This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. Whatever the motivation behind one man entering wedlock to one woman, both parties usually do know each other intimately. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. The following people have been ruled out as possible identities for Ruff:[5], Ruff was a white female, who was approximately 41 to 50 years old when she committed suicide. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. Host Charlie brings in appropriate historic and cultural context to look beyond what happened and consider why it happened. They then discovered the lockbox in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. 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. When given the chance for an extravagant and lavish wedding day to remember, Lori declined the offer. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. All rights reserved. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. 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. Perhaps Lori was creating parents for the benefit of Blake. [1] After two years, Fitzpatrick finally identified Ruff when she discovered a third cousin match who was related to the Cassidys. [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. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. After they married, Lori and Blake moved across the state from his parents, and they tried to have a child almost immediately. The response? The other had dates and the letters D and M on it. 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. Or, Lori Erika Kennedy? [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. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. [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]. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. 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. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. She created a false identity for the sole purpose of getting lost in America, Velling told FoxNews.com. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. She suffered a miscarriage before eventually giving birth to a baby girl in 2008. 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. Image: Social Security Administration. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. 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.. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. Hosted on Acast. [6] 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 enlisted the services of a so-called identity broker.[6]. ", "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. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. Included among theitems was a sealed lockbox buried deep in Loriscloset. The letter failed to mention crucial details such what was her role and responsibilities. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. How had their marriage fallen apart? 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. 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. She was eventually identified as a native. 2010 42- , . Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. 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. After several months living as Becky Sue Turner, she legally changed her name to Lori Kennedy and moved to the Dallas area, where she met Blake Ruff. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. 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. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. So, it was granted without question. The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. There was a successful application for a new social security number. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. 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. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. All rights reserved. The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. However, several weeks after getting the new identification, Becky legally changed her identity to Lori Erica Kennedy in Dallas. 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. Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. 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. It outlined work that Lori had done for him until 1988. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968 - December 24, 2010), was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. According to Deannes brother, Tom, Kimberly grew irate after her mother and father separated in the 1980s. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. 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 was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. After marrying, the couple moved away from the senior Ruffs, who lived in eastern Texas, settling in Leonard, Texas, in the southwestern region. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. In 2016, she was identified as. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. 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. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. 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. or redistributed. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. 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. They married and had a daughter together. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. They believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. Investigators wondered if she had been a KGB agent, or if she had been in the military and gone AWOL. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. 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 . Within the next two years, she . But all that he managed to discover was that Lori had something of a difficult upbringing. However, it was written on hotel stationery from Bangkok, Thailand. Or, maybe she was none of them. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. Lori met her future husband, Blake, in 2003. 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. She also received breast implants during this time. Lori kept to herself, rarely speaking Finally, in 2008, the pair had a daughter, conceived with in vitro fertilization. Blake Ruff married the woman he had known asLori in2004. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. We don't take ourselves too seriously but we take true crime very seriously. Unfortunately, it looks like Lori took all of her secrets to the grave. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. They then discovered the lock box in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. There were two other pieces of paper. [6], Ruff was "extremely protective" of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her and even taking the baby with her to use the bathroom. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. 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. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. 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. [1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]. The family members identified the picture of the mystery woman as Kimberly Mclean. 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. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. Lori Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? Although she left notes for her husband and her daughter, they didn't provide any clues. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. 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. DNA taken from the body might also help crack the case. Papers belonging to Ruff, who had been married with a child, surfaced after her suicide indicating she had once been known as Lori Kennedy, and prior to that, as Becky Sue Turner, the name of a young girl who had died in a Washington state fire in 1971. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. Be the first to contribute! The Bizarre Truth About Lori Ruff, The Woman Without An Identity. The other was for Blake. Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? 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. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. The writings on the paper found in the lock box included the scribblings "North Hollywood police," "402 months," and "Ben Perkins." A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. This was very sophisticated, Velling said. 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). Lori Ruffs handwritten notes. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. McLean also asked them not to come after her. Related: A Killer Calls: The Unsolved Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott. 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. 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 . She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. She was sending deranged emails to the Ruffs. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. Interesting history topics are just a click away. He filed for divorce a short time later. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. [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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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 This is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. Becky was born in one state and died in another, making it much less likely that a fraudulent use of her identity would be noticed. This page was last modified on 5 May 2016, at 17:33. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. [6], On December 24, 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . On Monday though, Lori. Want more real-life mysteries? You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? This site uses cookies to improve user experience. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. It's a big Universe full of wonders. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. 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. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. 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. As far as the authorities were concerned, once Blake called them in, she was an identity thief now given the name "Jane Doe.". The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. 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. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968-December 24, 2010), was an identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Market data provided by Factset. 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.