Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . [citation needed], After Lori's funeral, some of the Ruffs drove to Leonard to see if they could find out more about her in her house. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. Synopsis Lori Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? : r/UnresolvedMysteries - reddit Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. They Walk Among Us is an award-winning weekly UK true crime podcast covering a broad range of cases from the sinister to the surreal. Lori Erica Ruff Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Investigators wondered if she had been a KGB agent, or if she had been in the military and gone AWOL. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little Within the next two years, she . She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. Loris behavior was highly erratic in the timebetween theseparationand her death; she sent threatening emails to Blake and his family, and might have even attempted a break-in at Blakes parents home. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. Blake's mom, Nancy Ruff, described facing a stone wall. Who was she? The response? Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. She obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. [3], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? "True identity of Lori Ruff revealed six years after she committed suicide", "After 30 Years, Lori Ruff's True Identity Finally Revealed", "5 Creepy-As-Hell Stories Of Real People With No Identity", "She stole another's identity, and took her secret to the grave. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. Lori Erica Ruff went by many names. [1] She eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997, with a degree in Business Administration. After marrying, the couple moved away from the senior Ruffs, who lived in eastern Texas, settling in Leonard, Texas, in the southwestern region. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. Using DNA analysis from Ruff's daughter, investigators were able to trace Ruff's identity back to a family in Pennsylvania, whose teenage daughter had disappeared in 1986, per Mental Floss. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be undernourished and that Lori would often ramble incoherently to herself while pacing back and forth outside. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. Criminology: Lori Erica Ruff on Apple Podcasts Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. Such things have happened in other cases, and are often traumatic events. Who was she? The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. By the time she married Jon Blakely Blake Ruff, of Longview, Texas, in January 2004, her phony identification was as solid as her real past was distant. In 2010, he moved back across the state to live with his parents. Lori Erica Ruff: The Perplexing Mystery of the Woman - The Lineup They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. Within the next two years, she obtained the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who had died with her two sisters in a house fire in 1971. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. They then discovered the lock box in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Lori Ruff & The Dark Secret She Hid From Everyone - YouTube Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. Unfortunately, it looks like Lori took all of her secrets to the grave. Lori Erica Ruff (2021 Podcast Episode) Plot Showing all 0 items Jump to: Summaries It looks like we don't have any Plot Summaries for this title yet. Ordinary people who do unthinkable thingsThe Minds of Madness is a True Crime Podcast that examines the most disturbing criminal minds and the impact violent crimes have on survivors of homicide. Crimelines walks you through true crime events, pairing captivating tales with clear storytelling. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. Jane Doe had a simple narrative and stuck to it: She was the only child of a failed stockbroker and his wife, who both died. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. Real Life is Horror. Pic credit: Family pic. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. That created a lot of heartburn for the family.. It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. In 2016, she was identified as. It must have been for some horrific reasoneither she was running away from a crime or an abusive family or relationship., She wanted a complete break from her past, said Velling. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. And, as he flipped through multiple IDs with pictures of his wife at different ages, he realized they all had different names printed on them, according to the Daily Mail. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. Among the various documents was a certificate indicating that Lori Kennedy had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. DNA taken from the body might also help crack the case. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. The nature of these scribblings led some followers of the case to believe that Ruff was trying to avoid prison time, due to the references to police, a possible jail-term length, and the name of Ben Perkins, a Los Angeles attorney. Apparently, after Becky Sue Turner perished, a woman turned up and requested a copy of the birth certificate. They believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. Lori Erica Ruff - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, Becky Sue Turner's birthplace. Yes! The Bizarre Truth About Lori Ruff, The Woman Without An Identity. McLean, posing as Becky Sue Turner, then appeared before a judge in Dallas on July 5, 1988, and legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. On Christmas Eve 2010, the body of 42-year-old Lori Erica Ruff was found in a car parked outside the Ruff family home in Longview, Texas. It did. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. True Crime. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little bit of luck to learn the truth.Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. All rights reserved. Becky was born in one state and died in another, making it much less likely that a fraudulent use of her identity would be noticed. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. She then moved to Idaho and obtained a driver's license using Becky's birth certificate, according to news.com.au. RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. Was she Lori Erica Ruff? Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas.After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. Or, maybe she was none of them. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. In the box a number of documents were discovered which revealed that Ruff had stolen the identity of Becky Sue Turner, a 2-year-old girl killed in a fire in 1971 in Fife, Washington, in 1988, and then changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. The house was discovered in disarray, with piles of dirty dishes, laundry, and trash stacked up around the house, as well as shredded documents and papers with incoherent scribblings on them. The mystery surrounding Jane Does identity begins in May 1988, when the unknown woman requested the Bakersfield, Calif., birth certificate of a 2-year-old girl, Becky Sue Turner, who died in a 1971 house fire in Fife, Wash., Velling said. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. The only person in attendance was the preacher. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. Sources Before 1988, Lori Erica Kennedy simply did not exist. After following numerous leads he was stumped, and sought the help of the general public to identify her through an article published June 22, 2013, in The Seattle Times. Follows Toni, who has a complete breakdown and ends up in a mental facility after the unexpected news that her husband was murdered, and even she is a suspect. She also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. Papers belonging to Ruff, who had been married with a child, surfaced after her suicide indicating she had once been known as Lori Kennedy, and prior to that, as Becky Sue Turner, the name of a young girl who had died in a Washington state fire in 1971. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. About a month afterward, the certificate was used to obtain legal identification in Idaho. Lori Erica Ruff. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. Colleen Fitzpatrick, a former nuclear physicist who created[citation needed] the field of forensic genealogy, learned of Lori Ruff in 2013 and began work on the case. The family tried everything to find her but she changed her name and location regularly, making it difficult for Kimberlys family to find her. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. Lori Erica Ruff - Wikipedia In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. But Lori tragically died by suicide just before Christmas in 2010. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. The house was in total shambles. Related: Girl in the Green Mac: The Baffling, Unsolved Disappearance of Sheila Fox. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. Although she left notes for her husband and her daughter, they didn't provide any clues. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. On Christmas Eve 2010, the body of 42-year-old Lori Erica Ruff was found in acar parked outside the Rufffamily home in Longview, Texas. Host Charlie brings in appropriate historic and cultural context to look beyond what happened and consider why it happened. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. [8] She would also obsessively track the Ruffs' family history and try to find out their family recipes, but she still refused to talk about her own past. The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. Hosted on Acast. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her famil. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. "My God, that's Kimberly!," one Pennsylvania relative exclaimed, the Seattle Times reported. Lori refused to allow anyone else to babysit her child. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. In the car were two suicide notes: an 11-page one addressed to "my wonderful husband" and another addressed to her daughter, to be opened on her 18th birthday. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. The writings on the paper found in the lock box included the scribblings "North Hollywood police," "402 months," and "Ben Perkins." Late in 2015, Velling received a call from a former nuclear physicist and forensic genealogist named Colleen Fitzpatrick, who had been following the case online. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook She had stolen the identity of deceased Becky Sue Turner in May 1988 before legally changing her name to "Lori Erica Kennedy ." Following her marriage in 2001, she assumed the surname "Ruff." Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. And when he asked her to marry him in 2004, she said yes, but insisted on no announcement in the newspaper, and wanted a wedding where only the minister was present. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. And, why had she changed her identity and hid her past from those closest to her? Lori didnt take this at all well. Others, including a private detective, tasked with finding out more about her, consider that an incident in her past concerned her sufficiently to create an entirely new identity. The following people have been ruled out as possible identities for Ruff:[5], Ruff was a white female, who was approximately 41 to 50 years old when she committed suicide. She was sending unhinged, threatening emails to the Ruffs; she and her daughter were losing weight; she even possibly tried to break into the Ruffs' home. 2021 Wondery LLC. Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. [2] She would also obsessively track the Ruffs' family history and try to find out their family recipes, but still refused to talk about her past. She was eventually identified as a native of suburban Philadelphia who left home at age 17, in the fall of 1986, because she did not get along with her mother and stepfather. She was never too keen to go into further detail. Every day, stories unfold that have no resolution. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. In May of 2016, several commentators on the internet noticed similarities to Ruff's story and to the plot of a 1987 crime drama called Positive I.D., which was directed by a professor of film at UT Arlington. