See acast.com/privacy for more information. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. 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. She became distressed due to her parents divorce. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. 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. Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. 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. He filed for divorce a short time later. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. Lori Erica Ruff. After four years of attempts, miscarriages, and disappointments, the couple had a daughter. Related: Lady of the Dunes: Was the Unidentified Cape Cod Murder Victim an Extra in Jaws? "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. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. 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. But who she really was is still a mystery. Then, in September 2016, investigators believed they solved the case. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. 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. When Blake met Lori, she went by the name of "Lori Erica Kennedy." Lori didnt take this at all well. Lori Erica Ruff was the alias of an unidentified American woman and identity thief who committed suicide on December 24, 2010 in Longview, Texas. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. Anyone with credible tips on this case is urged to email this reporter at cristina.corbin@foxnews.com. 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. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. 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. 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. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. or redistributed. 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 Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968 - December 24, 2010), was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. 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. [6], On December 24, 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. Lori Erica Ruff Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org She then moved to Idaho and obtained a driver's license using Becky's birth certificate, according to news.com.au. The Bat Bombs of WWII: Presidentially Approved, Totally Anna Anderson: Imposter of Duchess Anastasia, End of the World Predictions that Never Happened. 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. 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. Shewas an accomplished identity thief. 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 . 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 recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. Market data provided by Factset. [3], On Christmas Eve 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. The other was for Blake. All rights reserved. The truth of Ruff's deception only came to light after she committed suicide, and some determined investigators began looking into . Lori attended the University of Texas regularly and graduated with a business administration degree in 1997. "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. It's a big Universe full of wonders. 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 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 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. Hosted on Acast. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. In life, Lori hadwarnedhimto stay away from it. 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. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. 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. Little Beckywas just two years old when she diedin a house fire outside of Seattle, Washington in 1971. Related: Girl in the Green Mac: The Baffling, Unsolved Disappearance of Sheila Fox. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her famil. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. "Criminology" Lori Erica Ruff (Podcast Episode 2021) - IMDb She was eventually identified as a native. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. Any time she got around the family, they would ask her questions and it was uncomfortable for her. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had more problems than he could deal with.. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps. [3], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. 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. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. 2021 Wondery LLC. She wanted to live in her little cocoon.. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The woman received breast implants in 1991 and claimed to have suffered from bulimia in 1990. For years, it was nothing but a series of dead ends. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. 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. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. The contents of this safe put into sharp focus everything that Blake thought he knew about Lori Kennedy. 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. When a woman known as Lori Erica Ruff died in Texas three years ago, she left behind a mystery that has investigators baffled. Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. Then, in September 2016, the case of Lori Erica Ruff was finally solved: her real name wasKimberly McLean. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. Where is Lori Ruff's Daughter Now? - The Cinemaholic 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. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. Lori and Blake tried to have a child almost immediately after they were married, but found themselves experiencing fertility issues. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. 2010 42- , . Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. 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. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. 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. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. Yes! She also began sending harassing e-mails to the Ruffs, created a scene at a custody hearing, and stole a set of house keys from them. 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. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. As many of you know, "Lori Ruff" is the assumed name of an otherwise anonymous woman who died in 2010. 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. Lori Ruff | Unidentified Wiki | Fandom Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. 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. All rights reserved. According to the Seattle Times, a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruffs background began after the paper ran a story on her in 2013. Who was she? 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. Related: The Strange Case of the Isdal Woman. And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? 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. Most of these discoveries came from talking to those that she had worked with previously. By changing her name, she created a clean identity a person with no past.. 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.' She arrived at this identity by way of a girl named Becky Sue Turner. 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. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. Blake did learn that Lori was born somewhere in Arizona. She obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. 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. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Different cultures define matrimony in different ways and tie the knot for various reasons. 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. Investigators wondered if she had been a KGB agent, or if she had been in the military and gone AWOL. Before she took her own life with a shotgun, Lori placed a pair of letters inside the car. But, it didn't happen easily and it took the hard work of a number of people and a little One was for her daughter. Accept Read More, Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. [3], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter. 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. [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 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. She died by suicide in the driveway of her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. Lori Erica Kennedy / Lori Ruff - Identified - Facebook Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. It did. She didnt even allow the publication of the announcement of their nuptials in the local newspaper either. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . 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.