Gypsy Blanchard released from prison early Thursday morning, Missouri DOC confirms

CHILLICOTHE, Mo. − Gypsy Blanchard didn't wait until sunrise to begin her newfound freedom.

Blanchard, who conspired with then-boyfriend Nick Godejohn to kill her abusive mother in 2015, was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center around 3 a.m. Thursday, according to an employee at the entrance of the prison.

Blanchard was granted parole in September after spending eight years behind bars for her role in the infamous case that has since led to documentaries and a streamed television series.

The prison employee told the News-Leader that several people and media outlets approached him to inquire about Gypsy's release time Thursday morning, but that she had already left the premises. The Missouri Department of Corrections, which had refused to provide a time Gypsy would be freed, later confirmed the 32-year-old woman's release.

Gypsy recently announced the Jan. 9 release of an eBook, "Released," and said she plans to attend a Dec. 31 Kansas City Chiefs game in hopes of meeting superstar Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

What was the Gypsy Blanchard case about?

The bizarre nature of the Springfield murder made national headlines and became the subject of documentaries and streamed television series after an investigation revealed details suggesting Gypsy's late mother suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy — a mental condition in which someone makes another person ill for sympathy or gain.

Dee Dee Blanchard was alleged to have made Gypsy appear to have a range of physical and developmental ailments — including leukemia, asthma and muscular dystrophy — in order to gain disability payments and gifts from charities, leading to painful treatment and procedures.

Gypsy, who was wheelchair-bound before it was discovered she could walk, said she was desperate to escape her mother's abuse, and sought help from her online boyfriend, Godejohn.

Police were alerted to a post on June 14, 2015, on Dee Dee Blanchard’s Facebook page reading, ‘That B*** is dead!’, before her body was found in her home with multiple stab wounds. Before Gypsy was publicly tied to the murder, many Springfield residents were worried that she was also in peril.

More: Gypsy Blanchard's release from prison looms as Nicholas Godejohn fights for new trial

Gypsy, pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge. She was sentenced to 10 years for her role in the fatal stabbing, and she became eligible for parole after serving 85% of her sentence.

Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing and killing Dee Dee Blanchard before he and Gypsy fled to his native Wisconsin. He continues to fight for a new trial, claiming his lawyers' defense failed to properly convey his level of autism in a diminished capacity defense.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Gypsy Blanchard released from prison early Thursday morning