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. Lori's husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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.' But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little Or at least they should. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. NY Daily News But it wasn't until Lori ended her life on Christmas Eve that the Ruffs would get answers. A Net Inceptions project. 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. [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. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. For several years, nobody suspected anything. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. [7] She then traveled to Idaho, where she used the document to obtain a state ID card on June 16.[8]. 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 believed she fled because she did not like her mothers new husband. On the West Coast, we generally dont have a discernible accent, said Velling, a Seattle native. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. Lori Erica Ruff. Late in 2015, Velling received a call from a former nuclear physicist and forensic genealogist named Colleen Fitzpatrick, who had been following the case online. 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). In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. 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 . ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? The contents of this safe put into sharp focus everything that Blake thought he knew about Lori Kennedy. 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. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. 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. Photo Credit: Alchetron. 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. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. Sources Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. There were no dates and the letter itself was a little vague. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be. Market data provided by Factset. It's a big Universe full of wonders. 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. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. Different cultures define matrimony in different ways and tie the knot for various reasons. Various identification cards of Lori Ruff (AKA: Kimberly McLean) retrieved from the Social Security Administration. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. One of these had notes written and a collection of phone numbers and names. So, it was granted without question. By changing her name, she created a clean identity a person with no past.. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. 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. Host Charlie brings in appropriate historic and cultural context to look beyond what happened and consider why it happened. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. [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. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. Every day, stories unfold that have no resolution. Lori began to complain to Blake about his parents whenever she was even mildly inconvenienced. The letter failed to mention crucial details such what was her role and responsibilities. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. She told them her parents were dead and that she had no living siblings or extended family. Investigation Discovery's ' Where Murder Lies: The Girl in the Lockbox' chronicles the story behind Lori Ruff's past. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Or, Lori Erika Kennedy? [6] The article was subsequently republished in numerous newspapers around the world. Investigators wondered if she had been a KGB agent, or if she had been in the military and gone AWOL. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. She must now fight to clear her name and figure out who betrayed her husband. All rights reserved. Synopsis After several months living as Becky Sue Turner, she legally changed her name to Lori Kennedy and moved to the Dallas area, where she met Blake Ruff. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Within the next two years, she . In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. 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. The house belonged . And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. 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. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? [1] After two years, Fitzpatrick finally identified Ruff when she discovered a third cousin match who was related to the Cassidys. Velling said hes determined to uncover Jane Doe's true identity because he suspects she may have used a so-called identity broker to pull off such a complex crime. Given some of the comments she made or suggested, she didnt appear to realize why the marriage ended. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. It wasnt until the Ruffs found a safebox hidden inside their daughter-in-laws bedroom closet that showed the woman wasnt who she had claimed to be. [2], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. For years, it was nothing but a series of dead ends. 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 life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6]. 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. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. 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. 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. She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. 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. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. The Varangians: Viking Conquerors turned Byzantium Honor Guard, The Secret Necropolis of Ancient Varna and the First Goldsmiths. Pic credit: Family pic. A week later, she obtained a Social Security number, removing traces of her true identity. McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, Becky Sue Turner's birthplace. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. 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. She parked her car, left it running, and shot herself. Or, Becky Sue Turner? She received a Texas driver license in 1989 and qualified for a GED[8] the following year. [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. Blake had enough with her inability to get along with his family. 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. The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. El Caso de Lori Erica Ruff -Documental Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HypnosMorfeoPaginaoficial/?fref=ts Sigueme en Twitter: https://twitter.com/hypnosmo. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. Lori Erica Ruff was as evasive as she had always been but did reveal that both of her parents had passed away and that she had no living relatives. Whilethe file on Lori Erica Ruff may be closed, her bizarre case continues to fascinate, and will forever raise thechillingquestion: Just how well do you know those closest to you? 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. 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. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. 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. It did. She also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. 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. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! 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. There were two other pieces of paper. 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Lori Ruff & The Dark Secret She Hid From Everyone 864,142 views Feb 5, 2019 13K Dislike Share Save Weird History 3.81M subscribers Few stories have fascinated the Internet quite like the one of. [6], On December 24, 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. She also began sending harassing emails to the Ruffs, created a scene at a custody exchange, and stole a set of house keys from them. 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. 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. Be the first to contribute! She was above average height at 5feet 10inches (1.78m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73kg). She then moved to Idaho and obtained a driver's license using Becky's birth certificate, according to news.com.au. To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. They married and had a daughter together. 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. 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. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. 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. She then moved to Idaho and procured a drivers license using the deceased girls birth certificate. Find a Grave On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. 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. Hosted on Acast. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. 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. 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 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. There was a birth and death certificate in the box. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. On Christmas Eve 2010, the body of 42-year-old Lori Erica Ruff was found in a car parked outside the Ruff family home in Longview, Texas. [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]. But Lori tragically died by suicide just before Christmas in 2010. There was a successful application for a new social security number. 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. ", "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. [3], The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. The woman told doctors in 2005 that she was 35 a claim Velling doubts. Legal Statement. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. Lori kept to herself, rarely speaking Finally, in 2008, the pair had a daughter, conceived with in vitro fertilization. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. 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. Blake admitted knowledge of the box. 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. [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. 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. As with the birth certificate, it was relatively straight forward to acquire a new social security number. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. Lori Erica Ruff went by many names. After obtaining the driver's license, Ruff went before a judge in Dallas on July 5 1988 and legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy; a week later she obtained a social security number, effectively erasing her past. 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. On Monday though, Lori. This is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. She was eventually identified as a native. 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. 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. This was very sophisticated, Velling said. She began to lose weight and attended counseling sessions held at the local church. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. 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. The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity.