This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Related: Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. 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.. 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. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. Image: Social Security Administration. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. The woman told doctors in 2005 that she was 35 a claim Velling doubts. 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. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Prior to marrying Blake, Loriwas known as Lori Erica Kennedy. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Accept Read More, Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. 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. Photo Credit: Alchetron. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. This page was last modified on 5 May 2016, at 17:33. 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. The two moved to Leonard, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas and roughly 125 miles from Ruffs parents in Longview. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. 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. Find a Grave Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. 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.' [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. She was much older than that, he said. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. He filed for divorce a short time later. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity. [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. All rights reserved. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. 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. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her famil. 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 . Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. See acast.com/privacy for more information. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. We now need to revise that list to seven, since one of those mysteries has now been solved. Lori Erica Ruff Criminology podcast Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. In 2016, she was identified as. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. The other had dates and the letters D and M on it. The pair set up a home together and tried to start a family. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. It was under this new assumed name that sheeventually moved to the Dallas area, where she met andmarried Blake Ruff. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. 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. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. [3], In 2003, she met Blake Ruff, the son of a well-established family in East Texas,[2][3] in a Bible study class. 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. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. 2021 Wondery LLC. 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. 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 obtained a Texas drivers license in 1989, listing her age as 19. The Mystery of Identity Thief Lori Erica Ruff - Mental Floss [1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]. 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. It was either she or his family, and he chose his family, Velling said. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. Ruff had a first cousin named Cassidy on her list of matches; however, the name was very common and the cousin was not responsive. 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. It was in 2010 when events finally took their toll on her. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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 - identity SOLVED? : r/UnresolvedMysteries - reddit Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. Lori left behind two suicide notes, one of which was addressed to her husband and the other to her young daughter. Blake did learn that Lori was born somewhere in Arizona. 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. 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. Lori Ruff & The Dark Secret She Hid From Everyone - YouTube [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. Legal Statement. By the time Blake Ruff's wife died, he realized he didn't know her at all. 1,529 likes. In 1989, her new identity was completed with a Texas drivers license. As far as the authorities were concerned, once Blake called them in, she was an identity thief now given the name "Jane Doe.". Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. But who she really was is still a mystery. The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. 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. 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. The Varangians: Viking Conquerors turned Byzantium Honor Guard, The Secret Necropolis of Ancient Varna and the First Goldsmiths. 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. Every day, stories unfold that have no resolution. Erica Kelley is a native Tennessean exploring historical and contemporary true crime in the South. "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. For several years, nobody suspected anything. or redistributed. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. 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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. 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. Or, maybe she was none of them. She died by suicide in the driveway of her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. 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. When asked about her background,Lori was guarded and evasive; she claimed her parents were dead and she had no siblings. Mother and child spent a lot of time together, which is normal for such a doting mother. It is one thing to suspect Lori Erica Ruff of being a simple identity thief, but it is another thing to understand why. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. Trophy Wife (2022) - IMDb After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. Lori acquired Turner's birth certificate in 1988, a time when you could just send a letter requesting a birth certificate with little resistance. Although she left notes for her husband and her daughter, they didn't provide any clues. She didnt even allow the publication of the announcement of their nuptials in the local newspaper either. Synopsis The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. 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. The other was for Blake. [2] She would also obsessively track the Ruffs' family history and try to find out their family recipes, but still refused to talk about her past. The request was made in Bakersfield, California. There were two other pieces of paper. Lori began to complain to Blake about his parents whenever she was even mildly inconvenienced. Strange life of identity thief Lori Ruff, aka Kimberly McLean 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. How had their marriage fallen apart? When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. Her father-in-law discovered her body inside Blakes car. In the days following her death, he began the grim task of sorting . Becky was born in one state and died in another, making it much less likely that a fraudulent use of her identity would be noticed. [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. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. 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. They then discovered the lock box in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. 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. Want more real-life mysteries? It's a big Universe full of wonders. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. 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. Real Life is Horror. All rights reserved. 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. The only person in attendance was the preacher. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology, Learn more about your ad choices. 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. 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. She enrolled in Dallas County Community College,[7] and in 1997 she graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in business administration. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. 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. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. 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. However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. [8], In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. She was overly protective, and she refused to let other people hold their daughter. 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. And she was aggressive about it, Velling said. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? Be the first to contribute! She would regularly be seen with her in some of her favorite tea shops. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. She obtained this identity via a girl named Becky Sue Turner, who died in 1971 in a house fire near Seattle, Washington. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. 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. His letter contained pages of incoherent rambling. Lori Erica Ruff went by many names. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. Last spring, we brought you 8 Mysterious People Without a Past, a list of individuals who seemed to have had much of their early existence wiped from history. Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. In the days that followed, Blake tried to make sense of how things had gone so wrong. [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. Sources Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. 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. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. As with the birth certificate, it was relatively straight forward to acquire a new social security number. The local police department began a routine investigation and quickly found a safe at the bottom of a closet. 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. According to Deannes brother, Tom, Kimberly grew irate after her mother and father separated in the 1980s. The house was in total shambles. Image: http://reallifeishorror.blogspot.co.uk/. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. 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. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Lori and Blake tried to have a child almost immediately after they were married, but found themselves experiencing fertility issues. However, according to records, Becky Sue Turner asphyxiated in a house fire when she was just 2 years old.