Lori Erica Ruff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lori Erica Ruff
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2001 photo of Ruff
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| Born |
Kimberly Maria McLean
October 16, 1968 |
| Died | December 24, 2010 (aged 42) Longview, Texas, U.S.
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| Other names | Lori Erica Kennedy, Becky Sue Turner |
| Known for | Formerly unidentified identity thief |
| Spouse(s) |
Blake Ruff
(m. 2004; div. 2010) |
| Children | 1 |
Kimberly Maria McLean, also known as Lori Erica Kennedy Ruff, was an American woman who lived using a fake identity. She was born on October 16, 1968, and died on December 24, 2010. For almost six years after her death, no one knew her real name.
She was finally identified as Kimberly Maria McLean, who grew up near Philadelphia. She left home at age 17 in 1986 because she didn't get along with her mother and stepfather. Soon after, she got the birth certificate of a young girl named Becky Sue Turner, who had died in a fire. McLean used this document to get an ID card in Idaho. She then moved to Texas and legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy.
Lori Ruff slowly gathered more official papers under her new name, including a Social Security number. She earned her GED and a college degree. She then married into a wealthy family in East Texas and had a daughter. However, she was very secretive, which caused problems with her husband's family. Her marriage eventually ended. She died on Christmas Eve 2010 at her former in-laws' home in Longview, Texas.
After her death, her husband and his family found clues about her fake identity in a locked box. A newspaper article in 2013 about her case became very popular. It sparked a lot of interest among online "websleuths," who are like online detectives trying to solve mysteries.
Lori Ruff's true identity remained a secret until 2016. Her real name was found using public records and DNA testing from her husband and daughter. This led investigators back to the McLean–Cassidy family in Philadelphia.
Contents
Her Early Life and New Identity
In May 1988, Kimberly McLean got the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner. Becky Sue was a two-year-old girl who had died in a house fire in Fife, Washington, in 1971. McLean requested the birth certificate in Bakersfield, California, where Becky Sue Turner was born. She then went to Idaho and used the document to get a state ID card on June 16.
McLean, pretending to be Becky Sue Turner, went to a judge in Dallas on July 5, 1988. There, she legally changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. A week later, she got a Social Security number, which helped her hide her real identity. She also chose a new birth date: July 18, 1969. In 1989, she received a Texas driver's license. The next year, she earned her GED. She studied at Dallas County Community College. In 1997, she graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in business.
Starting a New Family
In 2003, Lori McLean met Jon Blakely "Blake" Ruff in a Bible study class. Blake's family was well-known in East Texas. Blake said Lori was very secretive, especially about her past. She told him she was from Arizona, that her parents had died, and that she had no brothers or sisters. She also said her childhood was unhappy.
The couple decided to get married quickly in January 2004. This happened after Blake's mother, Nancy Ruff, asked about putting a wedding announcement in the local newspaper. Only the preacher was at their wedding ceremony, which took place in a church near Dallas.
After they married, the Ruffs moved to Leonard, Texas. They tried to have a child many times. Lori had trouble getting pregnant and faced challenges starting a family. This made investigators think she might be older than she claimed. She eventually gave birth to a baby girl in 2008 through In vitro fertilisation.
Uncovering the Truth
After Lori's funeral, some of the Ruff family went to her house in Leonard. They wanted to find out more about her. They found a lock box in a closet. They opened it and found documents from Lori Ruff's past. These papers included the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner. There was also a judge's paper showing her name change to Lori Erica Kennedy. A family friend confirmed that Becky Sue Turner had died in a house fire at age two.
Because Lori Ruff had hidden her identity so well, even before the internet was common, some people wondered if she had help from someone who specialized in creating new identities.
In September 2011, the Ruff family asked for help from Joe Velling. He was an investigator for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Velling agreed to help identify Lori as a case of identity theft. After many attempts, he was stuck. He then asked the public for help. An article about the case was published on June 22, 2013, in The Seattle Times. This article was then shared in many newspapers around the world.
How She Was Identified
Colleen M. Fitzpatrick, a scientist who uses family history to solve mysteries, learned about Lori Ruff in 2013. She started working on the case. Fitzpatrick had Lori's husband and daughter take DNA tests. She was able to figure out Lori's DNA results by comparing them to her husband's. Lori had a first cousin named Cassidy in her DNA matches. However, the name was common, and the cousin didn't respond.
After two years, Fitzpatrick finally identified Lori Ruff. She found a third cousin match who was related to the Cassidys. Knowing who this third cousin was helped her discover Lori's true identity.
Fitzpatrick told Joe Velling, who had retired from the SSA. He flew to Pennsylvania to meet the potential family. Velling spoke to a relative, who immediately confirmed that the deceased Lori Ruff was Kimberly McLean.
Images for kids
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2001 photo of Ruff
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School portrait of McLean, around 1984
