She was eventually identified as a native of suburban Philadelphia who left home at age 18, in the fall of 1986, because she did not get along with her mother and stepfather. Or, Lori Erika Kennedy? Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. 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 local police department began a routine investigation and quickly found a safe at the bottom of a closet. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? Whatever the motivation behind one man entering wedlock to one woman, both parties usually do know each other intimately. Lori didnt take this at all well. Blake did learn that Lori was born somewhere in Arizona. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. One was for her daughter. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968 - December 24, 2010), was an identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six ye Lori Erica Ruff - Top podcast episodes We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. In 2010, he moved back across the state to live with his parents. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. Sources ", "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. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. (Perkins, who was black and who marketed his legal services to LA's African-American community, had never taken on a white client during his career.) 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. Image: Social Security Administration. On Christmas Eve in 2010, Lori Erica Ruff sat in her car outside her in-laws' Longview, Texas home, and ended her life with a gunshot to the head. She also began sending harassing e-mails to the Ruffs, created a scene at a custody hearing, and stole a set of house keys from them. Velling agreed to help identify her as a case of identify theft. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. Included among theitems was a sealed lockbox buried deep in Loriscloset. Whilethe file on Lori Erica Ruff may be closed, her bizarre case continues to fascinate, and will forever raise thechillingquestion: Just how well do you know those closest to you? When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. Or, Becky Sue Turner? However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. 1,529 likes. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? There was a birth and death certificate in the box. Or, maybe she was none of them. 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. Four years filled with miscarriages and disappointments passed. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. 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 . Authorities inspected both letters, which they described asramblings from a clearly disturbed person.They contained no reference toLoris life as an identity thief, nor a confession of her trueidentity. [1][10] Fitzpatrick had Ruff's husband and daughter tested by a direct-to-consumer testing company, through which she was able to obtain Ruff's DNA results using genetic genealogy phasing techniques, which essentially subtracted Blake Ruff's DNA from Lori's. The Bizarre Truth About Lori Ruff, The Woman Without An Identity. This is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. She enrolled at Dallas County Community College in the fall of 1990 and eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a business administration degree in 1997. McLean used the child's birth certificate to obtain an Idaho state identification card, then moved to Texas and had her name legally changed to Lori Erica Kennedy. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. Apparently, after Becky Sue Turner perished, a woman turned up and requested a copy of the birth certificate. Using a DNA analysis from Ruffs daughter, investigators were able to trace Ruffs identity back to a family in Pennsylvania, whose daughter had disappeared in 1986, when she was 17. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. Velling, a seasoned government sleuth, has been stumped in figuring out the true name and background of this Jane Doe, who took on aliases with spy-like sophistication. McLean assumed a series of aliases before marrying Blake Ruff in 2004 and settling downleaving no trace of Kimberly McLean, at least until Fitzpatrick began researching her family tree. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. Legal Statement. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6]. It wasnt until the Ruffs found a safebox hidden inside their daughter-in-laws bedroom closet that showed the woman wasnt who she had claimed to be. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. Host Charlie brings in appropriate historic and cultural context to look beyond what happened and consider why it happened. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. Although plenty of questions about the case still have not been answered, Lori Ruff's name was removed from the federal government's database of missing and unidentified persons. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. In May 1988, McLean obtained the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who had died, along with two of her siblings, in a house fire in Fife, Washington in 1971. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. Within the next two years, she . All rights reserved. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. [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. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. [5], From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? Then, in September 2016, the case of Lori Erica Ruff was finally solved: her real name wasKimberly McLean. Market data provided by Factset. In 2010, a woman in Texas named Lori Ruff parked her Tahoe in the driveway of the house where her estranged husband Blake had been living since he had walked out on her after their relationship had soured. She told them her parents were dead and that she had no living siblings or extended family. 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. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. And, why had she changed her identity and hid her past from those closest to her?You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminologyAn Emash Digital productionLearn more about your ad choices. RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. They looked for signs of gambling addiction and sex trafficking. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. 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. [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. Who was she? When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. These secrets Lori Ruff had kept from even her husband, Blake Ruff, and his family. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Last spring, we brought you 8 Mysterious People Without a Past, a list of individuals who seemed to have had much of their early existence wiped from history. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. 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. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. But it wasn't until Lori ended her life on Christmas Eve that the Ruffs would get answers. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. 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. Among the various documents was a certificate indicating that Lori Kennedy had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. El Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HypnosMorfeoPaginaoficial/?fref=ts Sigueme en Twitter: https://twitter.com/hypnosmo. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. Lori Ruffs handwritten notes. Although questions about the case remain, Lori Ruff's name has now been removed from the federal government's database for missing and unidentified persons. Review our. Within the next two years, she obtained the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a 2-year-old girl who had died with her two sisters in a house fire in 1971. The other was for Blake. Ruffs apparent identity theft pulled in former Social Security Administration investigator Joe Velling, who hoped that publicity from the Times piece would urge amateur sleuths to provide some leads. A 2013 Seattle Times feature article about the case was published in news outlets around the world and created enormous interest in the online "websleuth" community. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. All rights reserved. As Blake began the daunting task of sorting through his wife's possessions, he knew that he would have to deal with one thing that Lori had always told him he was to never touch. We don't take ourselves too seriously but we take true crime very seriously. Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. Nothing. 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. It was either she or his family, and he chose his family, Velling said. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. Be the first to contribute! 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. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. But who she really was is still a mystery. She enrolled in Dallas County Community College,[7] and in 1997 she graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in business administration. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. On the West Coast, we generally dont have a discernible accent, said Velling, a Seattle native. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy. All rights reserved. Within a few months of Blake moving out, Lori had completely deteriorated. Lori Erica Ruff (born Kimberly McLean, October 16, 1968 - December 24, 2010) was a woman who took her own life while living in Longview, Texas. When problems became too difficult for him to continue, Blake finally accepted that their marriage wasnt working and subsequently moved out of the home they shared. So, join us, plug in, sit back and prepare for scares. It's not exactly clear why Kimberly McLean fled (most family accounts suggest it was due to a dislike of her new stepfather), but extended family immediately recognized the woman in the investigator's photo. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. A week later, she obtained a Social Security number, removing traces of her true identity. McLean used the child's birth certificate to obtain an Idaho state identification card, then moved to Texas and had her name legally changed to Lori Erica Kennedy . She created a false identity for the sole purpose of getting lost in America, Velling told FoxNews.com. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. This page was last modified on 5 May 2016, at 17:33. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. 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. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. Although Blakes family was suspicious of Lori from the beginning, Blake himself was very much in love. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. [2] The writings on the paper found in the lockbox included the scribblings "North Hollywood police", "402 months", and "Ben Perkins", who turned out to be an attorney. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! 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. Ruff's earliest known activity dates back to May 1988, when she requested the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who was killed, along with two of her siblings, in a house fire in Fife, Washington in 1971. About a month afterward, the certificate was used to obtain legal identification in Idaho. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. Hosts Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson guide you through the most interesting true crime stories. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. 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. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. 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. Ruff's true origins remained a mystery until 2016, when her identity was confirmed using a combination of public records and direct-to-consumer autosomal SNP analysis of her husband's and daughter's DNA, leading back to the McLeanCassidy family on Philadelphia's Main Line. [4] She also said her father was a failed stockbroker. He describes her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. 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. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. [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. 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. To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little They then discovered the lock box in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home.

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