Lori Erica Ruff
Lori Erica Ruff | |
|---|---|
 2001 photo of Ruff | |
| Born | Unknown c. 1960-1969 |
| Died | December 24, 2010 (aged c. 41-50) |
| Cause of death | Suicide by gunshot |
| Other names | Lori Erica Kennedy, Becky Sue Turner |
| Known for | Unidentified identity thief |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Spouse |
Blake Ruff
(m. 2004; div. 2010) |
| Children | 1 daughter (b. 2008) |
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. 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.
On March 16th, 2016, rumors circulated that she had been identified by means of a DNA comparison to a missing person from the Pennsylvania area, who was eighteen years old at the time of her disappearance, and on March 17th, 2016, sources appeared to confirm this. [citation needed]
Activities prior to marriage
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. The request was made in Bakersfield, California.[1] She then traveled to Idaho, where she obtained a state ID card on June 16 using the girl's birth certificate.[2]
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. 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.[1] She eventually graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997, with a degree in Business Administration.
A man who knew Ruff during this time has stated that she worked as a stripper in the early 1990s. She also received breast implants during this time.[3]
Marriage
In 2003, Ruff met Blake Ruff, the son of a well-established family in East Texas,[2][3] in a bible study class. Blake Ruff has admitted that he isn't completely sure what drew him to Lori. He describes her as being incredibly secretive, particularly regarding her past. She had told him she was from Arizona, that both her parents were dead, and that she had no siblings.[4] She also said her father was a failed stockbroker.[1] Despite the questions Blake's family had about Lori, the couple married in January 2004. The only person in attendance was the preacher.[3]
After getting married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. They tried several times to have a child, but had trouble conceiving and suffered multiple miscarriages. This has led investigators to believe that Ruff was much older than she claimed to be.[1] She eventually gave birth to a baby girl via in-vitro fertilization in 2008.[3]
Divorce and suicide
Marriage breakdown
Ruff was incredibly overprotective of her daughter, often refusing to let anyone else hold her, which angered her husband's family.[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. Additionally, she displayed many asocial behaviors, such as leaving social gatherings to take naps.[3]
Eventually, Ruff did not want her in-laws to have any contact with her daughter. After some failed marriage therapy meetings, Blake Ruff moved back to his parents' house in Longview and filed for divorce, leaving Lori with their daughter in Leonard.[2]
Suicide
In the months between the separation and Lori's suicide, she behaved very erratically. A neighbor recalled that she and her daughter appeared to be very thin and that Lori would often ramble incoherently about her problems. 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. The harassment was so severe that the Ruffs were planning to file a cease and desist order just before Lori's death.[3]
On Christmas Eve 2010, Ruff's body was discovered in her car in the Ruffs' driveway, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. In the car were two suicide notes: an 11-page one addressed to "my wonderful husband" and another addressed to her daughter, to be opened on her 18th birthday.[citation needed]
Investigation
Discovery of past
After Lori's funeral, some of the Ruffs drove to Leonard to see if they can find out more about her in her house. 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. They then discovered the lockbox in a closet, pried it open with a screwdriver, and discovered the documentation of Ruff's past. Also found in the lockbox was a paper with several seemingly random scribblings.[3]
Theories
The suicide notes were quickly determined to be incoherent ramblings that offered no clues to Ruff's identity.[2] The writings on the paper found in the lockbox included the scribblings "North Hollywood police", "402 months", and "Ben Perkins", who turned out to be an attorney. 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. However, Perkins has no memory of the woman, and there were no matches for the woman in fingerprint and facial recognition databases.[3] The fact that Ruff was able to cover up her identity so well in a time before the Internet has led to speculation that she had visited an "identity broker".[3]
Rule-outs
The following people have been ruled out as possible identities for Ruff:[5]
- Clara Giusti
- Michelle Giusti
- Helen Green
- Parley Pate
- Denise Sheehy
- Tina Walls
Description
Ruff was a white female, who was approximately 41 to 50 years old when she committed suicide. She was above average height at 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall, and weighed 160 pounds (73 kg). She had brown hair and hazel eyes.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Corbin, Cristina. "Three years after Texas woman's suicide, a question lingers: Who was she?". foxnews.com. Fox News. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Golgowski, Nina. "Texas woman's true identity baffles ex-husband, authorities years after her suicide". nydailynews.com. New York Daily News. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "She stole another's identity, and took her secret to the grave. Who was she?". www.seattletimes.com. Seattle Times. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ "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". dailymail.co.uk. Daily Mail.
- ^ a b "NamUs UP # 9863". identifyus.org. NamUs.