The only person in attendance was the preacher. Kimberly Maria McLean, a.k.a. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. 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. 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." Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. Lori didnt take this at all well. They then discovered the lockbox in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. After four years of attempts, miscarriages, and disappointments, the couple had a daughter. His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school], Velling said. Lori Erica Ruff The Generation Why Podcast. Hersuicide cameafter Blake had filed fordivorce and moved back in with his parents. 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. If you can never get enough true crime Congratulations, youve found your people. They married and had a daughter together. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. 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, with the child, Lori's behavior became even more erratic. Lori's behavior caused immense tensions between Lori and the Ruffs, even keeping the new grandparents from visiting their granddaughter. 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. Or, Lori Erika Kennedy? Ruff described her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. 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. She had brown hair and hazel eyes. [1] She eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997, with a degree in Business Administration. Lori would also spend time fidgeting and stare at the palms and back of her hands. Whatever the motivation behind one man entering wedlock to one woman, both parties usually do know each other intimately. 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. Some people can explain all of this with nothing more sinister than the Witness Protection Program. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. 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. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs filed a cease and desist order just before Lori's death. When given the chance for an extravagant and lavish wedding day to remember, Lori declined the offer. After marrying, the couple moved away from the senior Ruffs, who lived in eastern Texas, settling in Leonard, Texas, in the southwestern region. Watch 48 Hours Saturday 10/9c on CBS and Paramount+ and hear all new episodes every Sunday. 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. And when asked about her days in high school, she said she skipped it and went straight to college. In July 1988, she moved to Dallas, where, according to court documents, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. Early on Christmas Eve, Lori drove over to the Ruff house. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. Related: The Strange Case of the Isdal Woman. [6], Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter; as a result, the Ruffs began encouraging Blake to get out of the marriage. 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. 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. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. The news of Kimberlys death saddened her mother deeply. She began to lose weight and attended counseling sessions held at the local church. A friend of the family verified that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at the age of 2. She refused to let other people hold the child and was overly protective, even for a first-time mother. Real Life is Horror. At the time, a request of this nature was hardly unusual. [3], On Christmas Eve 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. She then moved to Idaho and obtained a driver's license using Becky's birth certificate, according to news.com.au. See acast.com/privacy for more information. The trail leading backwards was in the forbidden lockbox. Police also found a curious letter within the safe. McLean also asked them not to come after her. Over time the pair grew closer and eventually, they eloped to Dallas. But this could have simply been a number picked for convenience purposes only. Four years filled with miscarriages and disappointments passed. Eager to meet her, the family invited her to lunch. After her death, Lori's husband found a lockbox with papers inside that shed light on his wife's past. He filed for divorce a short time later. Yes! And why didn't she see any other option but to end her own life? However, over time he began to get the impression that he was the only one trying to make their marriage work. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Con Erica Peeples, Tiffany Black, Sean Patrick Thomas, Chris Sakyi. Lori definitely was not who she portrayed herself to be, so who was she? 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. [1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008. [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. Many of these sessions tended to feature increasingly strange behavior on her part. It had the instructions to open on her 18th birthday. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theywalkamongus. 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. Sometime later, Blake's father left the house to pick up the paper. 2021 Wondery LLC. Les currently resides in London and is a freelance writer with a long standing passion for the unexplained and paranormal. One of television's most popular true-crime series adapted for your ears. When contacted, however, Perkins stated that he had never heard of Becky Sue Turner or Lori Kennedy. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. It's a big Universe full of wonders. Late in 2015, Velling received a call from a former nuclear physicist and forensic genealogist named Colleen Fitzpatrick, who had been following the case online. The tall and slender brunette met Ruff at a bible study group and introduced herself as Lori Kennedy. [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. Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American identity thief who remained unidentified for nearly six years after her death. Lori acquired Becky Turners birth certificate in 1988. In 1989, her new identity was completed with a Texas drivers license. However, the Mclean family now has a granddaughter who offers a glimpse of their beloved Kimberly. As far as the police officers could tell, Lori never traveled abroad before 1990, as there is no passport with that name. [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. It did. His wifewas not who she claimed to be. The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories. In 1986, Kimberly McLean ran away from her home at the age of 18. Loris husband, Blake Ruff, was devastated. 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. The investigation into her suicide hit dead end after dead end. [4] She also said her father was a failed stockbroker. However, it was written on hotel stationery from Bangkok, Thailand. Legal Statement. Based on her own research, and a DNA sample the Ruff family submitted that indicated Lori had a first cousin named Michael Cassidy, Fitzpatrick suggested Velling contact the Cassidy family in Philadelphia. 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. [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. Numerous theories regarding her identity can be found on various internet websites. While the hotel was genuine and a favored haunt of numerous celebrities, there was no trace of the author. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. She wasn't Lori Erica Ruffshe was a Pennsylvania woman named Kimberly McLean. 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. But all that he managed to discover was that Lori had something of a difficult upbringing. Ruff had a first cousin named Cassidy on her list of matches; however, the name was very common and the cousin was not responsive. Blake was caught in the middle, and eventually he couldn't take it anymore. And she had no accent, leading Velling to believe she originally came from the Pacific Northwest or West Coast. Ruff did his best to find out as much about his new partner as he could. [7] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in vitro fertilisation in 2008. 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. It was either she or his family, and he chose his family, Velling said. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings. Find a Grave As with the birth certificate, it was relatively straight forward to acquire a new social security number. Nothing. 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. Related: Girl in the Green Mac: The Baffling, Unsolved Disappearance of Sheila Fox. 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 . 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. By changing her name, she created a clean identity a person with no past.. When Lori Erica Kennedy took her own life, she left behind evidence that she'd stolen another's identity. She and her young daughter had visibly lost weight. [3], After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. I think she was born sometime between 1960 and 1968., Records gathered by Velling provide tantalizing clues. ", "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she? 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. In a matter of months, Lori completely deteriorated. She had ended her life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. DNA taken from the body might also help crack the case. After several months living as Becky Sue Turner, she legally changed her name to Lori Kennedy and moved to the Dallas area, where she met Blake Ruff. That created a lot of heartburn for the family.. If Lori was trying to escape her past, then it could explain her reluctance for publicity. I find her case fascinating, especially in a post-9/11 world where there are so many avenues for identifying individuals. After several miscarriages, the couple finally had a daughter in 2008. In 2016, she was identified as. Yes! These secrets Lori Ruff had kept from even her husband, Blake Ruff, and his family. Lori Erica Ruff. Lori Erica Ruff was a secretive person. To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. This was very sophisticated, Velling said. After she died, her ex-husband's family discovered a lockbox in a closet in her home. About a month afterward, the certificate was used to obtain legal identification in Idaho. 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. Fitzpatrick found matching DNA records using saliva samples of Blake and Loris daughter. Due to her off-putting[opinion][clarification needed], secretive[citation needed] behavior, she clashed with her husband's family, and her marriage eventually collapsed. Interesting history topics are just a click away. Join us for a good mix of lesser known cases as well as our take on what we call the "Big Timers". The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death.