Rory Feek, who is in an ongoing family dispute over the welfare of his youngest daughter, Indiana, claimed on his personal blog that he tried to personally reach out in order to talk matters over with his adult daughters, but was rebuffed.
In a blog entry titled “Canceled” published Tuesday, September 17, on his website, Feek, 59, detailed that he attempted to speak to his daughters Heidi and Hopie recently, following earlier threats of legal action made by them claiming that he has placed their 10-year-old sister in an unsafe situation.
“There are things that my older daughters and I need to work out together,” he wrote. “Right now we’re at an impasse on how that’s ever going to happen.”
“I drove down to Florence, Ala., where they live about a week and a half ago and knocked on Heidi’s door with two bouquets of peace lily flowers, and hopes that we might be able to sit down and talk,” he continued, “or better yet, I’d just sit and listen to whatever they wanted to say and maybe have the chance to give them a hug and at least try to show them how much I love them.”
However, “Even though their cars were in the driveway and they were inside, no one answered,” he added.
He further detailed: “On the drive back I received a text from Heidi that said, “we are only willing to talk with you with a licensed therapist or attorney or both.”
Heidi, 38, speaking to People in an interview posted Thursday, September 19, explained to the outlet that her father’s visit was not expected, and that she had not been home at the time, but her husband and sister were. After a brief call to their lawyer, her husband did answer the door, but Rory had already left.
She also noted that on their side, they would prefer to communicate through a mediator. “Regardless of [his] intention, it came off as intimidating,” she said. “We’ve set really clear boundaries. We have such a hard time communicating with him and feeling heard that we really don’t feel like it’s possible without a third party.”
Heidi originally alleged that her father had been neglectful of Indiana, who has special needs, in an interview with People published on Saturday, August 31. “She wandered into traffic on Highway 431, terrified and lost, until a stranger found her and brought her home,” Heidi told the outlet. “Instead of addressing the danger she was in, my dad used this traumatic incident to create content that boosted his public image.”
She also claimed that Rory had cut off her and her sister Hopie, 36, from communicating with Indiana entirely. “This is a devastating change for her because we’ve been in her life since the day she was born,” Heidi said. “She’s even come to stay with us once a month for most of her life.”
However, Heidi claims all of that changed three years ago when Rory began restricting her and Hopie’s contact with Indiana. At first, she said, they “weren’t alarmed,” but that changed when their father began canceling Indiana’s regular visits to her sisters.
Rory responded to these claims via a blog post published August 31 titled “love, dad,” wherein he described the situation with his daughters as a “family dispute,” saying that Heidi’s claims about him have “broken [his] heart.”
Rory shared Indiana with his second wife and singing partner, Joey, who died from cancer eight years ago. (Rory shared Heidi and Hopie with ex-wife Tamara Gilmer.) Heidi’s claims come months after Rory married Indiana’s schoolteacher, Rebecca, in July.