Crimelines walks you through true crime events, pairing captivating tales with clear storytelling. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff (October 16, 1968-December 24, 2010), was an identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. 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. Where Murder Lies is investigating the mysterious case of identity thief Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, aka Kimberly Maria McLean, who, unbeknown to her husband, led a secret life for decades. At the time of this application, Lori quoted her age as 19. Apparently, after Becky Sue Turner perished, a woman turned up and requested a copy of the birth certificate. 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. 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. Pic credit: Family pic. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. In addition, there were no matches for the woman in any existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases. [7] The couple eloped in January 2004 after Nancy Ruff, Blake's mother, inquired about placing a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. 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. Within the next two years, she obtained the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who had died with her two sisters in a house fire in 1971. 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 letter failed to mention crucial details such what was her role and responsibilities. Accept Read More, Jeffrey Alan Lash: His Remarkable Mystery. 2010 42- , . NY Daily News Everyone in Dallas has an accent and she did not. According to Deannes brother, Tom, Kimberly grew irate after her mother and father separated in the 1980s. He found a birth certificate for one person that wasn't her. [3], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. The grieving husbandrecognized the box. 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 Erica Ruff went by many names. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. Trophy Wife: Dirigido por Christian Sesma. Investigators then began to search of hertrue identitya process that would take six years to complete. [1] He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. The response? But all that he managed to discover was that Lori had something of a difficult upbringing. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. We don't take ourselves too seriously but we take true crime very seriously.
Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube 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. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling.
Lori Erica Ruff - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core 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. [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. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. Why had Lori begun behaving so erratically? 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. As far as the authorities were concerned, once Blake called them in, she was an identity thief now given the name "Jane Doe.". Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. Was she Lori Erica Ruff? RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. 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. After the birth of their daughter, Lori's behavior became increasingly strange. This led investigators to believe that Ruff was older than she claimed, although the difference turned out to be less than a year. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. Hair pulled from the woman's head had skin on it that helped forensic investigators learn she had one of the genes associated with coronary artery disease. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. [6] The article was subsequently republished in numerous newspapers around the world. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. Blake and Lori married in 2004the only witness to their marriage was the priest. Nothing. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. 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. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. The family members identified the picture of the mystery woman as Kimberly Mclean. Yes! They looked for signs of gambling addiction and sex trafficking. [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. Other commentators noted that Ruff briefly attended UT Arlington and may have become familiar with the film prior to changing her identity. Included among theitems was a sealed lockbox buried deep in Loriscloset. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. In 2010, he moved back in with his parents and filed for divorce. ", "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 truth of Ruff's deception only came to light after she committed suicide, and some determined investigators began looking into . or redistributed. Related: A Killer Calls: The Unsolved Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs filed a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. Join her as she shows you just how southern fried the justice system can be in the Deep South. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases. In his spare time he enjoys astronomy and Xboxing. 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. 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.
Lori Erica Ruff - Top podcast episodes She then moved to Idaho and obtained a driver's license using Becky's birth certificate, according to news.com.au. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. The Ruff family declined to comment on the story, which was first reported by the Seattle Times on Saturday. [8] Other papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner and a judge's ruling granting a name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. Hosted on Acast. 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. 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. She had stolen the identity of deceased Becky Sue Turner in May 1988 before legally changing her name to "Lori Erica Kennedy ." Following her marriage in 2001, she assumed the surname "Ruff." The only person in attendance at their wedding ceremony, held in a church outside Dallas, was the officiating preacher. Lori Erica Ruff Kept Her Past Locked Up in a Secret Safe Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special.
The Generation Why Podcast: Lori Erica Ruff on Apple Podcasts