All language subtitles for 2_Subtítulos01.ENG

- She started and telling
people that I had cancer.

I was forced to
use a wheelchair.

- And when we thought we
heard it all, we didn't.

- I was being sexually abused.

There was no end in sight.

- I said, I am concerned this
child has been kidnapped.

♪ No you can never
take my soul ♪

(birds chirping)

- Tomorrow is my parole hearing

and I don't think
I will sleep at all

because everything has
led up to this moment

and it's finally here.

People have called me a victim.

They've called me a murderer,

but there's so much
more under the surface.

The Gypsy Blanchard

that first entered
inside this institution,

she was so, just
naive and scared.

I didn't go to school.

I didn't have responsibilities,

but today, I am
responsible for myself.

I got my education in prison.

I wanna show that I
have every capability

of standing on my own two
feet, and I'm not broken.

I'm stronger than that.

I'm a survivor.

- Dee Dee and Gypsy were living
with Dee Dee's dad and stepmom.

When Dee Dee left from
Claude and Laura's house,

she had called me and they
told me they got in an argument

and not to tell them
where they were.

They were living in
Slidell, Louisiana,

which is two hours away
from Golden Meadow.

- I'm here on a ship
in Rhode Island.

I work 28 days on the
ship, 28 days at home.

Bridge, come in, this is Rod.

- [Sailor] Go ahead.

- [Rod] I remember when Gypsy
was young, I was gone a lot.

It was just hard to deal with.

I mean, I cared
how they survived,

but they seemed to be fine.

- I don't think my
mom ever wanted me

to have a relationship
with my father.

She told me that he was abusive.

She said that one night he
picked me up by the neck

and threw me towards
her across the room.

That never happened.

- I didn't know what
she was telling Gypsy.

That's kind of scary to
think, you know what I mean?

I didn't know that, but
that was the problem.

I didn't know that.

Yeah.

- Some of these
manipulative behaviors

that Dee Dee practiced
were probably learned

in her childhood.

- Dee Dee was my mom's favorite.

She enjoyed being
the little princess.

When Dee Dee was growing up,

she had like a heart
murmur and my mom kept her

from a lot of stuff, you know,

she wouldn't be able
to go play outside.

And then I'm thinking,

well maybe that's part of
where Dee Dee had got that

'cause she was the sick kid.

- [Gypsy] I thought my
mom was taking care of me.

But now looking back on it,

I was not taught certain
things from a very young age.

My mother and I used
to take baths together.

We slept in the same bed
together and then I hit puberty

and I had got my first period.

I was crying.

I was freaking out
and she didn't tell me

about pads or tampons.

So she told me to use my diapers
while I was on my period.

- [Producer] So how old
again were you at this point?

- [Gypsy] I was 13 years old.

When I came to prison,

I still never was
taught about a tampon

and finally this woman
taught me about tampons.

It was like a whole new
world opened up to me.

- I think Dee Dee
tried to keep Gypsy

as young as possible,
as long as possible,

as a way to control her
and keep her dependent.

- [Reporter] Breaking news,
Hurricane Katrina intensifies

into a massive
category five storm.

- [Gypsy] My mother and I were
living in Slidell, Louisiana,

when Hurricane Katrina was
about to make landfall.

(wind blowing)

- We didn't hear
anything from them.

We didn't hear where
they was going.

Kristy just started
looking around

and calling around and you know,
posting stuff and pictures.

- We don't know
if they're alive.

- [Gypsy] My mother and
I stayed at the shelter

for at least a month and a half

and when we went back to
the apartment complex,

there was just nothing
but devastation.

My mother had talked to a woman

that was a worker
at the shelter,

so she had set it up to
where my mother and I

could be life flighted
to Springfield, Missouri.

We landed on the rooftop
of St. John's Hospital

and I just remember
thinking, okay,

we're at a hospital,
this is normal, you know.

- Springfield, Missouri
is a really great place,

particularly for healthcare.

The first time that I
met Dee Dee and Gypsy,

Dee Dee was verbally loving
in front of me to Gypsy.

