Snickers, Skechers and a selfie: Gypsy Rose Blanchard's first 24 hours after release
Note: This story has been updated to indicate that Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard purchased her house on the northside of Springfield from Habitat of Humanity of Springfield.
Just 24 hours after her release from prison, Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been busy resettling into modern society.
The 32-year-old, who was released from the Chillicothe Correctional Center around 3 a.m. Thursday, posted her first selfie to Instagram on Friday morning. Captured in a hotel mirror with a pink iPhone 15, a smiling Gypsy poses with a hand on her hip — showing off her large, gold wedding ring. She sports a white and blue ombré Venus sweater dress, with slits down the sleeves, and a pair of blue jeans. A full suitcase and 12-pack of canned Dr. Pepper lie on the floor behind her.
The photo's caption reads, "First selfie of freedom!" and within an hour of her posting, the photo already had accumulated more than 86,000 "likes" and nearly 8,000 comments in varying languages, many carrying messages of encouragement.
Who is Gypsy Rose Blanchard married to?
Following her release from prison, where she served eight years of her 10-year sentence for conspiring with her then-boyfriend Nick Godejohn to kill her mother in 2015, Blanchard reunited with her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson. The two have been married since 2022, when Blanchard was still behind bars.
Although Blanchard left the Chillicothe Correctional Center before the sun rose, her first 24 hours of freedom did not go undocumented.
More: Gypsy Blanchard released from prison early Thursday morning, Missouri DOC confirms
The Daily Mail, a British daily, photographed Blanchard and Anderson leaving the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Chillicothe, where the two appeared to stay immediately after her release, and at an Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse in Liberty, where Blanchard left with two pairs of shoes, including Skechers sneakers. In photos captured by the Daily Mail as the couple left the Chillicothe hotel, Blanchard held a plastic shopping bag full of food, including a Burger King bag and Snickers bar.
In photos and video captured by The Daily Mail, Blanchard and Anderson appear to be accompanied by a camera crew documenting her release. While the purpose of this crew is unknown, those interested in learning more about Blanchard's case can watch a six-hour special on Lifetime next week.
The special, "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard," will be split into two-hour episodes on Lifetime. The series airs at 7 p.m. from Jan. 5 to Jan. 7, 2024.
Blanchard has indicated plans of returning to Louisiana, where she and Anderson are both from, after her release from prison. But before returning to the South, Blanchard and Anderson may attend the Dec. 31 Kansas City Chiefs game, where Blanchard has indicated a desire to meet Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs player Travis Kelce.
Prior to Blanchard's hotel-room selfie, her Instagram account, @gypsyrose_a_blanchard, mostly featured promotional content for her new e-book, "Released: Conservations on the Eve of Freedom." Published by BenBella Books in Dallas, the e-book is to be released on Jan. 9, 2024.
More: Here's how Gypsy Rose Blanchard's new book, 'Released,' is being promoted on social media
It is unclear who managed Blanchard's social media accounts (she also has TikTok, Facebook and X profiles) when she was in prison and who continues to now following her release. Her Instagram bio describes her as a "public figure, public speaker and author," who is "advocating awareness about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy."
What was Gypsy Rose Blanchard's case about?
Blanchard's case has been deemed one of the most recognized cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental condition in which someone makes another person ill for sympathy or gain. Throughout her childhood and early adulthood, Blanchard was subjected to this abuse by her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard.
Dee Dee was alleged to have made her daughter appear to have a range of physical and development ailments, including leukemia, asthma and muscular dystrophy in order to gain disability payments and gifts from charity. In 2008, Dee Dee and Gypsy moved into a newly built home on the north side of Springfield after their rental home in Louisiana was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The Blanchards purposed the Springfield home from Habitat for Humanity of Springfield.
Gypsy spent much of her life wheelchair-bound but eventually sought help from Godejohn, who she met online, to escape her mother. Godejohn traveled from Wisconsin, where he lived, to Springfield, where the two made plans to kill Dee Dee.
On June 14, 2015, police were alerted to a post on Dee Dee's Facebook page that read, "That B*** is dead!" before Dee Dee's body was found dead in her home from multiple stab wounds. Simultaneously, Gypsy was nowhere to be found, as she had fled to Wisconsin with Godejohn.
More: Gypsy Blanchard's release from prison looms as Nicholas Godejohn fights for new trial
Following the pair's arrest, Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years for her role in the fatal stabbing of her mother. She became eligible for parole after serving 85% of her sentence.
Godejohn remains behind bars. He was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing and killing Dee Dee. He continues to fight for a new trial, claiming his initial lawyers' defense failed to properly convey his level of autism in a diminished capacity defense.
Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Gypsy Rose Blanchard posts Instagram selfie following prison release
