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[8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. 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. It's a big Universe full of wonders. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. Real Life is Horror. McLean also asked them not to come after her. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. They married and had a daughter together. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. Then, in September 2016, investigators believed they solved the case. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. 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. [6], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. 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. Every day, stories unfold that have no resolution. She then received a Texas driver license in 1989, and the next year qualified for a GED[2] then enrolled in Dallas County Community College. Or at least they should. 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 two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. 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. 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. Little Beckywas just two years old when she diedin a house fire outside of Seattle, Washington in 1971. Lori Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. [7] She then traveled to Idaho, where she used the document to obtain a state ID card on June 16.[8]. Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. She became distressed due to her parents divorce. Related: A Killer Calls: The Unsolved Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott. The house belonged to his parents and it was his father who discovered her [] The post Lori Erica Ruff 93 Generation Why appeared first on The Generation Why Podcast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. 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. The response? Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. 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. Les currently resides in London and is a freelance writer with a long standing passion for the unexplained and paranormal. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. 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. 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. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. As far as the authorities were concerned, once Blake called them in, she was an identity thief now given the name "Jane Doe.". Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. She must now fight to clear her name and figure out who betrayed her husband. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. 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. 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. The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. In his spare time he enjoys astronomy and Xboxing. Find a Grave After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. On Monday though, Lori. The other was for Blake. [9][6], After Lori's funeral, some of the Ruffs drove to Leonard to see if they could find out more about her in her house. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. In 2003 McLean met Jon Blakely "Blake" Ruff, the son of a socially prominent family in East Texas,[8][6] in a Bible study class. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. 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. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps. El Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HypnosMorfeoPaginaoficial/?fref=ts Sigueme en Twitter: https://twitter.com/hypnosmo. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. The letter failed to mention crucial details such what was her role and responsibilities. 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. She also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. She suffered a miscarriage before eventually giving birth to a baby girl in 2008. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. 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. [1] She eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997, with a degree in Business Administration. DNA taken from the body might also help crack the case. Marriage is a sacred act between two people that care deeply for one another. Unfortunately, it looks like Lori took all of her secrets to the grave. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. However, according to records, Becky Sue Turner asphyxiated in a house fire when she was just 2 years old. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her famil. McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, Becky Sue Turner's birthplace. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. Market data provided by Factset. Where Murder Lies is investigating the mysterious case of identity thief Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, aka Kimberly Maria McLean, who, unbeknown to her husband, led a secret life for decades. Lori Erica Ruff. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. Who was she? She arrived at this identity by way of a girl named Becky Sue Turner. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? She then moved to Idaho and procured a drivers license using the deceased girls birth certificate. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. After some failed marriage therapy sessions, Blake Ruff moved back to his parents' house in Longview and filed for divorce, leaving Lori with their daughter in Leonard. There was a successful application for a new social security number. 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. Lori's husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. Ruff had a first cousin named Cassidy on her list of matches; however, the name was very common and the cousin was not responsive. She died by suicide in the driveway of her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. Photo Credit: Alchetron. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. 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.' After they married, Lori and Blake moved across the state from his parents, and they tried to have a child almost immediately. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? 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. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. Review our. All of that work by the investigators traced several links back in the history of Lori Ruff's false identities, but they still didn't know who she really was. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." NY Daily News [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. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. It's clear that even at this time, Lori knew what she was doingBecky had been born in one state and died in another, making it far less likely that the fraudulent use of her identity would be discovered. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. Lori acquired Turner's birth certificate in 1988, a time when you could just send a letter requesting a birth certificate with little resistance. For two years, Social Security investigator Joseph Velling has been working to uncover the real identity of Lori Erica Ruff, who was Lori Erica Kennedy before marrying into an East Texas family in 2004. [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. 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. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. 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 . 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. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968-December 24, 2010), was an identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. In September 2011 the Ruff family, with the help of a congressional aide, sought the help of Joe Velling, an investigator for the Social Security Administration (SSA). She obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, that she had had an unhappy childhood, and that she had no siblings; she also said her father had been a failed stockbroker. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theywalkamongus. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. [6] The article was subsequently republished in numerous newspapers around the world. Investigation Discovery's ' Where Murder Lies: The Girl in the Lockbox' chronicles the story behind Lori Ruff's past. The only person in attendance was the preacher. Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her family's driveway after spending decades using stolen identities to erase a past that remains mired in mystery. Lori began to complain to Blake about his parents whenever she was even mildly inconvenienced. She also received breast implants during this time. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. 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. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. She received a Texas driver license in 1989 and qualified for a GED[8] the following year. It was either she or his family, and he chose his family, Velling said. After obtaining the driver's license, Ruff went before a judge in Dallas on July 5 1988 and legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy; a week later she obtained a social security number, effectively erasing her past. 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. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. They looked for signs of gambling addiction and sex trafficking. 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. [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]. 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. After four years of attempts, miscarriages, and disappointments, the couple had a daughter. The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. "My God, thats Kimberly! The family member confirmed Ruff was actually Kimberly McLean, daughter of Deanne Cassidy and James McLean, who had run away from home in Pennsylvania at the age of 18. 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. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. She was never too keen to go into further detail. 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 . [1] Velling approached a relative, who immediately identified the deceased Lori Ruff as Kimberly McLean.[1]. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. All rights reserved. True Crime. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. When given the chance for an extravagant and lavish wedding day to remember, Lori declined the offer. 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. One of these had notes written and a collection of phone numbers and names. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. All rights reserved. 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 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. 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. How had their marriage fallen apart? But Lori tragically died by suicide just before Christmas in 2010. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. ", "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. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More, Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Lori and Blake tried to have a child almost immediately after they were married, but found themselves experiencing fertility issues. Be the first to contribute! 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 Ruff was a secretive person. She began to lose weight and attended counseling sessions held at the local church. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. This was very sophisticated, Velling said. 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. There were no dates and the letter itself was a little vague. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. Southern charm is attempted but southern sass is bountiful. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. Before 1988, Lori Erica Kennedy simply did not exist. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. Lori refused to allow anyone else to babysit her child. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. She was much older than that, he said. He filed for divorce a short time later. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. 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 very private and didn't open to people about her past. [2], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. She told them her parents were dead and that she had no living siblings or extended family. In 1989, her new identity was completed with a Texas drivers license. Image: Social Security Administration. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. Hosted on Acast. [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. The local police department began a routine investigation and quickly found a safe at the bottom of a closet. 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. "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. Yes! She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? She had brown hair and hazel eyes. About a month afterward, the certificate was used to obtain legal identification in Idaho. Within the next two years, she . On the West Coast, we generally dont have a discernible accent, said Velling, a Seattle native. [1] After two years, Fitzpatrick finally identified Ruff when she discovered a third cousin match who was related to the Cassidys. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. [3], The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. 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 was very private and didn't open to people about her past. [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. 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. Whomever she was, the woman Blake knew as Lori Ruff was not who she claimed to be. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. Lori Erica Ruff Kept Her Past Locked Up in a Secret Safe Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. And, with the child, Lori's behavior became even more erratic. [6], On December 24, 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. Legal Statement. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. Was she Lori Erica Ruff? She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. A Net Inceptions project. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. 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.. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. For the next couple of years, Blake worked on all aspects of the marriage. 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? In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? The house belonged . 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.