Physically, there was some
hugging and hand holding

and those type of
things, nothing unusual.

- [Gypsy] Before the
appointment, she's like,

"Now, whenever it comes
to the reflex test,

make sure you keep
your legs super still."

And she would put
her arm around me

and hug my shoulder or
she would squeeze my hand.

That was the signal to shut up.

- The way that Gypsy acted,

wearing princess dresses,
the way she talked,

the things that she referenced
that she liked to do

were like a kindergartner.

- When my mother and
I moved to Missouri,

I would've been 14 years
old and she was telling me

that I was 12 years old.

- Dee Dee was pretty
clear that Gypsy

had a history of cancer, asthma,

some sort of muscular disorder.

- My mother would often tell
other people and tell me

that I would only have a
life expectancy of seven,

and then it was 15
and then it was 20.

I think to some degree
I knew it was a facade.

However, I didn't know
the malicious intent

behind the facade.

- Dee Dee didn't have
the medical records.

She said they're gone
because it was chaos

down in New Orleans
right after Katrina.

So Dee Dee became the sole
place for information.

Probably the biggest
concern I had

was just this history of cancer.

Dee Dee could not give
either the diagnosis

nor really the length of
treatment that she had been on.

That was unusual and to
me that was a red flag.

So the question is,

at what point do
you trust the parent

to be accurate with
the information?

Can I trust what Dee
Dee's telling me?

- [Phone Operator] You may
start the conversation now.

- [Gypsy] After
Hurricane Katrina,

there was actually no part of me

that felt like it was
going to be difficult

adjusting to a new
life in Missouri

because I felt like I didn't
have close family ties.

My mother had kept me away from
my mother's side of the family

and my father's
side of the family.

- After Hurricane Katrina,

we didn't know if Dee Dee
and Gypsy evacuated anywhere.

- The local news in New
Orleans was letting people

post messages and
I had made a post.

I called it in, you know,

hi, this is Kristy Blanchard.

I am looking for Dee
Dee and Gypsy Blanchard.

This is my phone number.

Please call me, you know,
and let me know y'all okay.

- Gypsy calls me Nona

because she's just like
a grandchild to me.

We have lots of memories.

We have pictures, we have
notes that Gypsy wrote to me.

"I love you very much.
Great big hugs."

Signed, "Love, Gypsy Rose."

- Special.

- Yeah, yeah, I do.

I met Dee Dee and Gypsy when
our emergency room doctor

brought them from the Katrina
hurricane to Springfield.

They stayed at Mercy Hospital

in our hospitality
house where I worked.

Gypsy was so friendly,
she could talk to anyone.

- [Gypsy] Marsha made me feel
like this was a safe place

because she was just
so nice and welcoming.

- We were told that her
dad was out of the picture

'cause he was a bad man

and obviously that's
not a true statement.

- [Gypsy] I didn't
know at that time

that my dad and my stepmom
were looking for me.

- It was a couple months
before we finally made contact.

- My phone rang
and it was Dee Dee

and I started crying
and I answered.

I'm like, "Are y'all okay?"

And she's like,
"Yes, we're fine."

I was like, thank God.

- Dee Dee said Missouri was nice
and they were gonna stay there.

I missed Gypsy a lot,

but I felt like Dee Dee
was doing a great job

taking care of Gypsy.

- When Dee Dee and Gypsy
came up from New Orleans

with no concrete medical
records previously,

I have to assess the information
that Dee Dee's giving me,

but she didn't remember
the cancer diagnosis.

So we tested, and guess what,
the test came back normal.

We felt like there was
no evidence of cancer.

Well, maybe she's in remission.

Then when Dee Dee said she's
got a muscular problem,

at least from the outset,
it looks like, well,

maybe she does, she's
in a wheelchair.

As I examined her,

there wasn't real obvious things

that suggested
muscular disorders,

so I was really frustrated

and so that's when I referred
Gypsy to see a neurologist.

- My name is Bernardo
Flasterstein.

I'm a pediatric neurologist
and I met Gypsy Rose

after they just had moved
to Springfield, Missouri.

She came with multiple
medical conditions,

but Dee Dee was
not willing or able

to give details about
each one of the diagnosis.

So I said, let's do new tests.

We did an MRI of the
spine and the brain.

When I got the results,
they were all normal.

Gypsy rose didn't
have cerebral palsy.

Her muscles are good,
her strength is good,

and I think that she
should be able to walk.

This is great news.

And then I tried to have
her move and stand her up

and lo and behold she
was able to stand up.

- [Producer] Dr. Flasterstein
said that your MRI results

were normal and he said that
he asked you to stand up

and lo and behold you stood up.

- [Gypsy] I don't recall
that ever happening.

I'm not saying he's lying,

I'm just saying that
I know for damn sure

if I would've stood
up in any office,

I would've had my ass chewed
out and that didn't happen.

- Dee Dee was not
happy and got upset,

took Gypsy by wheelchair and
she storm out of the room.

I was sitting
there, I was amazed.

Already I was suspicious based
on the results of the MRI,

the imaging studies, that
this is Munchausen by Proxy.

Been asked many times,

why didn't I report it
to family services?

You cannot call family
service for a suspicion.

You have to have it proven
that her mom is making it up.

- [Gypsy] You can't
really report suspicions,

but I feel like why would you
take a chance of being wrong

when you could be right?

- Maybe I should have
reported in any case

and got a negative response.

I'm sorry that this
happened to her,

but I'm glad that she can walk,

that she doesn't have any of
this neurological conditions

and wish her the best.

(somber music)

- One of the hallmarks
of Munchausen's by Proxy

is they go to one doctor and
they go to another doctor.

In one instance, Dee Dee
did seek the assistance

from an ear, nose,
and throat specialist

for excessive drooling
which is a common problem

in those with cerebral palsy.

- [Gypsy] My mom put
Orajel on my mouth,

it would numb my mouth
and make me drool.

- Of course, Gypsy did
not have cerebral palsy

and ultimately had her
salivary glands removed

and that can have
complications like tooth loss.

- [Gypsy] After surgery,

I had more and more
of my teeth removed

and now I have 16 teeth left.

Today, my dentures
don't fit in properly

and I'm not able to get a
new set because I'm in prison

and they don't do that here.

The doctors have prescribed
me pain medication

after the surgery.

Well, when the pain
medication ran out,

I was still in pain and my
mother had a prescription

for Vicodin and so when
she wasn't looking,

I would just go and take
one or two from her bottle

and I didn't know what
addiction really was.

I just knew that
it was a craving

that's all I could think about.

I wanted another one.

(rising dramatic music)

(gentle music)

- When I first got to prison,

I was subjected to a
lot of peer pressure

and I smoked for about a year.

I started with vaping and it
became addictive, obviously,

and then I went
to real cigarettes

and it led me down some
bad choices that I regret.

But it was a learning
experience for me

because I got to
see who I wanna be

and who I don't wanna be.

I never told anyone
about this before.

I first started
taking pain pills

after I had quite
extensive surgery done.

I was 16 years old,

but the craving for the
pain pills continued.

It was like an escape
from my reality.

But as my tolerance
started to heighten,

one or two didn't
get me high anymore

so I took three and four.

My mother did start to suspect

that I was taking her
pain pills behind her back

and she confronted me about it,

but I did, of
course, lie to her.

I still have a lot of
demons to work through.

(suspenseful orchestral music)

- [Phone Operator] This call
is from a correctional facility

and may be monitored
and recorded.

- Hi Gypsy, Dr. John
Fabian, how you doing?

- [Gypsy] I'm doing
well, how are you?

- Good, your lawyer contacted
me after your arrest

and requested that
I evaluate you

and I wasn't needed because,
you know, you had pled guilty.

- [Gypsy] Okay.

(tense music)

- So what is your coping
process in prison?

