1
00:00:06,208 --> 00:00:09,333
- She started and telling
people that I had cancer.

2
00:00:09,417 --> 00:00:11,375
I was forced to
use a wheelchair.

3
00:00:13,042 --> 00:00:16,708
- And when we thought we
heard it all, we didn't.

4
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,583
- I was being sexually abused.

5
00:00:22,583 --> 00:00:24,250
There was no end in sight.

6
00:00:29,417 --> 00:00:32,375
- I said, I am concerned this
child has been kidnapped.

7
00:00:54,458 --> 00:00:58,667
♪ No you can never
take my soul ♪

8
00:01:03,792 --> 00:01:05,417
(birds chirping)

9
00:01:17,042 --> 00:01:18,542
- Tomorrow is my parole hearing

10
00:01:18,625 --> 00:01:20,792
and I don't think
I will sleep at all

11
00:01:22,750 --> 00:01:25,917
because everything has
led up to this moment

12
00:01:26,042 --> 00:01:27,833
and it's finally here.

13
00:01:31,083 --> 00:01:33,292
People have called me a victim.

14
00:01:33,375 --> 00:01:35,625
They've called me a murderer,

15
00:01:35,708 --> 00:01:40,542
but there's so much
more under the surface.

16
00:01:41,750 --> 00:01:42,875
The Gypsy Blanchard

17
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,583
that first entered
inside this institution,

18
00:01:45,667 --> 00:01:49,917
she was so, just
naive and scared.

19
00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:51,917
I didn't go to school.

20
00:01:52,042 --> 00:01:54,292
I didn't have responsibilities,

21
00:01:55,458 --> 00:01:59,458
but today, I am
responsible for myself.

22
00:02:00,417 --> 00:02:02,333
I got my education in prison.

23
00:02:03,583 --> 00:02:06,375
I wanna show that I
have every capability

24
00:02:06,458 --> 00:02:10,250
of standing on my own two
feet, and I'm not broken.

25
00:02:10,250 --> 00:02:11,833
I'm stronger than that.

26
00:02:11,917 --> 00:02:13,083
I'm a survivor.

27
00:02:18,333 --> 00:02:21,750
- Dee Dee and Gypsy were living
with Dee Dee's dad and stepmom.

28
00:02:22,792 --> 00:02:26,583
When Dee Dee left from
Claude and Laura's house,

29
00:02:26,667 --> 00:02:30,000
she had called me and they
told me they got in an argument

30
00:02:30,083 --> 00:02:31,792
and not to tell them
where they were.

31
00:02:33,625 --> 00:02:36,750
They were living in
Slidell, Louisiana,

32
00:02:36,875 --> 00:02:41,583
which is two hours away
from Golden Meadow.

33
00:02:46,917 --> 00:02:49,333
- I'm here on a ship
in Rhode Island.

34
00:02:49,375 --> 00:02:52,417
I work 28 days on the
ship, 28 days at home.

35
00:02:52,500 --> 00:02:54,542
Bridge, come in, this is Rod.

36
00:02:54,667 --> 00:02:56,000
- [Sailor] Go ahead.

37
00:02:57,042 --> 00:03:00,417
- [Rod] I remember when Gypsy
was young, I was gone a lot.

38
00:03:02,167 --> 00:03:04,500
It was just hard to deal with.

39
00:03:04,583 --> 00:03:07,792
I mean, I cared
how they survived,

40
00:03:09,792 --> 00:03:11,833
but they seemed to be fine.

41
00:03:14,750 --> 00:03:16,458
- I don't think my
mom ever wanted me

42
00:03:16,542 --> 00:03:18,417
to have a relationship
with my father.

43
00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:22,542
She told me that he was abusive.

44
00:03:24,208 --> 00:03:26,625
She said that one night he
picked me up by the neck

45
00:03:27,625 --> 00:03:32,167
and threw me towards
her across the room.

46
00:03:34,292 --> 00:03:35,500
That never happened.

47
00:03:38,750 --> 00:03:40,958
- I didn't know what
she was telling Gypsy.

48
00:03:42,500 --> 00:03:44,667
That's kind of scary to
think, you know what I mean?

49
00:03:44,708 --> 00:03:48,875
I didn't know that, but
that was the problem.

50
00:03:48,958 --> 00:03:49,917
I didn't know that.

51
00:03:52,708 --> 00:03:53,708
Yeah.

52
00:04:01,292 --> 00:04:03,375
- Some of these
manipulative behaviors

53
00:04:03,458 --> 00:04:06,333
that Dee Dee practiced
were probably learned

54
00:04:06,375 --> 00:04:07,625
in her childhood.

55
00:04:09,125 --> 00:04:11,208
- Dee Dee was my mom's favorite.

56
00:04:11,333 --> 00:04:15,667
She enjoyed being
the little princess.

57
00:04:17,125 --> 00:04:19,458
When Dee Dee was growing up,

58
00:04:19,542 --> 00:04:23,292
she had like a heart
murmur and my mom kept her

59
00:04:23,375 --> 00:04:25,458
from a lot of stuff, you know,

60
00:04:25,542 --> 00:04:28,458
she wouldn't be able
to go play outside.

61
00:04:28,542 --> 00:04:29,917
And then I'm thinking,

62
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,000
well maybe that's part of
where Dee Dee had got that

63
00:04:33,042 --> 00:04:34,625
'cause she was the sick kid.

64
00:04:40,875 --> 00:04:44,042
- [Gypsy] I thought my
mom was taking care of me.

65
00:04:44,167 --> 00:04:46,500
But now looking back on it,

66
00:04:46,625 --> 00:04:52,375
I was not taught certain
things from a very young age.

67
00:04:52,458 --> 00:04:54,875
My mother and I used
to take baths together.

68
00:04:54,958 --> 00:05:00,667
We slept in the same bed
together and then I hit puberty

69
00:05:00,750 --> 00:05:03,875
and I had got my first period.

70
00:05:05,042 --> 00:05:06,333
I was crying.

71
00:05:06,375 --> 00:05:10,167
I was freaking out
and she didn't tell me

72
00:05:10,208 --> 00:05:12,667
about pads or tampons.

73
00:05:12,750 --> 00:05:17,792
So she told me to use my diapers
while I was on my period.

74
00:05:20,542 --> 00:05:23,000
- [Producer] So how old
again were you at this point?

75
00:05:23,125 --> 00:05:24,792
- [Gypsy] I was 13 years old.

76
00:05:27,208 --> 00:05:29,500
When I came to prison,

77
00:05:29,542 --> 00:05:32,333
I still never was
taught about a tampon

78
00:05:32,417 --> 00:05:36,500
and finally this woman
taught me about tampons.

79
00:05:36,625 --> 00:05:38,833
It was like a whole new
world opened up to me.

80
00:05:40,750 --> 00:05:42,958
- I think Dee Dee
tried to keep Gypsy

81
00:05:43,042 --> 00:05:45,375
as young as possible,
as long as possible,

82
00:05:45,500 --> 00:05:48,625
as a way to control her
and keep her dependent.

