Lori Erica Ruff Kept Her Past Locked Up in a Secret Safe Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. 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. She didnt even allow the publication of the announcement of their nuptials in the local newspaper either. She left behind an 11-page suicide note but apparently no clue that she had lived a secret life. Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. 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. Marriage is a sacred act between two people that care deeply for one another. That created a lot of heartburn for the family.. 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. In the car were two suicide notes: an 11-page one addressed to "my wonderful husband" and another addressed to her daughter, to be opened on her 18th birthday. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Such things have happened in other cases, and are often traumatic events. Image: Social Security Administration. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. The response? He filed for divorce a short time later. She was eventually identified as a native. [3], The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. Apparently, after Becky Sue Turner perished, a woman turned up and requested a copy of the birth certificate. One was for her daughter. Legal Statement. [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. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? It must have been for some horrific reasoneither she was running away from a crime or an abusive family or relationship., She wanted a complete break from her past, said Velling. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theywalkamongus. 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. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little bit of luck to learn the truth.Join Mike and . Lori Erica Ruff - Top podcast episodes [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. [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. One of television's most popular true-crime series adapted for your ears. ", "Texas woman's true identity baffles ex-husband, authorities years after her suicide", "Live chat with investigator, reporter about Jane Doe case", "Mystery woman: After 30 years and a suicide, Lori Ruff's real identity emerges", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lori_Erica_Ruff&oldid=1125479355, Articles with minor POV problems from October 2022, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 December 2022, at 06:14. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was This site uses cookies to improve user experience. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. 1,529 likes. There was a successful application for a new social security number. There was a birth and death certificate in the box. 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. [5], From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? She also received breast implants during this time. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. 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. 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. And, as he flipped through multiple IDs with pictures of his wife at different ages, he realized they all had different names printed on them, according to the Daily Mail. 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. Southern charm is attempted but southern sass is bountiful. 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. 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 . ", "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. The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. "Criminology" Lori Erica Ruff (Podcast Episode 2021) - IMDb They married and had a daughter together. 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. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. Lori Erica Ruff and Her Various Identities - Historic Mysteries 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. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. The woman told doctors in 2005 that she was 35 a claim Velling doubts. Within the next two years, she . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. She began to lose weight and attended counseling sessions held at the local church. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. Or, Becky Sue Turner? And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. 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. Blake's parents were suspicious of Lori right from the beginning. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Trophy Wife (2022) - IMDb All rights reserved. Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube She became distressed due to her parents divorce. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? All rights reserved. Lori Erica Ruff - identity SOLVED? 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. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. [7] She then traveled to Idaho, where she used the document to obtain a state ID card on June 16.[8]. So, it was granted without question. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Lori Ruff & The Dark Secret She Hid From Everyone - YouTube 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. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. 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. A week later, she obtained a Social Security number, removing traces of her true identity. After following numerous leads he was stumped, and sought the help of the general public to identify her through an article published June 22, 2013, in The Seattle Times. However, several weeks after getting the new identification, Becky legally changed her identity to Lori Erica Kennedy in Dallas. 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 also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. 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. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Before 1988, Lori Erica Kennedy simply did not exist. Yes! 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. With each question she asked, Lori deflected, the Seattle Times reported. [3], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. After they married, Lori and Blake moved across the state from his parents, and they tried to have a child almost immediately. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. 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. After marrying, the couple moved away from the senior Ruffs, who lived in eastern Texas, settling in Leonard, Texas, in the southwestern region. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. 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. Knowing the identity of the third cousin led her to Ruff's identity. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. Or at least they should. 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. 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. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. 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. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. Criminology: Lori Erica Ruff on Apple Podcasts