- [Gypsy] In the first couple
years of my incarceration,

I coped using drugs.

I think I first started to learn

that drugs were
available in prison

when I started seeing
other women get high.

I tried Suboxone and it
gave me the same high

as taking pain pills.

(tense music)

And instantly I was brought back

to the addiction that
I had, the pain pills,

back when I was
living with my mother.

And then one day,

one of the women that I owed
$50 to for a bunch of pills,

she was pressuring
me to get paid.

And so I called Kristy

and I told her that
I accidentally broke

this girl's CD player and if
she could please send $50.

- We're the type of people,

if you borrowing some from
somebody and it breaks,

you gotta pay for it.

I said, okay, I
said I'll send it.

- [Gypsy] It had been
eating at me for years

that I lied to Kristy.

I hated myself and I
hated what I became.

So I decided to tell Kristy.

- When Gypsy told
me, I was upset,

but she told me the truth.

And that's, to me, at
the end of the day,

that's what mattered.

- [Gypsy] I was really happy,

but I can tell Kristy anything
and I'm clean, I'm sober,

and I'm not that person anymore.

Nobody knows that I even had
a addiction before prison,

let alone in prison.

- Hopefully she stays on
this straight and narrow.

And as far as Gypsy learning
the lies and manipulations

from her mom, I've noticed
that she's learning

to not repeat that pattern.

- [Gypsy] We were bonded
by this lie together,

like we couldn't
escape each other.

- When Dee Dee and Gypsy
came up from New Orleans,

there were a number of
things that Dee Dee did,

manipulating the community.

One was Habitat for Humanity.

(gentle piano music)

- The house was made
custom to suit her needs.

Let's include a wheelchair
ramp, let's include bigger,

let's make this a
home that they could

really, really call their own.

- Even though I
knew I could walk,

I was so happy that I cried

because all my life, I never
lived in a home that was ours.

- That house was
essentially an extension

of the love and care the
community gave to this pair

but it was all a scam.

- It's so easy to live
here and it's so peaceful.

- I remember my mom had gave
me this little glass house

and she said this, one
day this will be real

and now it finally is.

Looking back on that interview,

I was coached before
we had filmed for that.

And I remember my
mother telling me,

this is going to be
our happily ever after.

Kinda staying with
the fairy tale theme.

It just proves
that happy endings

are not just in fairy
tales, they're real.

- I would say there
was a lot of enthusiasm

from, not just my colleagues,
but the community for Gypsy.

I was Gypsy's pediatrician
for many years.

Over time, my nurse came to
me with three documents,

and on these three
separate documents,

she had three
separate birthdays.

The day and month were the same,
but the year was different.

And my nurse said, "I'm
now really concerned."

(dramatic suspenseful music)

I'm getting chills actually
thinking about this.

Sorry, gimme a second.

- Because it was,

I'm experiencing the
emotions that I had

when it was a, oh my gosh,

there might be something
really bad going on.

- Tomorrow's my parole hearing

and I have imagined it millions
of times in my head already.

If they ask me the big
question that I have heard

so many times over, why
didn't you just stand up?

Why didn't you just tell
someone what was going on?

And I'm honest with
them and I tell them

I was scared of my mother.

(dramatic music)

- Over time, as I begin to
look at all these diagnoses

and the documents with
the wrong birth dates,

I called the Missouri
Department of Family Services

and I said, "I am concerned
this child has been kidnapped."

- I remember DFS
coming to my house,

they kept my mother
in the living room

and they talked to me
alone in my bedroom

and they asked me, did
I have bruises on me?

Can I show them?

"No, I don't."

And they're like,

"Who is that woman in
the other room to you?

Is that your mother?"

And I'm like, "Yes ma'am."

I can hear them
talking to my mom.

They told her to shut
the F up at one point

and it really shook me
up because at this time,

I was very close with my mother.

I really, truly believed that
she was doing the best by me.

DFS workers told my mother
that she needed to obtain

a real birth certificate for me.

She played it off as if
she was just a mother

who was in a difficult situation

and she was trying her best.

