Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, But it wasn't until Lori ended her life on Christmas Eve that the Ruffs would get answers. Who was she? Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. Henceforth, Lori would be known as Lori Erica Ruff. Related: Girl in the Green Mac: The Baffling, Unsolved Disappearance of Sheila Fox.
ruff in - Translation into Russian - examples English | Reverso Context And, with the child, Lori's behavior became even more erratic. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. 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. There was a successful application for a new social security number. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. She then moved to Idaho and procured a drivers license using the deceased girls birth certificate. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. [1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]. [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.
Strange life of identity thief Lori Ruff, aka Kimberly McLean 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 . Accept Read More, Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. Her Idaho identification card listed her as 5 feet, 6 inches tall and her Dallas drivers license had her at 5 feet, 10 inches, but she was really somewhere in-between, Velling said. 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. 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 . Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. Southern charm is attempted but southern sass is bountiful. A week later, she obtained a Social Security number, removing traces of her true identity. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. She arrived at this identity by way of a girl named Becky Sue Turner. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. 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. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. 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 . Based on her own research, and a DNA sample the Ruff family submitted that indicated Lori had a first cousin named Michael Cassidy, Fitzpatrick suggested Velling contact the Cassidy family in Philadelphia. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. It's a big Universe full of wonders. The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. 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. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. Sources 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. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. [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. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. Crimelines walks you through true crime events, pairing captivating tales with clear storytelling. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. 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. According to the Seattle Times, a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruffs background began after the paper ran a story on her in 2013. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. ", "Texas woman's true identity baffles ex-husband, authorities years after her suicide", "She stole another's identity, and took her secret to the grave. The house belonged . The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. The response?
But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little 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.
El Sorprendente Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental - YouTube Until now, Lori Erica Ruff was known to authorities as Jane Doe a woman of mystery who jumped from state to state, taking on the identities of other people. 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. Blake had enough with her inability to get along with his family. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. 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. Blake did learn that Lori was born somewhere in Arizona. And, why had she changed her identity and hid her past from those closest to her? 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. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated.
Lori Erica Ruff - Wikipedia According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. One was for her daughter. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. 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. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. One of these had notes written and a collection of phone numbers and names. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life.
Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. Photo Credit: Alchetron. However, it was written on hotel stationery from Bangkok, Thailand. Review our. [2], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. The truth of Ruff's deception only came to light after she committed suicide, and some determined investigators began looking into . Lori acquired Turner's birth certificate in 1988, a time when you could just send a letter requesting a birth certificate with little resistance. 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. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. 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. The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. 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 trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. He filed for divorce a short time later. Among the various documents was a certificate indicating that Lori Kennedy had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner. Les currently resides in London and is a freelance writer with a long standing passion for the unexplained and paranormal. [1] Despite the questions Blake's family had about Lori, the couple married in January 2004. Within the next two years, she . About a month afterward, the certificate was used to obtain legal identification in Idaho. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Lori Erica Ruff was as evasive as she had always been but did reveal that both of her parents had passed away and that she had no living relatives. But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. The house was in total shambles. The local police department began a routine investigation and quickly found a safe at the bottom of a closet. The new Mrs. Ruff was an unusually private person, particularly around her in-laws, according to Velling, special agent in charge of the Social Security Office of the Inspector General in Seattle, Wash. When people made small talk with her like asking where she went to high school she would say, 'Its none of your business.' Blake and Lori married in 2004the only witness to their marriage was the priest.
She told them her parents were dead and that she had no living siblings or extended family. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. She became distressed due to her parents divorce. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas.
Lori Erica Ruff Criminology podcast After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger.
Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968 December 24, 2010), was an American identity thief[3] whose true identity remained unknown for nearly six years after her death. They married and had a daughter together. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. With little to no clues about who shemight actually be, the woman once known as Lori Erica Ruffwas registered in the federal governments database of missing and unidentified persons as a Jane Doe. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. The only person in attendance was the preacher. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. [3], The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. 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. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? These secrets Lori Ruff had kept from even her husband, Blake Ruff, and his family. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. They believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. They separated, but on Christmas Eve, 2010, the woman everyone knew as Lori Erica Ruff pulled into the driveway of the Ruff family home and shot herself. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. Lori Erica Ruff. [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. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. [6], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter; as a result, the Ruffs began encouraging Blake to get out of the marriage. And she did it all pre-InternetShe may have done this on her own, but its possible she sought out one of these identity brokers.. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. In his spare time he enjoys astronomy and Xboxing. [3], On Christmas Eve 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. It did. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices.
About: Lori Erica Ruff - dbpedia.org 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. This page was last modified on 5 May 2016, at 17:33. 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. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. The other was for Blake. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. 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. ", "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.
"Criminology" Lori Erica Ruff (Podcast Episode 2021) - IMDb Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. The woman used the birth certificate to obtain a valid Idaho identification card under the name Becky Sue Turner, issued on June 16, 1988, and bearing the photo of Jane Doe.
The Bizarre Truth About Lori Ruff, The Woman Without An Identity Blake's mom, Nancy Ruff, described facing a stone wall.
Lori Erica Ruff (Podcast Episode 2021) - Plot Summary - IMDb Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. Yes! 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. Want more real-life mysteries? To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. After some failed marriage therapy meetings, Blake Ruff moved back to his parents' house in Longview and filed for divorce, leaving Lori with their daughter in Leonard.
Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube The nature of these scribblings has led some 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 an attorney. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. For the next couple of years, Blake worked on all aspects of the marriage. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." Then, in September 2016, investigators believed they solved the case. In 2010, he moved back in with his parents and filed for divorce. There were two other pieces of paper. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. 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. The request was made in Bakersfield, California.