She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. She would regularly be seen with her in some of her favorite tea shops. 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. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. [7] She then traveled to Idaho, where she used the document to obtain a state ID card on June 16.[8]. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. They Walk Among Us is an award-winning weekly UK true crime podcast covering a broad range of cases from the sinister to the surreal. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. 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. It must have been for some horrific reasoneither she was running away from a crime or an abusive family or relationship., She wanted a complete break from her past, said Velling. [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. That created a lot of heartburn for the family.. The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. After following numerous leads he was stumped, and sought the help of the general public to identify her through an article published June 22, 2013, in The Seattle Times. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. In 1989, her new identity was completed with a Texas drivers license. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. Lori Ruff & The Dark Secret She Hid From Everyone - YouTube Although she left notes for her husband and her daughter, they didn't provide any clues. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. 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. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. Where is Lori Ruff's Daughter Now? - The Cinemaholic 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. [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 obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. [6], On December 24, 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. He noticed the car and called the police. To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. [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. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps. 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. 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. Hosted on Acast. Lori's husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. 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. She was sending deranged emails to the Ruffs. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? 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. Criminology: Lori Erica Ruff on Apple Podcasts In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Lori kept to herself, rarely speaking Finally, in 2008, the pair had a daughter, conceived with in vitro fertilization. Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. Want more real-life mysteries? 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. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs filed a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. Real Life is Horror. Legal Statement. Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook [6] The article was subsequently republished in numerous newspapers around the world. Photo Credit: Alchetron. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The other was for Blake. Given some of the comments she made or suggested, she didnt appear to realize why the marriage ended. [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. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. The contents of this safe put into sharp focus everything that Blake thought he knew about Lori Kennedy. Lori Erica Ruff - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core "Criminology" Lori Erica Ruff (Podcast Episode 2021) - IMDb But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. They believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. All rights reserved. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. Or, Becky Sue Turner? 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. [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]. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. For years, it was nothing but a series of dead ends. When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. 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. 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. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. 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. This page was last modified on 5 May 2016, at 17:33. 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. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. There were no dates and the letter itself was a little vague. Pic credit: Family pic. But who she really was is still a mystery. Within a few months of Blake moving out, Lori had completely deteriorated. The woman received breast implants in 1991 and claimed to have suffered from bulimia in 1990. Or at least they should. 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. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. Lori Erica Ruff. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. It did. Review our. 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. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. 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. 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. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. In 1986, Kimberly McLean ran away from her home at the age of 18. Lori Ruffs handwritten notes. Little Beckywas just two years old when she diedin a house fire outside of Seattle, Washington in 1971. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. Investigation Discovery's ' Where Murder Lies: The Girl in the Lockbox' chronicles the story behind Lori Ruff's past. 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. Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. 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. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? Trophy Wife (2022) - IMDb Legal Statement. The house was in total shambles. By changing her name, she created a clean identity a person with no past.. True Crime. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. The writings on the paper found in the lock box included the scribblings "North Hollywood police," "402 months," and "Ben Perkins." Yes! [2], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. Within the next two years, she . In 2010, he moved back across the state to live with his parents. 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. Blake admitted knowledge of the box. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Follow along with 48 Hours every week as award-winning CBS News correspondents investigate the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. According to Deannes brother, Tom, Kimberly grew irate after her mother and father separated in the 1980s. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. 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. 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. 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. NY Daily News 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. 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. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. 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. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. Four years filled with miscarriages and disappointments passed. She was above average height at 5feet 10inches (1.78m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73kg). 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. 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. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, 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. 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. All rights reserved. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. Or, maybe she was none of them. Lori Erica Ruff and Her Various Identities - Historic Mysteries ", "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. She began to lose weight and attended counseling sessions held at the local church. On the West Coast, we generally dont have a discernible accent, said Velling, a Seattle native. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. Lori Erica Ruff Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org [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. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. 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. It's a big Universe full of wonders. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. Using DNA analysis from Ruff's daughter, investigators were able to trace Ruff's identity back to a family in Pennsylvania, whose teenage daughter had disappeared in 1986, per Mental Floss. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. Anyone with credible tips on this case is urged to email this reporter at cristina.corbin@foxnews.com. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. This is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. There was a birth and death certificate in the box. 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. Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. She didnt even allow the publication of the announcement of their nuptials in the local newspaper either. [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 harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. 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. Lori met her future husband, Blake, in 2003. They then discovered the lockbox in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. Ordinary people who do unthinkable thingsThe Minds of Madness is a True Crime Podcast that examines the most disturbing criminal minds and the impact violent crimes have on survivors of homicide. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. 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. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. Perhaps Lori was creating parents for the benefit of Blake. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. According to the Seattle Times, a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruffs background began after the paper ran a story on her in 2013. El Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HypnosMorfeoPaginaoficial/?fref=ts Sigueme en Twitter: https://twitter.com/hypnosmo. She was much older than that, he said. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. Lori refused to allow anyone else to babysit her child.