", "Texas woman's true identity baffles ex-husband, authorities years after her suicide", "She stole another's identity, and took her secret to the grave. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. There was a birth and death certificate in the box. I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. [3], In 2003, she met Blake Ruff, the son of a well-established family in East Texas,[2][3] in a Bible study class. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. 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. 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. She was very private and didn't open to people about her past. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Ruff gradually acquired more documents in her new name, including a Social Security number. Sources 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. She also took a birth date of July 18, 1969. Pic credit: Family pic. Perhaps because of these miscarriages, Lori was ultra-protective of her daughter. She would regularly be seen with her in some of her favorite tea shops. 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. 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. Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. All rights reserved. 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. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. After the birth of their daughter, Lori's behavior became increasingly strange. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. She was never too keen to go into further detail. It took hard work on the part of investigators and some unique forensic genealogy for the truth to come out. She parked her car, left it running, and shot herself. Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. Now, as he opened it, he understood why it was forbidden territory. Lori Erica Ruff (2021 Podcast Episode) Plot Showing all 0 items Jump to: Summaries It looks like we don't have any Plot Summaries for this title yet. [4] She also said her father was a failed stockbroker. Ruff had a first cousin named Cassidy on her list of matches; however, the name was very common and the cousin was not responsive. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. According to the Seattle Times , a crowd-sourced investigation into Ruff's background began after the paper ran . When he returned to his parents, he filed for a divorce. Upon opening the container, Blakediscovered why: Inside was a birth certificate and IDs belonging to several different people. The house was in total shambles. 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. Whatever the motivation behind one man entering wedlock to one woman, both parties usually do know each other intimately. 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 Morf as they discuss the mysterious Lori Erica Ruff. During all of this, Blake continued in his efforts to pry more details from the mother of his baby. Her mothers remarriage didnt help either and she told her family she was going away. [3], Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family. [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 Erica Ruff Kept Her Past Locked Up in a Secret Safe Blake Ruff thought he had found someone special. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter, and receive our eeriest cases delivered straight to your inbox. 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. [6], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. Strange life of identity thief Lori Ruff, aka Kimberly McLean Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Buried deep in the back of Lori's closet, Blake pulled out a sealed lockbox. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. Four years filled with miscarriages and disappointments passed. They tried several times to have a child, but she had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. Authorities believe she initially traveled to the home with the intent of harming the family.[6]. 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. 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. One was for her daughter. With the help of investigator Joe Velling, he traced the DNA to a family in Pennsylvania. It was signed by a man called Roger Steinbeck. Papers belonging to Ruff, who had been married with a child, surfaced after her suicide indicating she had once been known as Lori Kennedy, and prior to that, as Becky Sue Turner, the name of a young girl who had died in a Washington state fire in 1971. Want more real-life mysteries? | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. 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. She wasnt Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. Lori kept to herself, rarely speaking Finally, in 2008, the pair had a daughter, conceived with in vitro fertilization. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. Lori Erica Ruff's true identity was Kimberly McLean. [1], Fitzpatrick informed Joe Velling, who had in the meantime retired from the SSA. Lori Ruff | Unidentified Wiki | Fandom However, according to records, Becky Sue Turner asphyxiated in a house fire when she was just 2 years old. Perhaps Lori was creating parents for the benefit of Blake. The Strange Life and Death of Lori Erica Ruff The tension between the Ruffs continued to grow as the new grandparents were rebuffed from visits. Lori Erica Ruff - YouTube The family members identified the picture of the mystery woman as Kimberly Mclean. He describes her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. All rights reserved. But Blake was in love. 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. She then moved to Idaho and procured a drivers license using the deceased girls birth certificate. Blake, who was close with his parents, couldn't take it anymore. In 2010, after she took her own life, secrets were revealed and the truth about her past began to unravel. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is "Jane Doe," a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her famil. The contents of this safe put into sharp focus everything that Blake thought he knew about Lori Kennedy. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". McLean also asked them not to come after her. 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. In 2013, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist Collen Fitzpatrick worked on Ruffs case and new details emerged about her past. Who was she? The writings on the paper found in the lock box included the scribblings "North Hollywood police," "402 months," and "Ben Perkins." 1,529 likes. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. He revealed that Lori considered it to be a personal item that must never be opened. In the days following her death, hebegan the grim task of sortingthrough his wifespossessions. Velling traveled to the city and approached a member of the Cassidy family, who saw Loris drivers license photo. Was she Lori Erica Ruff? She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. Blake admitted knowledge of the box. [3], The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity. Shortly after marrying Ruff, Jane Doe tried repeatedly to conceive a child of her own with much difficulty, according to Velling. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. After marrying, the couple moved away from the senior Ruffs, who lived in eastern Texas, settling in Leonard, Texas, in the southwestern region. Lori Erica Ruff - Wikipedia All of that work by the investigators traced several links back in the history of Lori Ruff's false identities, but they still didn't know who she really was. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. It's a big Universe full of wonders. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.