83
00:05:53,750 --> 00:05:56,750
- [Reporter] Breaking news,
Hurricane Katrina intensifies

84
00:05:56,833 --> 00:05:59,208
into a massive
category five storm.

85
00:06:00,250 --> 00:06:03,333
- [Gypsy] My mother and I were
living in Slidell, Louisiana,

86
00:06:03,417 --> 00:06:07,917
when Hurricane Katrina was
about to make landfall.

87
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,542
(wind blowing)

88
00:06:14,708 --> 00:06:16,875
- We didn't hear
anything from them.

89
00:06:16,958 --> 00:06:18,833
We didn't hear where
they was going.

90
00:06:21,250 --> 00:06:22,750
Kristy just started
looking around

91
00:06:22,875 --> 00:06:26,875
and calling around and you know,
posting stuff and pictures.

92
00:06:28,208 --> 00:06:29,833
- We don't know
if they're alive.

93
00:06:35,292 --> 00:06:37,042
- [Gypsy] My mother and
I stayed at the shelter

94
00:06:37,125 --> 00:06:39,375
for at least a month and a half

95
00:06:41,417 --> 00:06:44,833
and when we went back to
the apartment complex,

96
00:06:44,917 --> 00:06:48,375
there was just nothing
but devastation.

97
00:06:50,042 --> 00:06:52,667
My mother had talked to a woman

98
00:06:52,708 --> 00:06:56,333
that was a worker
at the shelter,

99
00:06:56,458 --> 00:06:58,750
so she had set it up to
where my mother and I

100
00:06:58,833 --> 00:07:03,167
could be life flighted
to Springfield, Missouri.

101
00:07:05,042 --> 00:07:09,208
We landed on the rooftop
of St. John's Hospital

102
00:07:09,208 --> 00:07:12,583
and I just remember
thinking, okay,

103
00:07:12,667 --> 00:07:16,000
we're at a hospital,
this is normal, you know.

104
00:07:22,667 --> 00:07:24,708
- Springfield, Missouri
is a really great place,

105
00:07:24,708 --> 00:07:26,500
particularly for healthcare.

106
00:07:28,375 --> 00:07:31,500
The first time that I
met Dee Dee and Gypsy,

107
00:07:31,542 --> 00:07:36,083
Dee Dee was verbally loving
in front of me to Gypsy.

108
00:07:36,167 --> 00:07:39,333
Physically, there was some
hugging and hand holding

109
00:07:39,458 --> 00:07:42,042
and those type of
things, nothing unusual.

110
00:07:43,375 --> 00:07:44,917
- [Gypsy] Before the
appointment, she's like,

111
00:07:45,042 --> 00:07:47,667
"Now, whenever it comes
to the reflex test,

112
00:07:47,750 --> 00:07:50,417
make sure you keep
your legs super still."

113
00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:52,833
And she would put
her arm around me

114
00:07:52,875 --> 00:07:57,333
and hug my shoulder or
she would squeeze my hand.

115
00:07:57,417 --> 00:07:59,833
That was the signal to shut up.

116
00:08:01,583 --> 00:08:03,667
- The way that Gypsy acted,

117
00:08:03,750 --> 00:08:07,458
wearing princess dresses,
the way she talked,

118
00:08:07,542 --> 00:08:10,667
the things that she referenced
that she liked to do

119
00:08:10,750 --> 00:08:12,583
were like a kindergartner.

120
00:08:14,375 --> 00:08:17,042
- When my mother and
I moved to Missouri,

121
00:08:17,125 --> 00:08:20,625
I would've been 14 years
old and she was telling me

122
00:08:20,708 --> 00:08:22,958
that I was 12 years old.

123
00:08:25,542 --> 00:08:27,375
- Dee Dee was pretty
clear that Gypsy

124
00:08:27,458 --> 00:08:30,542
had a history of cancer, asthma,

125
00:08:30,625 --> 00:08:32,583
some sort of muscular disorder.

126
00:08:33,958 --> 00:08:38,250
- My mother would often tell
other people and tell me

127
00:08:38,333 --> 00:08:44,667
that I would only have a
life expectancy of seven,

128
00:08:44,792 --> 00:08:48,167
and then it was 15
and then it was 20.

129
00:08:49,833 --> 00:08:52,667
I think to some degree
I knew it was a facade.

130
00:08:52,708 --> 00:08:57,167
However, I didn't know
the malicious intent

131
00:08:57,250 --> 00:08:58,750
behind the facade.

132
00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,042
- Dee Dee didn't have
the medical records.

133
00:09:06,542 --> 00:09:09,000
She said they're gone
because it was chaos

134
00:09:09,083 --> 00:09:11,458
down in New Orleans
right after Katrina.

135
00:09:11,542 --> 00:09:16,792
So Dee Dee became the sole
place for information.

136
00:09:17,792 --> 00:09:19,792
Probably the biggest
concern I had

137
00:09:19,875 --> 00:09:21,958
was just this history of cancer.

138
00:09:22,042 --> 00:09:25,375
Dee Dee could not give
either the diagnosis

139
00:09:25,458 --> 00:09:29,042
nor really the length of
treatment that she had been on.

140
00:09:30,625 --> 00:09:33,625
That was unusual and to
me that was a red flag.

141
00:09:34,792 --> 00:09:36,333
So the question is,

142
00:09:36,417 --> 00:09:38,583
at what point do
you trust the parent

143
00:09:38,583 --> 00:09:41,417
to be accurate with
the information?

144
00:09:41,542 --> 00:09:43,750
Can I trust what Dee
Dee's telling me?

145
00:09:51,792 --> 00:09:54,417
- [Phone Operator] You may
start the conversation now.

146
00:09:54,500 --> 00:09:56,250
- [Gypsy] After
Hurricane Katrina,

147
00:09:56,333 --> 00:09:59,708
there was actually no part of me

148
00:09:59,792 --> 00:10:02,667
that felt like it was
going to be difficult

149
00:10:02,750 --> 00:10:05,833
adjusting to a new
life in Missouri

150
00:10:08,708 --> 00:10:13,583
because I felt like I didn't
have close family ties.

151
00:10:15,292 --> 00:10:19,667
My mother had kept me away from
my mother's side of the family

152
00:10:19,667 --> 00:10:21,333
and my father's
side of the family.

153
00:10:28,208 --> 00:10:29,958
- After Hurricane Katrina,

154
00:10:30,042 --> 00:10:33,042
we didn't know if Dee Dee
and Gypsy evacuated anywhere.

155
00:10:34,083 --> 00:10:37,708
- The local news in New
Orleans was letting people

156
00:10:37,792 --> 00:10:41,208
post messages and
I had made a post.

157
00:10:41,208 --> 00:10:43,875
I called it in, you know,

158
00:10:43,958 --> 00:10:46,125
hi, this is Kristy Blanchard.

159
00:10:46,208 --> 00:10:50,083
I am looking for Dee
Dee and Gypsy Blanchard.

