure she took all her medications and went to her myriad of doctor's appointments. Even though Gypsy was 19, Dee Dee said she had the brain of a 7-year-old and needed full-time attention.
Everything was fine until one day, this update appeared on Dee Dee's Facebook page:
As friends and neighbors debated what to do about the bizarre update, a new updated appeared on Dee Dee's page: "I fucken SLASHED THAT FAT PIG AND RAPED HER SWEET INNOCENT DAUGHTER…HER SCREAM WAS SOOOO FUCKEN LOUD LOL."
Friends and neighbors immediately reacted, calling the police. Once inside the house, the police discovered Dee Dee's body in her bedroom. She'd been stabbed to death and had been dead for several days. And Gypsy was missing.
And here's where it gets really strange!
Through talking to a neighbor, the police figured out that Gypsy wasn't sick, and never had been. And that she and Nicholas Godejohn, a man she had met on the Internet, had carried out the crime together and were now in hiding at his house. Oh, and Gypsy wasn't 19, she was actually 23.
As it turns out, Dee Dee most likely had Munchausen by proxy, which is when someone feigns or actually induces physical and psychological symptoms in another person for no obvious benefit other than attention and sympathy.
Gypsy is currently serving the minimum sentence for her crimes: 10 years. She will be eligible for parole in 7 1/2 years, when she is 32.
Gypsy spoke with BuzzFeed's Michelle Dean from jail.
"The doctors thought that she was so devoted and caring," she said. "I think she would have been the perfect mom for someone that actually was sick. But I'm not sick. There's that big, big difference."
You have to read the entire story, for it is filled with so many insane twists and turns that it'll truly boggle your mind.
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