Every day, stories unfold that have no resolution. 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. 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 . And, why had she changed her identity and hid her past from those closest to her? After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube 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. Lori Ruff & The Dark Secret She Hid From Everyone - YouTube The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. Join Jim Clemente (former FBI profiler), Laura Richards (criminal behavioral analyst, former New Scotland Yard) and Lisa Zambetti (Casting director for CBS' Criminal Minds) as they profile behavior from real criminal cases. [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. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. Host Charlie brings in appropriate historic and cultural context to look beyond what happened and consider why it happened. Then, in September 2016, the case of Lori Erica Ruff was finally solved: her real name wasKimberly McLean. Lori Erica Ruff - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. They married and had a daughter together. All rights reserved. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. Pic credit: Family pic. Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. [7] She then traveled to Idaho, where she used the document to obtain a state ID card on June 16.[8]. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be. Included among theitems was a sealed lockbox buried deep in Loriscloset. Sources Blake admitted knowledge of the box. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. Lori began to complain to Blake about his parents whenever she was even mildly inconvenienced. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. She must now fight to clear her name and figure out who betrayed her husband. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. On the West Coast, we generally dont have a discernible accent, said Velling, a Seattle native. Hosts Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson guide you through the most interesting true crime stories. 2021 Wondery LLC. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. Lori Erica Ruff. Les currently resides in London and is a freelance writer with a long standing passion for the unexplained and paranormal. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. Want more real-life mysteries? 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. 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. Blake's mom, Nancy Ruff, described facing a stone wall. After several months living as Becky Sue Turner, she legally changed her name to Lori Kennedy. But who she really was is still a mystery. He filed for divorce a short time later. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Then, in September 2016, investigators believed they solved the case. All rights reserved. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. 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. Ruffs apparent identity theft pulled in former Social Security Administration investigator Joe Velling, who hoped that publicity from the Times piece would urge amateur sleuths to provide some leads. Among the various documents was a certificate indicating that Lori Kennedy had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. 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. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. Was she Lori Erica Ruff? After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. 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. She parked her car, left it running, and shot herself. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. She was eventually identified as a native. [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. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. It did. She arrived at this identity by way of a girl named Becky Sue Turner. Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. There was a birth and death certificate in the box. We don't take ourselves too seriously but we take true crime very seriously. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity. [1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]. Ruff had a first cousin named Cassidy on her list of matches; however, the name was very common and the cousin was not responsive. The family members identified the picture of the mystery woman as Kimberly Mclean. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. 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. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. 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 . They believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. 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. [6], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. After her death, her husband and his family found the evidence of her falsified identity in a lock box in her closet. 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. She was above average height at 5feet 10inches (1.78m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73kg). To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. Lori Erica Ruff Suicide Is 3 Years Later Still A Mystery In Texas The response? 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." [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. ", "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. Interesting history topics are just a click away. 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. As with the birth certificate, it was relatively straight forward to acquire a new social security number. Lori Erica Ruff Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? The letter failed to mention crucial details such what was her role and responsibilities. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. There were no dates and the letter itself was a little vague. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Unresolved is an investigative and immersive look at those stories, as host Micheal Whelan tries to determine why these stories - unsolved crimes and other unexplained phenomena - have no ending. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. There was a successful application for a new social security number. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. 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. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. However, according to records, Becky Sue Turner asphyxiated in a house fire when she was just 2 years old. [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 Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. The house belonged . Velling, a seasoned government sleuth, has been stumped in figuring out the true name and background of this Jane Doe, who took on aliases with spy-like sophistication. 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. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. [1] Velling approached a relative, who immediately identified the deceased Lori Ruff as Kimberly McLean.[1]. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. Henceforth, Lori would be known as Lori Erica Ruff. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. Blake Ruff married the woman he had known asLori in2004. 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 . 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. She didnt even allow the publication of the announcement of their nuptials in the local newspaper either. Lori Erica Ruff - Top podcast episodes [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]. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. The Mystery of Identity Thief Lori Erica Ruff - Mental Floss How had their marriage fallen apart? To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. A Net Inceptions project. 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. Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. 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. That created a lot of heartburn for the family.. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. The woman told doctors in 2005 that she was 35 a claim Velling doubts. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. The other was for Blake. Velling agreed to help identify her as a case of identify theft. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. The other had dates and the letters D and M on it. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. [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. She was much older than that, he said. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968-December 24, 2010), was an identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. Although Blakes family was suspicious of Lori from the beginning, Blake himself was very much in love. 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. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. [1] He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. [1] After two years, Fitzpatrick finally identified Ruff when she discovered a third cousin match who was related to the Cassidys. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. The Bizarre Truth About Lori Ruff, The Woman Without An Identity Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. Apparently, after Becky Sue Turner perished, a woman turned up and requested a copy of the birth certificate. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. Hosted on Acast. ", "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 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. Such things have happened in other cases, and are often traumatic events. 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. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. It outlined work that Lori had done for him until 1988. 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 Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? : r/UnresolvedMysteries - reddit 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. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. [1] She eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997, with a degree in Business Administration. 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. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. 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. 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. The Strange Life and Death of Lori Erica Ruff 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 the box, which she told her husband never to touch, were all the documents exposing her elaborate ruse the paperwork showing the name change and the application for a Social Security number, among other receipts. 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. Lori Erica Ruff Kept Her Past Locked Up in a Secret Safe Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. All rights reserved. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. 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. 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. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". In 1986, Kimberly McLean ran away from her home at the age of 18. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. 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. 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.' Find a Grave "My God, that's Kimberly!," one Pennsylvania relative exclaimed, the Seattle Times reported. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. DNA taken from the body might also help crack the case. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. The truth of Ruff's deception only came to light after she committed suicide, and some determined investigators began looking into . When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. A man who knew Ruff during this time has stated that she worked as a stripper in the early 1990s. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? In 2016, she was identified as. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. The family tried everything to find her but she changed her name and location regularly, making it difficult for Kimberlys family to find her. 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. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. Lori's husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. Lori acquired Turner's birth certificate in 1988, a time when you could just send a letter requesting a birth certificate with little resistance. 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. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. She died by suicide in the driveway of her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6].