By changing her name, she created a clean identity a person with no past.. 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. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. Lori Erica Ruff Kept Her Past Locked Up in a Secret Safe Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. Within the next two years, she obtained the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who had died with her two sisters in a house fire in 1971. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. ", "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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . 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. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. 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. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. After several months living as Becky Sue Turner, she legally changed her name to Lori Kennedy. El Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HypnosMorfeoPaginaoficial/?fref=ts Sigueme en Twitter: https://twitter.com/hypnosmo. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. After four years of attempts, miscarriages, and disappointments, the couple had a daughter. Want more real-life mysteries? Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. 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. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. And, why had she changed her identity and hid her past from those closest to her? Sources There was a successful application for a new social security number. 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. Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Such things have happened in other cases, and are often traumatic events. 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. After marrying, the couple moved away from the senior Ruffs, who lived in eastern Texas, settling in Leonard, Texas, in the southwestern region. 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. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . She became distressed due to her parents divorce. 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. Related: Girl in the Green Mac: The Baffling, Unsolved Disappearance of Sheila Fox. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Ruff had a first cousin named Cassidy on her list of matches; however, the name was very common and the cousin was not responsive. One was for her daughter. [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. [1] He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Investigators wondered if she had been a KGB agent, or if she had been in the military and gone AWOL. On the West Coast, we generally dont have a discernible accent, said Velling, a Seattle native. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. He noticed the car and called the police. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. [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. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. 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 1986, Kimberly McLean ran away from her home at the age of 18. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. One of these had notes written and a collection of phone numbers and names. 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. 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. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. Lori began to complain to Blake about his parents whenever she was even mildly inconvenienced. She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. 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. Anyone with credible tips on this case is urged to email this reporter at cristina.corbin@foxnews.com. For years, it was nothing but a series of dead ends. 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. 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. Then, in September 2016, investigators believed they solved the case. It's a big Universe full of wonders. He filed for divorce a short time later. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. 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. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. She would regularly be seen with her in some of her favorite tea shops. Prior to marrying Blake, Loriwas known as Lori Erica Kennedy. (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.) It did. 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. Little Beckywas just two years old when she diedin a house fire outside of Seattle, Washington in 1971. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. [1] Velling approached a relative, who immediately identified the deceased Lori Ruff as Kimberly McLean.[1]. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. [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. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. 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 is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. In May 1988, McLean obtained the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who had died, along with two of her siblings, in a house fire in Fife, Washington in 1971. 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. Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. By the time Blake Ruff's wife died, he realized he didn't know her at all. But who she really was is still a mystery. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. 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. McLean, posing as Becky Sue Turner, then appeared before a judge in Dallas on July 5, 1988, and legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. After her death, her husband and his family found the evidence of her falsified identity in a lock box in her closet. They then discovered the lock box in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. [3], In 2003, she met Blake Ruff, the son of a well-established family in East Texas,[2][3] in a Bible study class. [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. Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be undernourished and that Lori would often ramble incoherently to herself while pacing back and forth outside. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. Yes! The woman received breast implants in 1991 and claimed to have suffered from bulimia in 1990. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. The other was for Blake. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. [6], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter; as a result, the Ruffs began encouraging Blake to get out of the marriage. Be the first to contribute! Blake's mom, Nancy Ruff, described facing a stone wall. The family tried everything to find her but she changed her name and location regularly, making it difficult for Kimberlys family to find her. Hosts Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson guide you through the most interesting true crime stories. "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. 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. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. But all that he managed to discover was that Lori had something of a difficult upbringing. Lori didnt take this at all well. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. 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. [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. The writings on the paper found in the lock box included the scribblings "North Hollywood police," "402 months," and "Ben Perkins." The request was made in Bakersfield, California. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. She parked her car, left it running, and shot herself. 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. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. She also received breast implants during this time. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. It outlined work that Lori had done for him until 1988. 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. Real Life is Horror. When given the chance for an extravagant and lavish wedding day to remember, Lori declined the offer. 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). Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. They married and had a daughter together. 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. [6], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. For the next couple of years, Blake worked on all aspects of the marriage. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. Or at least they should. or redistributed. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. About a month afterward, the certificate was used to obtain legal identification in Idaho. [5], From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. She didnt even allow the publication of the announcement of their nuptials in the local newspaper either. A Net Inceptions project. She was never too keen to go into further detail. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. 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. 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. Among the various documents was a certificate indicating that Lori Kennedy had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner. 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. 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. 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. 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. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? 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. 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. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. ", "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. The only person in attendance was the preacher. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. 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 . Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. Within a few months of Blake moving out, Lori had completely deteriorated. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened.