A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Lori Ruffs handwritten notes. 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. By changing her name, she created a clean identity a person with no past.. 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. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Among the various documents was a certificate indicating that Lori Kennedy had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner. Marriage is a sacred act between two people that care deeply for one another. Lori's husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. 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. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? Last spring, we brought you 8 Mysterious People Without a Past, a list of individuals who seemed to have had much of their early existence wiped from history. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. The contents of this safe put into sharp focus everything that Blake thought he knew about Lori Kennedy. Although she left notes for her husband and her daughter, they didn't provide any clues. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968 December 24, 2010), was an American identity thief[3] whose true identity remained unknown for nearly six years after her death. 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. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968-December 24, 2010), was an identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. The nature of these scribblings led some followers of the case to believe that Ruff was trying to avoid prison time, due to the references to police, a possible jail-term length, and the name of Ben Perkins, a Los Angeles attorney. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. 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. [3], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. Anyone with credible tips on this case is urged to email this reporter at cristina.corbin@foxnews.com. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. She parked her car, left it running, and shot herself. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. Pic credit: Family pic. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Within the next two years, she . 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. All rights reserved. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Before 1988, Lori Erica Kennedy simply did not exist. 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. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. 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. Lori refused to allow anyone else to babysit her child. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. Then, in September 2016, investigators believed they solved the case. 1,529 likes. 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. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity. True Crime. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. 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. She was eventually identified as a native. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. Lori and Blake tried to have a child almost immediately after they were married, but found themselves experiencing fertility issues. And she may have even attempted to break into the family's home, according to the Seattle Times. Whomever she was, the woman Blake knew as Lori Ruff was not who she claimed to be. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. 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. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. [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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, Becky Sue Turner's birthplace. This is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. Host Charlie brings in appropriate historic and cultural context to look beyond what happened and consider why it happened. Blake Ruff married the woman he had known asLori in2004. [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. All rights reserved. According to Deannes brother, Tom, Kimberly grew irate after her mother and father separated in the 1980s. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. A week later, she obtained a Social Security number, removing traces of her true identity. 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. Although Blakes family was suspicious of Lori from the beginning, Blake himself was very much in love. She told them her parents were dead and that she had no living siblings or extended family. 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. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. The letter failed to mention crucial details such what was her role and responsibilities. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. Blake had enough with her inability to get along with his family. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. They then discovered the lockbox in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. As with the birth certificate, it was relatively straight forward to acquire a new social security number. 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. They looked for signs of gambling addiction and sex trafficking. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. NY Daily News His wifewas not who she claimed to be. And, with the child, Lori's behavior became even more erratic. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. She was sending unhinged, threatening emails to the Ruffs; she and her daughter were losing weight; she even possibly tried to break into the Ruffs' home. It was either she or his family, and he chose his family, Velling said. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Sources Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. Related: The Strange Case of the Isdal Woman. 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. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. 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. 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. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. She was never too keen to go into further detail. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. 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.. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. 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. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. 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. [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. 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 . 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. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Southern charm is attempted but southern sass is bountiful. ", "Texas woman's true identity baffles ex-husband, authorities years after her suicide", "She stole another's identity, and took her secret to the grave. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. The other was for Blake. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. 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. The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. 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. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. This was very sophisticated, Velling said. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. After they married, Lori and Blake moved across the state from his parents, and they tried to have a child almost immediately. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. 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. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. They married and had a daughter together. But it wasn't until Lori ended her life on Christmas Eve that the Ruffs would get answers. 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. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. 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 . 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. 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 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. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. 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. Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. She suffered a miscarriage before eventually giving birth to a baby girl in 2008. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. 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. [4] She also said her father was a failed stockbroker. However, several weeks after getting the new identification, Becky legally changed her identity to Lori Erica Kennedy in Dallas. For the next couple of years, Blake worked on all aspects of the marriage. When problems became too difficult for him to continue, Blake finally accepted that their marriage wasnt working and subsequently moved out of the home they shared. These secrets Lori Ruff had kept from even her husband, Blake Ruff, and his family. So, join us, plug in, sit back and prepare for scares. "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. [3], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter. The other had dates and the letters D and M on it. The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. Blake admitted knowledge of the box. 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. 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. However, it was written on hotel stationery from Bangkok, Thailand. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. One of television's most popular true-crime series adapted for your ears. When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. She had stolen the identity of deceased Becky Sue Turner in May 1988 before legally changing her name to "Lori Erica Kennedy ." Following her marriage in 2001, she assumed the surname "Ruff." She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. 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. 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.' 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. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. 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. Perhaps Lori was creating parents for the benefit of Blake. 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. As far as the authorities were concerned, once Blake called them in, she was an identity thief now given the name "Jane Doe.". [5], From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? Real Life is Horror. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . [3], In 2003, she met Blake Ruff, the son of a well-established family in East Texas,[2][3] in a Bible study class. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. Jane Doe had a simple narrative and stuck to it: She was the only child of a failed stockbroker and his wife, who both died. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. By the time Blake Ruff's wife died, he realized he didn't know her at all. A 2013 Seattle Times feature article about the case was published in news outlets around the world and created enormous interest in the online "websleuth" community. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. The family tried everything to find her but she changed her name and location regularly, making it difficult for Kimberlys family to find her. Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6]. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. Interesting history topics are just a click away. 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. Review our. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. 2021 Wondery LLC. But all that he managed to discover was that Lori had something of a difficult upbringing. Lori didnt take this at all well. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. A Net Inceptions project. 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. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. She was above average height at 5feet 10inches (1.78m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73kg). Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. [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 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. 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. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. 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. 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. [1] She eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997, with a degree in Business Administration. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. El Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HypnosMorfeoPaginaoficial/?fref=ts Sigueme en Twitter: https://twitter.com/hypnosmo. When given the chance for an extravagant and lavish wedding day to remember, Lori declined the offer. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. 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. [6] The article was subsequently republished in numerous newspapers around the world. Blake and Lori married in 2004the only witness to their marriage was the priest. 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. [3], The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. 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. In 2010, he moved back in with his parents and filed for divorce. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper.
What Are The Different Types Of Soca?, Articles L
What Are The Different Types Of Soca?, Articles L