[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. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. Image: Social Security Administration. Interesting history topics are just a click away. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. 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. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity. 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. But Blake was in love. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number - a. Yes! All rights reserved. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. For several years, nobody suspected anything. 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. Both fingerprints and DNA testing turned up nothing to help get to the bottom of her true identity. She was eventually identified as a native. Four years filled with miscarriages and disappointments passed. Before 1988, Lori Erica Kennedy simply did not exist. ", "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. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. Different cultures define matrimony in different ways and tie the knot for various reasons. 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). With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. She then moved to Idaho and procured a drivers license using the deceased girls birth certificate. The mystery surrounding Jane Does identity begins in May 1988, when the unknown woman requested the Bakersfield, Calif., birth certificate of a 2-year-old girl, Becky Sue Turner, who died in a 1971 house fire in Fife, Wash., Velling said. Whomever she was, the woman Blake knew as Lori Ruff was not who she claimed to be. Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. Or, Lori Erika Kennedy? Be the first to contribute! Real Life is Horror. 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. It is generally believed that a new identity was already being considered either for herself or others. And, with the child, Lori's behavior became even more erratic. Legal Statement. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. See acast.com/privacy for more information. The only person in attendance was the preacher. 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. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. 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. 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. According to the Seattle Times, a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruffs background began after the paper ran a story on her in 2013. To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. 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. ", "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. She parked her car, left it running, and shot herself. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. Want more real-life mysteries? 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. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. [3] 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 visited an "identity broker".[3]. She obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. 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 . One was for her daughter. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. She then moved to Idaho and obtained a driver's license using Becky's birth certificate, according to news.com.au. That created a lot of heartburn for the family.. The truth of Ruff's deception only came to light after she committed suicide, and some determined investigators began looking into . [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. All rights reserved. Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. Lori kept to herself, rarely speaking Finally, in 2008, the pair had a daughter, conceived with in vitro fertilization. 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. 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. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. [1] He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. However, it was written on hotel stationery from Bangkok, Thailand. 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. After earning a GED and a college degree, she married into a wealthy East Texas family and gave birth to a daughter. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. 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. [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. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. 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. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. In his spare time he enjoys astronomy and Xboxing. [6] The article was subsequently republished in numerous newspapers around the world. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. 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 . [1] Despite the questions Blake's family had about Lori, the couple married in January 2004. She also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? [3], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. Anyone with credible tips on this case is urged to email this reporter at [email protected]. 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? Investigation Discovery's ' Where Murder Lies: The Girl in the Lockbox' chronicles the story behind Lori Ruff's past. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. Hosted on Acast. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Lori didnt take this at all well. Hersuicide cameafter Blake had filed fordivorce and moved back in with his parents. There were two other pieces of paper. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. 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. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. Legal Statement. (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.) Blake admitted knowledge of the box. 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. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. 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. [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. [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. The other had dates and the letters D and M on it. McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, Becky Sue Turner's birthplace. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. 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. 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. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. "True identity of Lori Ruff revealed six years after she committed suicide", "After 30 Years, Lori Ruff's True Identity Finally Revealed", "5 Creepy-As-Hell Stories Of Real People With No Identity", "She stole another's identity, and took her secret to the grave. 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. Henceforth, Lori would be known as Lori Erica Ruff. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs filed a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. After four years of attempts, miscarriages, and disappointments, the couple had a daughter. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. Also found in the lock box was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[6]. 2021 Wondery LLC. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. [1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]. 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. After they married, Lori and Blake moved across the state from his parents, and they tried to have a child almost immediately. So, join us, plug in, sit back and prepare for scares. Or at least they should. 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. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. Lori Erica Ruff. By the time Blake Ruff's wife died, he realized he didn't know her at all. Although Blakes family was suspicious of Lori from the beginning, Blake himself was very much in love. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. Lori began to complain to Blake about his parents whenever she was even mildly inconvenienced. But nobody in the world knew Lori Erica Ruff. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". Included among theitems was a sealed lockbox buried deep in Loriscloset. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. Prior to marrying Blake, Loriwas known as Lori Erica Kennedy. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. 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. 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. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. We don't take ourselves too seriously but we take true crime very seriously. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? Lori Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. All rights reserved. They then discovered the lock box in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. In 2010, he moved back across the state to live with his parents. [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. One of television's most popular true-crime series adapted for your ears. In 2010, he moved back in with his parents and filed for divorce. She also received breast implants during this time. 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. So, it was granted without question. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. For the next couple of years, Blake worked on all aspects of the marriage. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. 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. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. 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. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child.