Eventually they left, but
they didn't follow up.

- I had no clue
what DFS was doing

and I asked Dee Dee
to bring Gypsy in.

I asked, "Has anyone from the
state come and visited you?"

And Dee Dee said,
"Yeah, they did."

And I said, "I want you to
know that I was the one

who called them."

So at that point, I asked
Dee Dee to leave the room

'cause I wanted
to talk to Gypsy.

Dee Dee was a little
hesitant, but she left.

So at this point I said,
"Gypsy, is everything okay?"

I said, "Is there anything
that you want to tell me?

This is a safe place."

(suspenseful music)

And she was like, "No,
everything's fine.

My mom loves me
and I love my mom."

My concerns were not assuaged,

but I felt that I had done
everything that I could do.

- [Gypsy] Could I
be perfectly honest?

How do we know that these
doctors aren't saying all this,

of these accounts of them doing
all the right thing by me,

but I don't recall any of it?

Am I lying or is it that
they're just trying

to cover their own asses?

- I'd say, "I'm
sorry I failed you."

That's what I would say.

I'm really sorry.

I wish I could even
say that I entertained

the diagnosis of Munchausens
by Proxy and dismissed it,

but it didn't enter
into my brain.

- I hold a lot of
complicated emotions

for a lot of people
that could have

said something but didn't.

There's some things I
just don't understand why.

♪ I believed in you

- I don't think everyone
intentionally failed Gypsy.

But it's a combination
and really spearheaded

by how a good a
manipulator Dee Dee is

and how much of a
pathological liar she is.

- [Gypsy] After the DFS visit,

my mother became more paranoid

about doctors and
social workers.

♪ You tried to take my freedom

My mom had put
filters on our windows

to kind of black out
anything from being seen

inside the house, but
also kept me from seeing

what's going on outside too.

It felt even more like I was
a prisoner in my own home.

♪ No, you can never
take my soul ♪

(suspenseful music)

With my mother, it was a
hot and cold relationship.

It was either very affectionate

because I was very
submissive and obedient

or I was either rebellious and
I would be punished for it.

After I would do something
that my mom wanted me to do,

we would go to Toys R Us or
she would buy me a new dress

and then the next best thing
was her love and affection.

My mother would
apply for different

wish granting organizations
like Make-a-Wish Foundation

and take me on these
trips to Disney World.

- If I knew there was a Disney
trip coming up or something,

you know, I'll give you
a couple hundred dollars

so she can get some souvenirs
and stuff like that.

(birds chirping)

For her 18th birthday,
when I did call her

and I asked Dee Dee

to tell Gypsy happy
birthday, she's like,

"Ah, don't tell her that."

I'm like, "Why? It's
her 18th birthday."

I mean, she's 18.

It's a big deal.

You know, she doesn't
know she's 18.

Didn't make sense at all.

- [Gypsy] I think that my
mother told me I was turning 14.

I took it at face value
and it almost seeming

like I was aging backwards.

- That was a big red flag
for me when that happened.

So, you know, I pushed
that we go see them.

There had been years,
tried calling them to say,

we're coming and it's
just like radio silence.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

I felt bad then, and
I still feel bad.

I wish it'd been different.

(somber music)

- [Gypsy] It wasn't
like I missed my dad

in any sort of way because I
thought that he didn't love me.

- In the six years that
we hadn't seen them.

I just thought they were just
living their everyday life.

Going to doctor's
appointments, going on trips.

You know, it breaks my heart

because your kid isn't
supposed to go through that.

- For a very long time, I
didn't have my own friends,

but the daughter of one of the
neighbors couple doors down

was nice to me and
I was nice to her.

So I called her a friend.

I felt this small
bit of jealousy

because she was allowed to
hang out with her friends

and go shopping and
have a boyfriend

and just live her life.

- Gypsy was blossoming
into a adolescent female

with certain sexual
needs and social needs.

She had a need to just
connect with somebody,

have a boyfriend,
go out on a date,

and hopefully without her
mother attached to her.

- My mother had just
started a Facebook profile,

but she never let
me get on Facebook.

At this point my mother had got

the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society

to gift me a laptop
for Christmas.

My mom thought that I was
looking at the Barbie website,

Disney website, these very
kid oriented websites,

but one of the
first things I did

was make a Facebook
account behind her back.

I started to finally talk
to people and express myself

and find friends of my own.

And I was excited to
have this normal life.

Around this time, my mother
took me to a sci-fi convention

called Vision Con.

- [Photographer] Hey Gypsy.

- And one night
during the convention,

I'm in my wheelchair and
my mother's a few feet away

and this guy bumps into me.

He kind of looked a little
handsome and he's like,

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean
to bump into you, I'm sorry."

I'm like, "It's no
problem, it's fine."

Then we went our separate ways.

A few days later, he found
my secret Facebook profile.

I accepted his friend
request and his name was Dan.

A lot of it was talking
with him about movies, TV,

music, common interests, but
then there was that part of it

that was kind of
sexually charged.

I thought that it
was a possibility

that he could be the one
that would take me away

from this existence
living with my mother.

I thought, this is my
knight in shining armor.

I found out that I wasn't 15,

that I was actually 19
and I was very shocked.

That's when he tells me
that he was on parole.

I didn't even know
what parole meant.

(pensive music)

- The notions that I had
of love before prison

were that of what I'd
seen in Disney cartoons.

You know, you never see
Prince Charming and Cinderella

fight ever, like everything's
all perfect all the time.

And then I started dating

and then I realized it
wasn't like that. (laughs)

I first met Dan at
a sci-fi convention

called Vision Con.

We would trade messages
back and forth for a while,

and slowly after a few
months I started to tell him

more and more
about my home life.

He was the very first
person that I ever told

that I could walk.

(somber music)

It was a relief to me to be
able to confide in someone

and he seemed really sweet.

The age that my
mother was telling him

was 15 at the time
and he was 36.

And then I started dreaming
about what it would be like

if I was just a
little bit older,

because then I would be legal
to date him if I wanted to.

Then one day, I found
my Medicaid card

and it said that my
birth year was 1991

and she had been claiming
that it was 1995.

I found out that I wasn't 15,

that I was actually 19
and I was very shocked.

At that point, I wish that I
had stood up for myself more

and realizing that
the wheelchair

was also part of a con.

- As long as there were
programs for sick children,

Dee Dee would receive
SSI benefits for that.

So I think it was
very much financial

as well as an emotional thing.

If Gypsy left her, she
would lose her life.

- I told Dan my age

and he's like, "You're
an independent woman.

You could leave."

And I just kept explaining, I
can't, you don't understand,

I can't, my mother
will find me and she,

and he would tell me, "No, no,
I'll make sure to protect you."

And so we created this plan
that I was gonna leave home

and he was going to take
me to his farm in Arkansas.

So one night when my
mother was asleep,

I stole my mother's cell
phone from her purse

and I was texting with Dan and
he sent me a text that said,

"Could tonight be the night
that we run away together?"

And I was like, okay.

I packed a few costumes

'cause I didn't have real
clothes and I had a blonde wig

so no one would recognize me.

I stole my mom's pain
pills and I stole cash.

And I left her a runaway note

so she wouldn't worry about me.

And I told her that
I knew that I was 19

and I wanted to live my own
life as an independent woman.

And I told her that I loved her,

that it was just time for me
to spread my wings and fly

and I left through
the back door.

It was late at night,
it was about 2:00 AM,

and I hitchhike to
his friend's house

and I was excited to see him.

That's when he tells me
that he was on parole

and couldn't leave the state.

I didn't even know
what parole meant.

My first reaction is, oh my
God, she's going to find me.

♪ Try to take my freedom

- She chained me to
the bed and said

that you will never find love.

♪ But you can never
take my soul ♪

About six months ago I met
someone and we started dating.

♪ No, you can never
take my soul ♪