I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. The writings on the paper found in the lock box included the scribblings "North Hollywood police," "402 months," and "Ben Perkins." McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, Becky Sue Turner's birthplace. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. DNA taken from the body might also help crack the case. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. ", "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. 2021 Emash Digital & Mike Ferguson, Mike Morford. 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. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. Loris behavior was highly erratic in the timebetween theseparationand her death; she sent threatening emails to Blake and his family, and might have even attempted a break-in at Blakes parents home. Lori met her future husband, Blake, in 2003. By the time Blake Ruff's wife died, he realized he didn't know her at all. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. After her death, her husband and his family found the evidence of her falsified identity in a lock box in her closet. [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. 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. [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. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. 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. Anyone with credible tips on this case is urged to email this reporter at [email protected]. She arrived at this identity by way of a girl named Becky Sue Turner. Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. McLean, posing as Becky Sue Turner, then appeared before a judge in Dallas on July 5, 1988, and legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. She received a Texas driver license in 1989 and qualified for a GED[8] the following year. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. So, join us, plug in, sit back and prepare for scares. Related: A Killer Calls: The Unsolved Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Nancy said it was like that all afternoon she asked questions, and Lori provided evasive answers. 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 Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook 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. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. It's a big Universe full of wonders. And she may have even attempted to break into the family's home, according to the Seattle Times. 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. The Varangians: Viking Conquerors turned Byzantium Honor Guard, The Secret Necropolis of Ancient Varna and the First Goldsmiths. Was she Lori Erica Ruff? She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. Yes! Days later, she applied for and received a Social Security number a move that effectively erased her past. 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. So, it was granted without question. Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. Although she left notes for her husband and her daughter, they didn't provide any clues. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. But Lori tragically died by suicide just before Christmas in 2010. Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. [1] He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. 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. One of television's most popular true-crime series adapted for your ears. 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. She was sending unhinged, threatening emails to the Ruffs; she and her daughter were losing weight; she even possibly tried to break into the Ruffs' home. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. She was eventually identified as a native of suburban Philadelphia who left home at age 17, in the fall of 1986, because she did not get along with her mother and stepfather. Lori acquired Turner's birth certificate in 1988, a time when you could just send a letter requesting a birth certificate with little resistance. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. As with the birth certificate, it was relatively straight forward to acquire a new social security number. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. 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. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. 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. Lori Erica Ruff and Her Various Identities - Historic Mysteries They looked for signs of gambling addiction and sex trafficking. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. The woman received breast implants in 1991 and claimed to have suffered from bulimia in 1990. She then moved to Idaho and procured a drivers license using the deceased girls birth certificate. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. 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. She died by suicide in the driveway of her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. But all that he managed to discover was that Lori had something of a difficult upbringing. By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. They Walk Among Us is an award-winning weekly UK true crime podcast covering a broad range of cases from the sinister to the surreal. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. There were two other pieces of paper. 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. 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. 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. Review our. Who Was Lori Ruff: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on Texas Mystery Woman Les currently resides in London and is a freelance writer with a long standing passion for the unexplained and paranormal. 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. Legal Statement. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. There was a birth and death certificate in the box. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. Who was she? Various identification cards of Lori Ruff (AKA: Kimberly McLean) retrieved from the Social Security Administration. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? Photo Credit: Alchetron. 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. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web.

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