The Strangest Suicide : The True Story of Lori Erica Ruff

By Sheila Dawkins

Lori Ruff was an identity thief whose real identity remained unknown for almost six years after her death. As a teenager, she could not cope with the divorce of her parents and moved away. She stole a birth certificate of a young girl who died in a fire then used the certificate to get an identification card in the state of Idaho. From there, she moved to Texas and changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. She would then acquire a new Social Security number and other documents in her false name...She would get married and start a family...But Lori's world would soon fall apart, however, as she slowly unraveled while living the lie. This would lead to her taking her own life on Christmas Eve of 2010....Her death would leave behind one giant question...Who was Lori Ruff?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trellis Publishing
• Release date: Jul 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201939007

Book preview

THE STRANGEST SUICIDE: THE TRUE STORY LORI ERICA RUFF

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SHEILA DAWKINS 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LORI RUFF

MISTY COPSEY

RAILROAD KILLER

Lori Ruff was an identity thief whose real identity remained unknown for almost six years after her death.

As a teenager, she could not cope with the divorce of her parents and moved away. She stole a birth certificate of a young girl who died in a fire then used the certificate to get an identification card in the state of Idaho. From there, she moved to Texas and changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy.

She would then acquire a new Social Security number and other documents in her false name.

She would get married and start a family.

But Lori's world would soon fall apart, however, as she slowly unraveled while living the lie. This would lead to her taking her own life on Christmas Eve of 2010.

Her death would leave behind one giant question.

Who was Lori Ruff?

Lori was born as Kimberly McLean on October 16th, 1968. She grew up to be tall, a little over five-feet-eight, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She moved away from her parent's home in 1986 at the age of eighteen. Two years later, she would request the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old girl who was killed in a house fire in Fife, Washington in 1971. She was in Bakersfield, CA at the time and once she received Turner's birth certificate she traveled to Idaho to get a driver's license.

Back in the day the 1980s it was quite easy to get someone else's birth certificate, journalist Joseph Jorgensen said. The reason why or how Lori came upon the identity of Becky Turner is unclear. There was speculation that somehow she was a distant relative that Lori knew about. A private investigator on her case stated that she most likely walked through a graveyard with a notebook and jotted down names of people who died young. She came upon Becky Sue Turner and decided to choose her. Again, her only goal was to get the birth certificate. From there, she could do whatever she wanted in regards to getting a new identity.

Now known as Becky Sue Turner, Lori knew she had to continue to cover her tracks. She traveled to Dallas less than a month later and had her name legally changed to Lori Erica Kennedy. This allowed her to get a new social security number, completing her new identity.

She was a woman on the run, Jorgensen said. A lot of people get the false identity in order to collect welfare checks. But that doesn't appear to be the case with Lori as she didn't seem to do it for financial gain. She clearly did something or was on the run from someone. What exactly it was we don't really know. The speculation for years is that she may have committed a crime. What is certain is that she knew exactly what she was doing. Lori was very smart.

Lori then received a driver license under her new name and took the test to gain her GED.

She also had a breast augmentation performed as well as a rhinoplasty. Why? Because she was on the stripper's pole.

She had claimed she suffered from bulimia, Jorgensen said. One of the few clues we have about her past was her references she had on her student loan applications. One of the people she listed was a former classmate whom she had briefly dated. When this guy was contacted by a private investigator, he said that Lori had 'more problems that she could deal with.' He said she was stripping at a Dallas nightclub while she was in college.

But Lori was determined to make her life better. She would attend Dallas County Community College then transfer to the University of Texas at Arlington all under the assumed name.

She would graduate with a degree in Business Administration in 1997.

A NORMAL LIFE?

In 2003, Lori would meet Blake Ruff in a Bible study class. Blake came from a well-to-do family in East Texas but became smitten by the tall brunette.

Lori was tall, Jorgensen said. She has been described as having abnormally large hands. Supposedly she worked as a hand model at one point. Taking into account her breast augmentation and a nice smile, she didn't seem to want for male suitors. She was probably looking for someone who had gentleman tendencies and that was definitely Blake Ruff.

The Ruffs were the type of people who send their kids to boarding school while socializing at the country club and