160
00:10:50,208 --> 00:10:51,833
This is my phone number.

161
00:10:51,875 --> 00:10:56,000
Please call me, you know,
and let me know y'all okay.

162
00:11:03,375 --> 00:11:04,667
- Gypsy calls me Nona

163
00:11:04,708 --> 00:11:08,167
because she's just like
a grandchild to me.

164
00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:10,000
We have lots of memories.

165
00:11:12,042 --> 00:11:17,042
We have pictures, we have
notes that Gypsy wrote to me.

166
00:11:18,875 --> 00:11:23,000
"I love you very much.
Great big hugs."

167
00:11:23,083 --> 00:11:25,125
Signed, "Love, Gypsy Rose."

168
00:11:36,042 --> 00:11:37,333
- Special.

169
00:11:40,375 --> 00:11:42,792
- Yeah, yeah, I do.

170
00:11:45,167 --> 00:11:50,208
I met Dee Dee and Gypsy when
our emergency room doctor

171
00:11:50,292 --> 00:11:55,417
brought them from the Katrina
hurricane to Springfield.

172
00:11:55,500 --> 00:11:58,833
They stayed at Mercy Hospital

173
00:11:58,917 --> 00:12:02,333
in our hospitality
house where I worked.

174
00:12:03,917 --> 00:12:09,833
Gypsy was so friendly,
she could talk to anyone.

175
00:12:11,625 --> 00:12:15,833
- [Gypsy] Marsha made me feel
like this was a safe place

176
00:12:15,917 --> 00:12:19,250
because she was just
so nice and welcoming.

177
00:12:21,042 --> 00:12:24,917
- We were told that her
dad was out of the picture

178
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:26,458
'cause he was a bad man

179
00:12:28,208 --> 00:12:31,208
and obviously that's
not a true statement.

180
00:12:33,917 --> 00:12:35,667
- [Gypsy] I didn't
know at that time

181
00:12:35,750 --> 00:12:39,375
that my dad and my stepmom
were looking for me.

182
00:12:41,958 --> 00:12:45,833
- It was a couple months
before we finally made contact.

183
00:12:47,042 --> 00:12:49,667
- My phone rang
and it was Dee Dee

184
00:12:49,750 --> 00:12:52,708
and I started crying
and I answered.

185
00:12:52,792 --> 00:12:54,500
I'm like, "Are y'all okay?"

186
00:12:54,583 --> 00:12:56,250
And she's like,
"Yes, we're fine."

187
00:12:57,542 --> 00:12:59,083
I was like, thank God.

188
00:13:01,250 --> 00:13:05,292
- Dee Dee said Missouri was nice
and they were gonna stay there.

189
00:13:07,625 --> 00:13:09,667
I missed Gypsy a lot,

190
00:13:09,750 --> 00:13:11,833
but I felt like Dee Dee
was doing a great job

191
00:13:11,875 --> 00:13:13,417
taking care of Gypsy.

192
00:13:20,042 --> 00:13:22,667
- When Dee Dee and Gypsy
came up from New Orleans

193
00:13:22,708 --> 00:13:26,333
with no concrete medical
records previously,

194
00:13:26,417 --> 00:13:30,042
I have to assess the information
that Dee Dee's giving me,

195
00:13:30,125 --> 00:13:34,000
but she didn't remember
the cancer diagnosis.

196
00:13:34,125 --> 00:13:38,875
So we tested, and guess what,
the test came back normal.

197
00:13:40,417 --> 00:13:43,417
We felt like there was
no evidence of cancer.

198
00:13:43,500 --> 00:13:45,000
Well, maybe she's in remission.

199
00:13:45,125 --> 00:13:48,417
Then when Dee Dee said she's
got a muscular problem,

200
00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:50,708
at least from the outset,
it looks like, well,

201
00:13:50,833 --> 00:13:53,000
maybe she does, she's
in a wheelchair.

202
00:13:53,042 --> 00:13:55,042
As I examined her,

203
00:13:55,125 --> 00:13:57,000
there wasn't real obvious things

204
00:13:57,042 --> 00:13:59,458
that suggested
muscular disorders,

205
00:13:59,542 --> 00:14:01,333
so I was really frustrated

206
00:14:01,333 --> 00:14:05,917
and so that's when I referred
Gypsy to see a neurologist.

207
00:14:08,917 --> 00:14:10,958
- My name is Bernardo
Flasterstein.

208
00:14:13,250 --> 00:14:17,875
I'm a pediatric neurologist
and I met Gypsy Rose

209
00:14:17,958 --> 00:14:22,875
after they just had moved
to Springfield, Missouri.

210
00:14:22,875 --> 00:14:26,083
She came with multiple
medical conditions,

211
00:14:26,167 --> 00:14:28,792
but Dee Dee was
not willing or able

212
00:14:28,875 --> 00:14:31,500
to give details about
each one of the diagnosis.

213
00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:35,500
So I said, let's do new tests.

214
00:14:36,875 --> 00:14:38,917
We did an MRI of the
spine and the brain.

215
00:14:41,917 --> 00:14:44,083
When I got the results,
they were all normal.

216
00:14:47,958 --> 00:14:50,250
Gypsy rose didn't
have cerebral palsy.

217
00:14:50,333 --> 00:14:52,708
Her muscles are good,
her strength is good,

218
00:14:52,792 --> 00:14:54,833
and I think that she
should be able to walk.

219
00:14:54,917 --> 00:14:56,208
This is great news.

220
00:14:57,458 --> 00:15:00,208
And then I tried to have
her move and stand her up

221
00:15:02,083 --> 00:15:04,458
and lo and behold she
was able to stand up.

222
00:15:06,042 --> 00:15:08,458
- [Producer] Dr. Flasterstein
said that your MRI results

223
00:15:08,542 --> 00:15:12,708
were normal and he said that
he asked you to stand up

224
00:15:12,833 --> 00:15:14,542
and lo and behold you stood up.

225
00:15:15,917 --> 00:15:18,125
- [Gypsy] I don't recall
that ever happening.

226
00:15:18,208 --> 00:15:20,167
I'm not saying he's lying,

227
00:15:20,250 --> 00:15:22,417
I'm just saying that
I know for damn sure

228
00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:25,125
if I would've stood
up in any office,

229
00:15:25,208 --> 00:15:29,667
I would've had my ass chewed
out and that didn't happen.

230
00:15:29,833 --> 00:15:33,000
- Dee Dee was not
happy and got upset,

231
00:15:33,042 --> 00:15:36,333
took Gypsy by wheelchair and
she storm out of the room.

232
00:15:36,375 --> 00:15:38,583
I was sitting
there, I was amazed.

233
00:15:40,292 --> 00:15:43,167
Already I was suspicious based
on the results of the MRI,

234
00:15:43,250 --> 00:15:45,917
the imaging studies, that
this is Munchausen by Proxy.

235
00:15:48,083 --> 00:15:49,333
Been asked many times,

236
00:15:49,417 --> 00:15:51,500
why didn't I report it
to family services?

237
00:15:51,542 --> 00:15:54,625
You cannot call family
service for a suspicion.

238
00:15:54,708 --> 00:15:57,583
You have to have it proven
that her mom is making it up.

239
00:15:59,167 --> 00:16:02,083
- [Gypsy] You can't
really report suspicions,

240
00:16:02,167 --> 00:16:06,042
but I feel like why would you
take a chance of being wrong

241
00:16:06,125 --> 00:16:07,417
when you could be right?

242
00:16:08,375 --> 00:16:10,667
- Maybe I should have
reported in any case

243
00:16:10,708 --> 00:16:12,917
and got a negative response.

244
00:16:14,875 --> 00:16:16,917
I'm sorry that this
happened to her,

245
00:16:17,042 --> 00:16:19,000
but I'm glad that she can walk,

246
00:16:19,125 --> 00:16:21,958
that she doesn't have any of
this neurological conditions

247
00:16:21,958 --> 00:16:23,583
and wish her the best.

248
00:16:23,667 --> 00:16:25,958
(somber music)

249
00:16:32,208 --> 00:16:35,625
- One of the hallmarks
of Munchausen's by Proxy

250
00:16:35,625 --> 00:16:38,417
is they go to one doctor and
they go to another doctor.

251
00:16:39,458 --> 00:16:41,792
In one instance, Dee Dee
did seek the assistance

252
00:16:41,875 --> 00:16:43,542
from an ear, nose,
and throat specialist

253
00:16:43,625 --> 00:16:46,292
for excessive drooling
which is a common problem

254
00:16:46,292 --> 00:16:48,250
in those with cerebral palsy.

255
00:16:48,333 --> 00:16:51,958
- [Gypsy] My mom put
Orajel on my mouth,

256
00:16:52,042 --> 00:16:54,500
it would numb my mouth
and make me drool.

257
00:16:54,583 --> 00:16:56,833
- Of course, Gypsy did
not have cerebral palsy

258
00:16:56,917 --> 00:16:59,917
and ultimately had her
salivary glands removed

259
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,625
and that can have
complications like tooth loss.

260
00:17:05,042 --> 00:17:06,458
- [Gypsy] After surgery,

261
00:17:06,542 --> 00:17:09,250
I had more and more
of my teeth removed

262
00:17:10,667 --> 00:17:13,125
and now I have 16 teeth left.

263
00:17:14,375 --> 00:17:18,708
Today, my dentures
don't fit in properly

264
00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:24,000
and I'm not able to get a
new set because I'm in prison

265
00:17:24,083 --> 00:17:25,417
and they don't do that here.

266
00:17:29,458 --> 00:17:31,167
The doctors have prescribed
me pain medication

267
00:17:31,250 --> 00:17:33,167
after the surgery.

268
00:17:33,208 --> 00:17:35,000
Well, when the pain
medication ran out,

269
00:17:35,083 --> 00:17:40,042
I was still in pain and my
mother had a prescription

270
00:17:40,125 --> 00:17:43,500
for Vicodin and so when
she wasn't looking,

271
00:17:43,542 --> 00:17:48,292
I would just go and take
one or two from her bottle

272
00:17:50,708 --> 00:17:54,583
and I didn't know what
addiction really was.

273
00:17:56,375 --> 00:17:57,875
I just knew that
it was a craving

274
00:17:57,958 --> 00:18:00,292
that's all I could think about.

275
00:18:00,375 --> 00:18:01,667
I wanted another one.

276
00:18:01,708 --> 00:18:04,167
(rising dramatic music)

277
00:18:09,667 --> 00:18:11,708
(gentle music)

278
00:18:15,125 --> 00:18:17,125
- When I first got to prison,

279
00:18:17,208 --> 00:18:20,167
I was subjected to a
lot of peer pressure

280
00:18:20,250 --> 00:18:23,292
and I smoked for about a year.

281
00:18:23,375 --> 00:18:28,083
I started with vaping and it
became addictive, obviously,

282
00:18:28,167 --> 00:18:31,250
and then I went
to real cigarettes

283
00:18:31,333 --> 00:18:35,667
and it led me down some
bad choices that I regret.

284
00:18:36,708 --> 00:18:39,500
But it was a learning
experience for me

285
00:18:39,542 --> 00:18:42,000
because I got to
see who I wanna be

286
00:18:42,083 --> 00:18:43,333
and who I don't wanna be.

287
00:18:48,417 --> 00:18:51,625
I never told anyone
about this before.

288
00:18:53,375 --> 00:18:56,000
I first started
taking pain pills

289
00:18:56,083 --> 00:19:00,333
after I had quite
extensive surgery done.

290
00:19:01,583 --> 00:19:04,208
I was 16 years old,

291
00:19:04,208 --> 00:19:08,792
but the craving for the
pain pills continued.

292
00:19:10,583 --> 00:19:13,875
It was like an escape
from my reality.

293
00:19:15,208 --> 00:19:18,417
But as my tolerance
started to heighten,

294
00:19:18,542 --> 00:19:22,000
one or two didn't
get me high anymore

295
00:19:22,125 --> 00:19:24,625
so I took three and four.

296
00:19:25,542 --> 00:19:27,625
My mother did start to suspect

297
00:19:27,708 --> 00:19:31,208
that I was taking her
pain pills behind her back

298
00:19:31,292 --> 00:19:32,417
and she confronted me about it,

299
00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:34,625
but I did, of
course, lie to her.

300
00:19:36,625 --> 00:19:39,208
I still have a lot of
demons to work through.

301
00:19:39,292 --> 00:19:42,125
(suspenseful orchestral music)

302
00:19:48,875 --> 00:19:50,542
- [Phone Operator] This call
is from a correctional facility

303
00:19:50,625 --> 00:19:53,042
and may be monitored
and recorded.

304
00:19:53,125 --> 00:19:55,500
- Hi Gypsy, Dr. John
Fabian, how you doing?

305
00:19:55,542 --> 00:19:58,167
- [Gypsy] I'm doing
well, how are you?

306
00:19:58,250 --> 00:20:03,875
- Good, your lawyer contacted
me after your arrest

307
00:20:03,958 --> 00:20:06,042
and requested that
I evaluate you

308
00:20:06,125 --> 00:20:10,167
and I wasn't needed because,
you know, you had pled guilty.

309
00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:11,500
- [Gypsy] Okay.

310
00:20:11,583 --> 00:20:13,833
(tense music)

311
00:20:17,292 --> 00:20:22,042
- So what is your coping
process in prison?

312
00:20:22,125 --> 00:20:25,125
- [Gypsy] In the first couple
years of my incarceration,

313
00:20:25,208 --> 00:20:27,458
I coped using drugs.

314
00:20:31,875 --> 00:20:34,042
I think I first started to learn

315
00:20:34,125 --> 00:20:37,833
that drugs were
available in prison

316
00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:40,875
when I started seeing
other women get high.