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. She would regularly be seen with her in some of her favorite tea shops. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. The Strange Life and Death of Lori Erica Ruff She was eventually identified as a native. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Lori Ruffs handwritten notes. 2010 42- , . Perhaps Lori was creating parents for the benefit of Blake. But it wasn't until Lori ended her life on Christmas Eve that the Ruffs would get answers. Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was NY Daily News Velling agreed to help identify her as a case of identify theft. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. In the car were two suicide notes: One 11page note addressed to "my wonderful husband" and another addressed to her daughter, to be opened on her 18th birthday. ", "Mystery of the woman with two names: Investigator tries to discover true identity of mother who committed suicide three years ago after husband finds evidence of a double life hidden in a lock box", List of unidentified decedents in the United States, List of unidentified decedents in California, List of unidentified murder victims in the United States, List of unidentified murder victims in California, List of unidentified murder victims in Texas, List of unidentified murder victims in New York, List of unidentified murder victims in Florida, List of unidentified murder victims in Michigan, List of unidentified murder victims in Pennsylvania, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Lori_Erica_Ruff&oldid=718811075, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, About Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. However, according to records, Becky Sue Turner asphyxiated in a house fire when she was just 2 years old. Lori kept to herself, rarely speaking Finally, in 2008, the pair had a daughter, conceived with in vitro fertilization. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. See acast.com/privacy for more information. The house was discovered in disarray, with piles of dirty dishes, laundry, and trash stacked up around the house, as well as shredded documents and papers with incoherent scribblings on them. [3] The fact that Ruff was able to cover up her identity so well in a time before the Internet has led to speculation that she had visited an "identity broker".[3]. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs filed a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. Years later, in the life she created with Ruff, tensions between the Verizon account manager and the wife he never really knew eventually reached a breaking point. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. For years, it was nothing but a series of dead ends. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Lori Erica Ruff, a Texan who committed suicide in 2010 and left behind a series of puzzling documents hinting that she wasnt who her family thought she was, has now been identified. [2], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. 1,529 likes. Join Jim Clemente (former FBI profiler), Laura Richards (criminal behavioral analyst, former New Scotland Yard) and Lisa Zambetti (Casting director for CBS' Criminal Minds) as they profile behavior from real criminal cases. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity. He noticed the car and called the police. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little bit of luck to learn the truth.Join Mike and . Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. Who Was Lori Ruff: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on Texas Mystery Woman Whomever she was, the woman Blake knew as Lori Ruff was not who she claimed to be. Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little bit of luck to learn the truth. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. She was above average height at 5feet 10inches (1.78m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73kg). There was a successful application for a new social security number. [6] The Ruffs opened and read the letter, but it contained only "ramblings from a clearly disturbed person" and no details about Lori's past. [6], Ruff was "extremely protective" of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her and even taking the baby with her to use the bathroom. Whatever the motivation behind one man entering wedlock to one woman, both parties usually do know each other intimately. Lori Ruff | Unidentified Wiki | Fandom At some point in the past, Lori had been a dancer at an exclusive gentlemans club, and a post-mortem examination revealed that Lori, not Becky, had received breast implants. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. Hair pulled from the woman's head had skin on it that helped forensic investigators learn she had one of the genes associated with coronary artery disease. ", "Texas woman's true identity baffles ex-husband, authorities years after her suicide", "Live chat with investigator, reporter about Jane Doe case", "Mystery woman: After 30 years and a suicide, Lori Ruff's real identity emerges", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lori_Erica_Ruff&oldid=1125479355, Articles with minor POV problems from October 2022, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 December 2022, at 06:14. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Nothing. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. There were no dates and the letter itself was a little vague. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. About: Lori Erica Ruff - dbpedia.org The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. Lori Erica Ruff (Podcast Episode 2021) - Plot Summary - IMDb When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. For several years, nobody suspected anything. She was much older than that, he said. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. McLean also asked them not to come after her. For example, Lori would often ramble to the minister on a variety of topics; mainly her perceived flaws, problems, and the failure of her marriage. Related: The Strange Case of the Isdal Woman. After several months living as Becky Sue Turner, she legally changed her name to Lori Kennedy. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6]. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals.

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