She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. Within a few months of Blake moving out, Lori had completely deteriorated. In his spare time he enjoys astronomy and Xboxing. 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. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. 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 they married, Lori and Blake moved across the state from his parents, and they tried to have a child almost immediately. She became distressed due to her parents divorce. A Net Inceptions project. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. In 2010, he moved back across the state to live with his parents. Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." And, why had she changed her identity and hid her past from those closest to her? 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. 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. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps. All rights reserved. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. Lori Ruffs handwritten notes. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs filed a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. All rights reserved. They then discovered the lockbox in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. [1] Despite the questions Blake's family had about Lori, the couple married in January 2004. Before 1988, Lori Erica Kennedy simply did not exist. [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]. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. However, several weeks after getting the new identification, Becky legally changed her identity to Lori Erica Kennedy in Dallas. At some point in the past, Lori had been a dancer at an exclusive gentlemans club, and a post-mortem examination revealed that Lori, not Becky, had received breast implants. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. 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. Until now, Lori Erica Ruff was known to authorities as Jane Doe a woman of mystery who jumped from state to state, taking on the identities of other people. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". Related: The Strange Case of the Isdal Woman. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. The house belonged . A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. So, it was granted without question. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. But who she really was is still a mystery. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. NY Daily News It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. 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. He noticed the car and called the police. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Ruff's true origins remained a mystery until 2016, when her identity was confirmed using a combination of public records and direct-to-consumer autosomal SNP analysis of her husband's and daughter's DNA, leading back to the McLeanCassidy family on Philadelphia's Main Line. This is a true crime podcast that spares none of the details and delves into what makes these killers tick. [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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. 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. 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. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. However, it was written on hotel stationery from Bangkok, Thailand. 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. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. Various identification cards of Lori Ruff (AKA: Kimberly McLean) retrieved from the Social Security Administration. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. Crimelines walks you through true crime events, pairing captivating tales with clear storytelling. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Perhaps Lori was creating parents for the benefit of Blake. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. 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. 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. Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. These secrets Lori Ruff had kept from even her husband, Blake Ruff, and his family. Such things have happened in other cases, and are often traumatic events. Want more real-life mysteries? Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. [3], On Christmas Eve 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Where Murder Lies is investigating the mysterious case of identity thief Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, aka Kimberly Maria McLean, who, unbeknown to her husband, led a secret life for decades. She was eventually identified as a native of suburban Philadelphia who left home at age 18, in the fall of 1986, because she did not get along with her mother and stepfather. The 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. 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 2003 McLean met Jon Blakely "Blake" Ruff, the son of a socially prominent family in East Texas,[8][6] in a Bible study class. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. 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. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. 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. 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. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. Hersuicide cameafter Blake had filed fordivorce and moved back in with his parents. or redistributed. 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. In 1986, Kimberly McLean ran away from her home at the age of 18. A week later, she obtained a Social Security number, removing traces of her true identity. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Real Life is Horror. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. For several years, nobody suspected anything. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. 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. 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. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. She also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. The woman received breast implants in 1991 and claimed to have suffered from bulimia in 1990. 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. (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.) Related: A Killer Calls: The Unsolved Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. Dismayed by having to move and attend a new school, she told Deanne shed be leaving for good. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. She would regularly be seen with her in some of her favorite tea shops. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. Lori met her future husband, Blake, in 2003. Unfortunately, it looks like Lori took all of her secrets to the grave. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. Blake admitted knowledge of the box. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . Little Beckywas just two years old when she diedin a house fire outside of Seattle, Washington in 1971. [4] She was eventually identified as a native of suburban Philadelphia who left home at age 17, in the fall of 1986,[5] because she did not get along with her mother and stepfather. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. 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 only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. Or, Becky Sue Turner? The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. In 2010, he moved back in with his parents and filed for divorce. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. 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.. He describes her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. Blake Ruff married the woman he had known asLori in2004. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? Henceforth, Lori would be known as Lori Erica Ruff. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her family's driveway after spending decades using stolen identities to erase a past that remains mired in mystery. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Market data provided by Factset. 2021 Wondery LLC. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. 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. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. 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. Although Blakes family was suspicious of Lori from the beginning, Blake himself was very much in love. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. 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. To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. [5], From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. Who was she? She was sending deranged emails to the Ruffs. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. Given some of the comments she made or suggested, she didnt appear to realize why the marriage ended. Lori Erica Ruff. 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. Legal Statement. Hosted on Acast. 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. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. "My God, that's Kimberly!," one Pennsylvania relative exclaimed, the Seattle Times reported. [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. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. 2010 42- , . 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. Investigators wondered if she had been a KGB agent, or if she had been in the military and gone AWOL. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. 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. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. Different cultures define matrimony in different ways and tie the knot for various reasons. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. 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. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Yes! He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. 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. Yes! He filed for divorce a short time later. She was much older than that, he said. [2], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. 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. 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. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. How had their marriage fallen apart? 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. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. Les currently resides in London and is a freelance writer with a long standing passion for the unexplained and paranormal. Find a Grave 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. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. Image: Social Security Administration. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. 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. 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. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. However, according to records, Becky Sue Turner asphyxiated in a house fire when she was just 2 years old. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. Or, maybe she was none of them. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. One was for her daughter. [1][10] Fitzpatrick had Ruff's husband and daughter tested by a direct-to-consumer testing company, through which she was able to obtain Ruff's DNA results using genetic genealogy phasing techniques, which essentially subtracted Blake Ruff's DNA from Lori's. On Monday though, Lori. 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. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. But Blake was in love. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Or, Lori Erika Kennedy? There were no dates and the letter itself was a little vague. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. 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. After the birth of their daughter, Lori's behavior became increasingly strange. 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 . His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. Nothing. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. "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. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. After Lori Erica Ruff's death, Blake Ruff realized his wife was a complete stranger. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. 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. Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. Accept Read More, Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. But it wasn't until Lori ended her life on Christmas Eve that the Ruffs would get answers. Included among theitems was a sealed lockbox buried deep in Loriscloset. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. [1] After two years, Fitzpatrick finally identified Ruff when she discovered a third cousin match who was related to the Cassidys. 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.
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