317
00:20:42,292 --> 00:20:46,208
I tried Suboxone and it
gave me the same high

318
00:20:46,292 --> 00:20:47,875
as taking pain pills.

319
00:20:50,042 --> 00:20:52,208
(tense music)

320
00:20:52,333 --> 00:20:54,667
And instantly I was brought back

321
00:20:54,792 --> 00:20:58,167
to the addiction that
I had, the pain pills,

322
00:20:58,208 --> 00:21:00,208
back when I was
living with my mother.

323
00:21:03,958 --> 00:21:05,500
And then one day,

324
00:21:05,583 --> 00:21:11,000
one of the women that I owed
$50 to for a bunch of pills,

325
00:21:11,042 --> 00:21:13,333
she was pressuring
me to get paid.

326
00:21:14,875 --> 00:21:16,833
And so I called Kristy

327
00:21:16,833 --> 00:21:20,333
and I told her that
I accidentally broke

328
00:21:20,417 --> 00:21:25,500
this girl's CD player and if
she could please send $50.

329
00:21:26,417 --> 00:21:27,833
- We're the type of people,

330
00:21:27,875 --> 00:21:30,125
if you borrowing some from
somebody and it breaks,

331
00:21:30,208 --> 00:21:32,000
you gotta pay for it.

332
00:21:32,083 --> 00:21:34,375
I said, okay, I
said I'll send it.

333
00:21:35,708 --> 00:21:38,042
- [Gypsy] It had been
eating at me for years

334
00:21:38,125 --> 00:21:39,917
that I lied to Kristy.

335
00:21:41,375 --> 00:21:45,667
I hated myself and I
hated what I became.

336
00:21:48,208 --> 00:21:50,250
So I decided to tell Kristy.

337
00:21:54,750 --> 00:21:58,458
- When Gypsy told
me, I was upset,

338
00:21:58,542 --> 00:22:00,458
but she told me the truth.

339
00:22:00,542 --> 00:22:02,125
And that's, to me, at
the end of the day,

340
00:22:02,208 --> 00:22:03,542
that's what mattered.

341
00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:05,917
- [Gypsy] I was really happy,

342
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,625
but I can tell Kristy anything
and I'm clean, I'm sober,

343
00:22:10,708 --> 00:22:13,375
and I'm not that person anymore.

344
00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:19,833
Nobody knows that I even had
a addiction before prison,

345
00:22:19,917 --> 00:22:21,625
let alone in prison.

346
00:22:22,708 --> 00:22:24,917
- Hopefully she stays on
this straight and narrow.

347
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,042
And as far as Gypsy learning
the lies and manipulations

348
00:22:29,125 --> 00:22:34,167
from her mom, I've noticed
that she's learning

349
00:22:34,250 --> 00:22:38,583
to not repeat that pattern.

350
00:22:40,417 --> 00:22:44,250
- [Gypsy] We were bonded
by this lie together,

351
00:22:44,375 --> 00:22:45,958
like we couldn't
escape each other.

352
00:22:52,625 --> 00:22:55,375
- When Dee Dee and Gypsy
came up from New Orleans,

353
00:22:55,458 --> 00:22:57,917
there were a number of
things that Dee Dee did,

354
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,333
manipulating the community.

355
00:23:00,458 --> 00:23:02,333
One was Habitat for Humanity.

356
00:23:03,833 --> 00:23:05,875
(gentle piano music)

357
00:23:09,458 --> 00:23:12,583
- The house was made
custom to suit her needs.

358
00:23:12,667 --> 00:23:15,250
Let's include a wheelchair
ramp, let's include bigger,

359
00:23:15,333 --> 00:23:18,500
let's make this a
home that they could

360
00:23:18,583 --> 00:23:21,625
really, really call their own.

361
00:23:24,208 --> 00:23:26,000
- Even though I
knew I could walk,

362
00:23:26,083 --> 00:23:28,750
I was so happy that I cried

363
00:23:30,792 --> 00:23:35,750
because all my life, I never
lived in a home that was ours.

364
00:23:36,875 --> 00:23:41,458
- That house was
essentially an extension

365
00:23:41,542 --> 00:23:45,875
of the love and care the
community gave to this pair

366
00:23:45,958 --> 00:23:47,500
but it was all a scam.

367
00:23:48,750 --> 00:23:53,000
- It's so easy to live
here and it's so peaceful.

368
00:23:53,042 --> 00:23:58,500
- I remember my mom had gave
me this little glass house

369
00:23:58,542 --> 00:24:01,417
and she said this, one
day this will be real

370
00:24:01,500 --> 00:24:04,542
and now it finally is.

371
00:24:04,625 --> 00:24:06,333
Looking back on that interview,

372
00:24:06,375 --> 00:24:10,333
I was coached before
we had filmed for that.

373
00:24:10,375 --> 00:24:12,250
And I remember my
mother telling me,

374
00:24:12,375 --> 00:24:15,417
this is going to be
our happily ever after.

375
00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:18,583
Kinda staying with
the fairy tale theme.

376
00:24:18,583 --> 00:24:21,000
It just proves
that happy endings

377
00:24:21,042 --> 00:24:24,708
are not just in fairy
tales, they're real.

378
00:24:32,042 --> 00:24:34,875
- I would say there
was a lot of enthusiasm

379
00:24:34,958 --> 00:24:39,833
from, not just my colleagues,
but the community for Gypsy.

380
00:24:41,542 --> 00:24:44,167
I was Gypsy's pediatrician
for many years.

381
00:24:45,208 --> 00:24:49,458
Over time, my nurse came to
me with three documents,

382
00:24:50,708 --> 00:24:53,583
and on these three
separate documents,

383
00:24:53,667 --> 00:24:55,708
she had three
separate birthdays.

384
00:24:57,750 --> 00:25:01,792
The day and month were the same,
but the year was different.

385
00:25:01,875 --> 00:25:04,833
And my nurse said, "I'm
now really concerned."

386
00:25:06,083 --> 00:25:08,208
(dramatic suspenseful music)

387
00:25:09,625 --> 00:25:12,292
I'm getting chills actually
thinking about this.

388
00:25:12,375 --> 00:25:13,708
Sorry, gimme a second.

389
00:25:17,292 --> 00:25:18,750
- Because it was,

390
00:25:20,542 --> 00:25:24,542
I'm experiencing the
emotions that I had

391
00:25:24,625 --> 00:25:26,042
when it was a, oh my gosh,

392
00:25:26,125 --> 00:25:28,500
there might be something
really bad going on.

393
00:25:36,542 --> 00:25:38,292
- Tomorrow's my parole hearing

394
00:25:38,375 --> 00:25:45,958
and I have imagined it millions
of times in my head already.

395
00:25:46,042 --> 00:25:50,250
If they ask me the big
question that I have heard

396
00:25:50,333 --> 00:25:56,583
so many times over, why
didn't you just stand up?

397
00:25:56,708 --> 00:26:00,042
Why didn't you just tell
someone what was going on?

398
00:26:02,042 --> 00:26:05,792
And I'm honest with
them and I tell them

399
00:26:05,875 --> 00:26:07,500
I was scared of my mother.

400
00:26:07,542 --> 00:26:09,875
(dramatic music)

401
00:26:13,375 --> 00:26:18,500
- Over time, as I begin to
look at all these diagnoses

402
00:26:18,542 --> 00:26:21,167
and the documents with
the wrong birth dates,

403
00:26:21,208 --> 00:26:23,833
I called the Missouri
Department of Family Services

404
00:26:23,875 --> 00:26:27,083
and I said, "I am concerned
this child has been kidnapped."

405
00:26:29,583 --> 00:26:32,042
- I remember DFS
coming to my house,

406
00:26:32,125 --> 00:26:34,542
they kept my mother
in the living room

407
00:26:34,625 --> 00:26:36,500
and they talked to me
alone in my bedroom

408
00:26:36,625 --> 00:26:39,333
and they asked me, did
I have bruises on me?

409
00:26:39,375 --> 00:26:40,417
Can I show them?

410
00:26:40,542 --> 00:26:42,375
"No, I don't."

411
00:26:42,458 --> 00:26:43,708
And they're like,

412
00:26:43,792 --> 00:26:45,042
"Who is that woman in
the other room to you?

413
00:26:45,125 --> 00:26:46,167
Is that your mother?"

414
00:26:46,292 --> 00:26:47,667
And I'm like, "Yes ma'am."

415
00:26:48,625 --> 00:26:51,167
I can hear them
talking to my mom.

416
00:26:51,250 --> 00:26:54,958
They told her to shut
the F up at one point

417
00:26:55,042 --> 00:26:59,542
and it really shook me
up because at this time,

418
00:26:59,625 --> 00:27:01,458
I was very close with my mother.

419
00:27:01,542 --> 00:27:06,583
I really, truly believed that
she was doing the best by me.

420
00:27:08,208 --> 00:27:12,708
DFS workers told my mother
that she needed to obtain

421
00:27:12,792 --> 00:27:15,042
a real birth certificate for me.

422
00:27:16,208 --> 00:27:18,458
She played it off as if
she was just a mother

423
00:27:18,542 --> 00:27:21,167
who was in a difficult situation

424
00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:23,958
and she was trying her best.

425
00:27:25,333 --> 00:27:30,125
Eventually they left, but
they didn't follow up.

426
00:27:31,792 --> 00:27:34,667
- I had no clue
what DFS was doing

427
00:27:34,708 --> 00:27:38,125
and I asked Dee Dee
to bring Gypsy in.

428
00:27:39,917 --> 00:27:45,792
I asked, "Has anyone from the
state come and visited you?"

429
00:27:45,875 --> 00:27:48,625
And Dee Dee said,
"Yeah, they did."

430
00:27:48,708 --> 00:27:50,583
And I said, "I want you to
know that I was the one

431
00:27:50,667 --> 00:27:52,292
who called them."

432
00:27:55,708 --> 00:27:58,333
So at that point, I asked
Dee Dee to leave the room

433
00:27:58,417 --> 00:28:00,667
'cause I wanted
to talk to Gypsy.

434
00:28:00,708 --> 00:28:05,167
Dee Dee was a little
hesitant, but she left.

435
00:28:07,833 --> 00:28:11,958
So at this point I said,
"Gypsy, is everything okay?"

436
00:28:12,042 --> 00:28:16,500
I said, "Is there anything
that you want to tell me?

437
00:28:16,542 --> 00:28:17,875
This is a safe place."

438
00:28:17,958 --> 00:28:20,167
(suspenseful music)

439
00:28:21,333 --> 00:28:23,958
And she was like, "No,
everything's fine.

440
00:28:24,042 --> 00:28:26,292
My mom loves me
and I love my mom."

441
00:28:27,958 --> 00:28:30,375
My concerns were not assuaged,

442
00:28:30,458 --> 00:28:33,333
but I felt that I had done
everything that I could do.

443
00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:38,917
- [Gypsy] Could I
be perfectly honest?

444
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,042
How do we know that these
doctors aren't saying all this,

445
00:28:42,125 --> 00:28:46,542
of these accounts of them doing
all the right thing by me,

446
00:28:46,625 --> 00:28:48,708
but I don't recall any of it?

447
00:28:48,792 --> 00:28:51,958
Am I lying or is it that
they're just trying

448
00:28:52,042 --> 00:28:53,458
to cover their own asses?

449
00:29:01,125 --> 00:29:03,083
- I'd say, "I'm
sorry I failed you."

450
00:29:05,875 --> 00:29:08,167
That's what I would say.

451
00:29:08,208 --> 00:29:09,375
I'm really sorry.

452
00:29:13,750 --> 00:29:16,042
I wish I could even
say that I entertained

453
00:29:16,125 --> 00:29:19,250
the diagnosis of Munchausens
by Proxy and dismissed it,

454
00:29:20,917 --> 00:29:23,125
but it didn't enter
into my brain.

455
00:29:25,167 --> 00:29:28,833
- I hold a lot of
complicated emotions

456
00:29:28,917 --> 00:29:32,000
for a lot of people
that could have

457
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,375
said something but didn't.

458
00:29:37,292 --> 00:29:39,875
There's some things I
just don't understand why.

459
00:29:42,833 --> 00:29:46,875
♪ I believed in you

460
00:29:46,875 --> 00:29:49,708
- I don't think everyone
intentionally failed Gypsy.

461
00:29:49,708 --> 00:29:52,792
But it's a combination
and really spearheaded

462
00:29:52,875 --> 00:29:55,750
by how a good a
manipulator Dee Dee is

463
00:29:55,833 --> 00:29:59,500
and how much of a
pathological liar she is.

464
00:29:59,583 --> 00:30:02,000
- [Gypsy] After the DFS visit,

465
00:30:02,083 --> 00:30:05,000
my mother became more paranoid

466
00:30:05,083 --> 00:30:09,417
about doctors and
social workers.

467
00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:16,750
♪ You tried to take my freedom

468
00:30:16,833 --> 00:30:20,333
My mom had put
filters on our windows

469
00:30:20,417 --> 00:30:23,708
to kind of black out
anything from being seen

470
00:30:23,792 --> 00:30:26,667
inside the house, but
also kept me from seeing

471
00:30:26,708 --> 00:30:29,042
what's going on outside too.

472
00:30:30,292 --> 00:30:34,125
It felt even more like I was
a prisoner in my own home.

473
00:30:34,208 --> 00:30:37,917
♪ No, you can never
take my soul ♪

474
00:30:44,708 --> 00:30:46,917
(suspenseful music)

475
00:31:16,500 --> 00:31:19,833
With my mother, it was a
hot and cold relationship.

476
00:31:20,917 --> 00:31:25,250
It was either very affectionate

477
00:31:25,333 --> 00:31:29,125
because I was very
submissive and obedient

478
00:31:29,208 --> 00:31:33,500
or I was either rebellious and
I would be punished for it.

479
00:31:34,542 --> 00:31:37,292
After I would do something
that my mom wanted me to do,

480
00:31:37,375 --> 00:31:41,500
we would go to Toys R Us or
she would buy me a new dress

481
00:31:41,583 --> 00:31:46,000
and then the next best thing
was her love and affection.

482
00:31:49,833 --> 00:31:52,542
My mother would
apply for different

483
00:31:52,625 --> 00:31:57,333
wish granting organizations
like Make-a-Wish Foundation

484
00:31:57,375 --> 00:32:00,792
and take me on these
trips to Disney World.

485
00:32:00,875 --> 00:32:03,833
- If I knew there was a Disney
trip coming up or something,

486
00:32:03,917 --> 00:32:05,667
you know, I'll give you
a couple hundred dollars

487
00:32:05,708 --> 00:32:08,167
so she can get some souvenirs
and stuff like that.

488
00:32:14,833 --> 00:32:16,250
(birds chirping)

489
00:32:16,375 --> 00:32:18,000
For her 18th birthday,
when I did call her

490
00:32:18,083 --> 00:32:19,167
and I asked Dee Dee

491
00:32:19,250 --> 00:32:21,833
to tell Gypsy happy
birthday, she's like,

492
00:32:21,917 --> 00:32:23,250
"Ah, don't tell her that."

493
00:32:23,375 --> 00:32:26,708
I'm like, "Why? It's
her 18th birthday."

494
00:32:26,792 --> 00:32:28,792
I mean, she's 18.

495
00:32:28,875 --> 00:32:29,917
It's a big deal.

496
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,583
You know, she doesn't
know she's 18.

497
00:32:33,875 --> 00:32:36,458
Didn't make sense at all.

498
00:32:40,708 --> 00:32:45,083
- [Gypsy] I think that my
mother told me I was turning 14.

499
00:32:45,167 --> 00:32:48,167
I took it at face value
and it almost seeming

500
00:32:48,250 --> 00:32:50,333
like I was aging backwards.

501
00:32:51,542 --> 00:32:54,500
- That was a big red flag
for me when that happened.

502
00:32:54,542 --> 00:32:58,083
So, you know, I pushed
that we go see them.

503
00:33:01,958 --> 00:33:07,250
There had been years,
tried calling them to say,

504
00:33:07,333 --> 00:33:09,667
we're coming and it's
just like radio silence.

505
00:33:09,708 --> 00:33:11,083
Nothing, nothing, nothing.

506
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,833
I felt bad then, and
I still feel bad.

507
00:33:15,875 --> 00:33:17,458
I wish it'd been different.

508
00:33:17,542 --> 00:33:19,500
(somber music)

509
00:33:22,208 --> 00:33:24,250
- [Gypsy] It wasn't
like I missed my dad

510
00:33:24,333 --> 00:33:29,250
in any sort of way because I
thought that he didn't love me.

511
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,500
- In the six years that
we hadn't seen them.

512
00:33:35,625 --> 00:33:38,208
I just thought they were just
living their everyday life.

513
00:33:38,333 --> 00:33:41,833
Going to doctor's
appointments, going on trips.

514
00:33:41,917 --> 00:33:45,000
You know, it breaks my heart

515
00:33:46,375 --> 00:33:51,208
because your kid isn't
supposed to go through that.

516
00:33:55,542 --> 00:34:00,375
- For a very long time, I
didn't have my own friends,

517
00:34:00,458 --> 00:34:04,333
but the daughter of one of the
neighbors couple doors down

518
00:34:04,417 --> 00:34:06,208
was nice to me and
I was nice to her.

519
00:34:06,292 --> 00:34:08,000
So I called her a friend.

520
00:34:10,417 --> 00:34:13,167
I felt this small
bit of jealousy

521
00:34:13,208 --> 00:34:15,167
because she was allowed to
hang out with her friends

522
00:34:15,292 --> 00:34:17,167
and go shopping and
have a boyfriend

523
00:34:17,208 --> 00:34:19,417
and just live her life.

524
00:34:21,458 --> 00:34:24,875
- Gypsy was blossoming
into a adolescent female

525
00:34:24,958 --> 00:34:29,333
with certain sexual
needs and social needs.

526
00:34:29,417 --> 00:34:31,875
She had a need to just
connect with somebody,

527
00:34:31,958 --> 00:34:34,167
have a boyfriend,
go out on a date,

528
00:34:34,208 --> 00:34:37,792
and hopefully without her
mother attached to her.

529
00:34:40,292 --> 00:34:43,542
- My mother had just
started a Facebook profile,

530
00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:46,167
but she never let
me get on Facebook.

531
00:34:47,250 --> 00:34:49,792
At this point my mother had got

532
00:34:49,875 --> 00:34:52,833
the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society

533
00:34:52,958 --> 00:34:57,167
to gift me a laptop
for Christmas.

534
00:34:58,208 --> 00:35:01,167
My mom thought that I was
looking at the Barbie website,

535
00:35:01,208 --> 00:35:04,958
Disney website, these very
kid oriented websites,

536
00:35:05,042 --> 00:35:06,625
but one of the
first things I did

537
00:35:06,708 --> 00:35:09,583
was make a Facebook
account behind her back.

538
00:35:11,208 --> 00:35:16,167
I started to finally talk
to people and express myself

539
00:35:16,333 --> 00:35:19,500
and find friends of my own.

540
00:35:19,583 --> 00:35:23,333
And I was excited to
have this normal life.

541
00:35:27,958 --> 00:35:32,000
Around this time, my mother
took me to a sci-fi convention

542
00:35:32,083 --> 00:35:33,625
called Vision Con.

543
00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:37,042
- [Photographer] Hey Gypsy.

544
00:35:37,125 --> 00:35:39,833
- And one night
during the convention,

545
00:35:39,875 --> 00:35:44,167
I'm in my wheelchair and
my mother's a few feet away

546
00:35:44,250 --> 00:35:46,250
and this guy bumps into me.

547
00:35:47,958 --> 00:35:51,000
He kind of looked a little
handsome and he's like,

548
00:35:51,042 --> 00:35:54,625
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean
to bump into you, I'm sorry."

549
00:35:54,708 --> 00:35:57,125
I'm like, "It's no
problem, it's fine."

550
00:35:57,208 --> 00:35:59,208
Then we went our separate ways.

551
00:36:01,750 --> 00:36:06,333
A few days later, he found
my secret Facebook profile.

552
00:36:06,375 --> 00:36:10,375
I accepted his friend
request and his name was Dan.

553
00:36:14,208 --> 00:36:18,500
A lot of it was talking
with him about movies, TV,

554
00:36:18,542 --> 00:36:22,875
music, common interests, but
then there was that part of it

555
00:36:22,958 --> 00:36:25,292
that was kind of
sexually charged.

556
00:36:26,625 --> 00:36:28,083
I thought that it
was a possibility

557
00:36:28,167 --> 00:36:31,417
that he could be the one
that would take me away

558
00:36:31,542 --> 00:36:34,750
from this existence
living with my mother.

559
00:36:34,833 --> 00:36:37,167
I thought, this is my
knight in shining armor.

560
00:36:39,833 --> 00:36:42,625
I found out that I wasn't 15,

561
00:36:42,708 --> 00:36:47,792
that I was actually 19
and I was very shocked.

562
00:36:47,875 --> 00:36:51,542
That's when he tells me
that he was on parole.

563
00:36:51,542 --> 00:36:53,417
I didn't even know
what parole meant.

564
00:36:58,708 --> 00:37:00,833
(pensive music)

565
00:37:02,542 --> 00:37:07,083
- The notions that I had
of love before prison

566
00:37:07,167 --> 00:37:11,417
were that of what I'd
seen in Disney cartoons.

567
00:37:11,500 --> 00:37:14,375
You know, you never see
Prince Charming and Cinderella

568
00:37:14,458 --> 00:37:19,000
fight ever, like everything's
all perfect all the time.

569
00:37:19,083 --> 00:37:22,458
And then I started dating

570
00:37:22,542 --> 00:37:25,333
and then I realized it
wasn't like that. (laughs)

571
00:37:30,625 --> 00:37:34,875
I first met Dan at
a sci-fi convention

572
00:37:34,958 --> 00:37:36,500
called Vision Con.

573
00:37:37,833 --> 00:37:42,792
We would trade messages
back and forth for a while,

574
00:37:42,875 --> 00:37:46,208
and slowly after a few
months I started to tell him

575
00:37:46,292 --> 00:37:49,417
more and more
about my home life.

576
00:37:50,458 --> 00:37:52,208
He was the very first
person that I ever told

577
00:37:52,333 --> 00:37:53,667
that I could walk.

578
00:37:53,708 --> 00:37:55,750
(somber music)

579
00:37:57,625 --> 00:38:01,583
It was a relief to me to be
able to confide in someone

580
00:38:01,667 --> 00:38:03,625
and he seemed really sweet.

581
00:38:07,583 --> 00:38:10,333
The age that my
mother was telling him

582
00:38:10,417 --> 00:38:15,375
was 15 at the time
and he was 36.

583
00:38:17,667 --> 00:38:20,292
And then I started dreaming
about what it would be like

584
00:38:20,375 --> 00:38:22,917
if I was just a
little bit older,

585
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,542
because then I would be legal
to date him if I wanted to.

586
00:38:31,292 --> 00:38:35,750
Then one day, I found
my Medicaid card

587
00:38:35,833 --> 00:38:39,333
and it said that my
birth year was 1991

588
00:38:39,417 --> 00:38:44,792
and she had been claiming
that it was 1995.

589
00:38:47,083 --> 00:38:49,833
I found out that I wasn't 15,

590
00:38:49,917 --> 00:38:56,667
that I was actually 19
and I was very shocked.

591
00:38:58,458 --> 00:39:01,833
At that point, I wish that I
had stood up for myself more

592
00:39:03,042 --> 00:39:05,125
and realizing that
the wheelchair

593
00:39:05,208 --> 00:39:07,292
was also part of a con.

594
00:39:10,792 --> 00:39:15,042
- As long as there were
programs for sick children,

595
00:39:15,042 --> 00:39:17,958
Dee Dee would receive
SSI benefits for that.

596
00:39:19,292 --> 00:39:22,000
So I think it was
very much financial

597
00:39:22,083 --> 00:39:23,708
as well as an emotional thing.

598
00:39:23,792 --> 00:39:28,083
If Gypsy left her, she
would lose her life.

599
00:39:30,958 --> 00:39:33,333
- I told Dan my age

600
00:39:35,542 --> 00:39:37,333
and he's like, "You're
an independent woman.

601
00:39:37,375 --> 00:39:38,875
You could leave."

602
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,500
And I just kept explaining, I
can't, you don't understand,

603
00:39:42,542 --> 00:39:47,042
I can't, my mother
will find me and she,

604
00:39:47,125 --> 00:39:52,250
and he would tell me, "No, no,
I'll make sure to protect you."

605
00:39:52,333 --> 00:39:55,375
And so we created this plan
that I was gonna leave home

606
00:39:55,458 --> 00:39:59,500
and he was going to take
me to his farm in Arkansas.

607
00:40:01,833 --> 00:40:05,375
So one night when my
mother was asleep,

608
00:40:05,458 --> 00:40:09,000
I stole my mother's cell
phone from her purse

609
00:40:09,042 --> 00:40:14,875
and I was texting with Dan and
he sent me a text that said,

610
00:40:14,958 --> 00:40:17,500
"Could tonight be the night
that we run away together?"

611
00:40:18,542 --> 00:40:20,625
And I was like, okay.

612
00:40:24,125 --> 00:40:25,708
I packed a few costumes

613
00:40:25,792 --> 00:40:30,375
'cause I didn't have real
clothes and I had a blonde wig

614
00:40:30,458 --> 00:40:33,583
so no one would recognize me.

615
00:40:33,667 --> 00:40:38,000
I stole my mom's pain
pills and I stole cash.

616
00:40:38,083 --> 00:40:40,083
And I left her a runaway note

617
00:40:40,167 --> 00:40:42,500
so she wouldn't worry about me.

618
00:40:42,583 --> 00:40:47,083
And I told her that
I knew that I was 19

619
00:40:47,167 --> 00:40:51,500
and I wanted to live my own
life as an independent woman.

620
00:40:51,583 --> 00:40:55,042
And I told her that I loved her,

621
00:40:55,125 --> 00:40:59,750
that it was just time for me
to spread my wings and fly

622
00:40:59,875 --> 00:41:01,542
and I left through
the back door.

623
00:41:04,792 --> 00:41:08,542
It was late at night,
it was about 2:00 AM,

624
00:41:10,792 --> 00:41:14,417
and I hitchhike to
his friend's house

625
00:41:16,750 --> 00:41:18,792
and I was excited to see him.

626
00:41:21,917 --> 00:41:25,167
That's when he tells me
that he was on parole

627
00:41:25,250 --> 00:41:26,667
and couldn't leave the state.

628
00:41:29,333 --> 00:41:31,000
I didn't even know
what parole meant.

629
00:41:32,708 --> 00:41:37,208
My first reaction is, oh my
God, she's going to find me.

630
00:41:40,375 --> 00:41:42,333
♪ Try to take my freedom

631
00:41:42,375 --> 00:41:44,708
- She chained me to
the bed and said

632
00:41:44,833 --> 00:41:47,583
that you will never find love.

633
00:41:51,042 --> 00:41:53,208
♪ But you can never
take my soul ♪

634
00:41:53,292 --> 00:41:59,292
About six months ago I met
someone and we started dating.

635
00:41:59,292 --> 00:42:02,000
♪ No, you can never
take my soul ♪