Who Was Lori Ruff: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on Texas Mystery Woman 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 A Net Inceptions project. 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). Whatever the motivation behind one man entering wedlock to one woman, both parties usually do know each other intimately. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. She created a false identity for the sole purpose of getting lost in America, Velling told FoxNews.com. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. 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. Lori Erica Ruff and Her Various Identities - Historic Mysteries This page was last modified on 5 May 2016, at 17:33. 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. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6]. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. 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. [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. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! By the time Blake Ruff's wife died, he realized he didn't know her at all. [4] She also said her father was a failed stockbroker. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. 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. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. The truth of Ruff's deception only came to light after she committed suicide, and some determined investigators began looking into . Henceforth, Lori would be known as Lori Erica Ruff. Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. McLean also asked them not to come after her. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. 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. [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. She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. She was above average height at 5feet 10inches (1.78m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73kg). [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. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. 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. Every day, stories unfold that have no resolution. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. They looked for signs of gambling addiction and sex trafficking. [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]. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. But Lori tragically died by suicide just before Christmas in 2010. 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. After her death, her husband and his family found the evidence of her falsified identity in a lock box in her closet. [3], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. 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. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. She was sending deranged emails to the Ruffs. 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. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." This site uses cookies to improve user experience. Lori Erica Ruff Suicide Is 3 Years Later Still A Mystery In Texas It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. All rights reserved. [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. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. 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. 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. 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. Marriage is a sacred act between two people that care deeply for one another. Lori's husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. "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. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. 1,529 likes. When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. Lori Erica Ruff. [1] He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. [1] Velling approached a relative, who immediately identified the deceased Lori Ruff as Kimberly McLean.[1]. 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. Nothing. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. ", "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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. The woman received breast implants in 1991 and claimed to have suffered from bulimia in 1990. 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. Lori Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? For several years, nobody suspected anything. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. After four years of attempts, miscarriages, and disappointments, the couple had a daughter. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. The Bizarre Truth About Lori Ruff, The Woman Without An Identity. 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. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. 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. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Velling said hes determined to uncover Jane Doe's true identity because he suspects she may have used a so-called identity broker to pull off such a complex crime. Blake Ruff married the woman he had known asLori in2004. The contents of this safe put into sharp focus everything that Blake thought he knew about Lori Kennedy. It was either she or his family, and he chose his family, Velling said. Prior to marrying Blake, Loriwas known as Lori Erica Kennedy. Or at least they should. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. According to Deannes brother, Tom, Kimberly grew irate after her mother and father separated in the 1980s. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. 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. About: Lori Erica Ruff - dbpedia.org Lori Erica Ruff: The Perplexing Mystery of the Woman - The Lineup After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. Blake admitted knowledge of the box. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. A man who knew Ruff during this time has stated that she worked as a stripper in the early 1990s. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. 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. 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. They believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. [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. In 2010, he moved back in with his parents and filed for divorce. 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. [3], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. 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. These secrets Lori Ruff had kept from even her husband, Blake Ruff, and his family. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. When given the chance for an extravagant and lavish wedding day to remember, Lori declined the offer. 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. 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. Find a Grave Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. Related: Girl in the Green Mac: The Baffling, Unsolved Disappearance of Sheila Fox. And she may have even attempted to break into the family's home, according to the Seattle Times. (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.) However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. Real Life is Horror. 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. Various identification cards of Lori Ruff (AKA: Kimberly McLean) retrieved from the Social Security Administration. [1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. He filed for divorce a short time later. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. She obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. 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. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her famil. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. Hosted on Acast. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Four years filled with miscarriages and disappointments passed. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. The woman told doctors in 2005 that she was 35 a claim Velling doubts. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. Want more real-life mysteries? Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. Lori refused to allow anyone else to babysit her child. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. 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'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. True identity of Lori Ruff revealed six years after she committed She died by suicide in the driveway of her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. Related: The Strange Case of the Isdal Woman. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. El Sorprendente Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental - YouTube Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. Lori Erica Ruff Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Then, in September 2016, the case of Lori Erica Ruff was finally solved: her real name wasKimberly McLean. 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. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. [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. 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. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. On December 24, 2010, the body of Lori Erica Ruff was found in her car parked in the driveway of the Ruff family's Texas home. All rights reserved. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? Legal Statement. 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. [5], From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? Velling agreed to help identify her as a case of identify theft. 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? [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. 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. When Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff took her own life on Christmas Eve, 2010 in Longview, Texas, she took with her all of the secrets of her true identity. The Generation Why Podcast: Lori Erica Ruff on Apple Podcasts Criminology: Lori Erica Ruff on Apple Podcasts 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. 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. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. According to the Seattle Times, a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruffs background began after the paper ran a story on her in 2013. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. 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. 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. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. 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. 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. She suffered a miscarriage before eventually giving birth to a baby girl in 2008. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. The Varangians: Viking Conquerors turned Byzantium Honor Guard, The Secret Necropolis of Ancient Varna and the First Goldsmiths.