It does not list Kimberly or her sister as surviving daughters of his. It's the other reason I was hesitant. It is, however, a man that fits the following: He was 48, has the same name as the father listed in the Seattle Times article, died in 1987 in another part of PA, and was (re)married to a woman in 1985 who had children of her own. His occupation is not listed, but he is survived by a brother, who is later listed in his own obituary as being an electrician and a volunteer fire fighter. This brother, and the man I believe may be her father are from another state and are buried there with other M family members. The source of all this is an actual newspaper obituary, and not a people.search site.
Lori Ruff Identified as Kimberly McLean of PA
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It does not list Kimberly or her sister as surviving daughters of his. It's the other reason I was hesitant. It is, however, a man that fits the following: He was 48, has the same name as the father listed in the Seattle Times article, died in 1987 in another part of PA, and was (re)married to a woman in 1985 who had children of her own. His occupation is not listed, but he is survived by a brother, who is later listed in his own obituary as being an electrician and a volunteer fire fighter. This brother, and the man I believe may be her father are from another state and are buried there with other M family members. The source of all this is an actual newspaper obituary, and not a people.search site.
I actually live in the area - about 30 mins from Philly...I've been telling everyone about this story in the past few days and no one had heard of it. It also came up on my FB feed but only because I follow a few missing persons groups, otherwise nothing...
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CoverMeCagney
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That was one of the most spine-tingling, nerve-racking moments of my sleuthing history - when his friend recognised him and the wheels were set in motion. Great case!
Strange he would not list his daughters. I think i found that one too. I am not sure about it. That movie about the woman who creates a new identity Positive ID came out at the end of 1987 and it sounds like her father dies around that time. Wonder if it pushed her in that direction. You would think a teen who was mad about the divorce might side with one of the parents. It clearly wasn't the mother in this case.
If it was in central PA it was the same one. Yeah, a lot of things fall into place in the time line, but the omission of the sisters is strange. Though I assume suriving family write those, and if the families had broken contact after the split, it's not shocking it would be left out.
I've also now seen elsewhere someone list the fathers death was in September 87. My obituary is from June 87. Is September 87 known as his death date. This is the only thing I am looking for, because it is part of Kimberly's time line.
CoverMeCagney
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I wonder if, now the Cassidy/McLean family knows what to google, they have stumbled upon us and are reading what we say. If they are, I hope they aren't upset by the 1000's of posts and all manner of wild speculation, I hope instead they take solace that so many strangers cared. It must be such a difficult time for them and the Ruffs, relief mixed with plenty of sadness I'm sure.
She'd moved away from her mum and stepdad already when she went missing, and wrote them a note saying she was going for good and not to look for her. Something must have triggered the extreme actions that took place next, and knowing her dad died in 1987 I feel there might well be a link there. BUT, she could have been running from something else entirely, something not family related, maybe an abusive relationship, trouble at work, threat of court action or something like that that made her want to get as far away as possible and start over. We might never find out.
Hoping the Philly newspaper article tomorrow might trigger some more solid news about her middle years. We shall see.
She'd moved away from her mum and stepdad already when she went missing, and wrote them a note saying she was going for good and not to look for her. Something must have triggered the extreme actions that took place next, and knowing her dad died in 1987 I feel there might well be a link there. BUT, she could have been running from something else entirely, something not family related, maybe an abusive relationship, trouble at work, threat of court action or something like that that made her want to get as far away as possible and start over. We might never find out.
Hoping the Philly newspaper article tomorrow might trigger some more solid news about her middle years. We shall see.
Wyle_E_Coyote
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If they are twins, the middle names make sense. A lot of people like to give twins similar names, or related names. I grew up with Susan Mary and Mary Susan.
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Do we know that the piece coming out in Philly tomorrow is their own new article and not a reprint of O'Hagan's work?
CoverMeCagney
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Could just be a reprint. However, it will be reaching a more relevant audience and now, with a name, more people might remember her.
If it is just a reprint, it is already out online under the paper's website. It will probably be printed in the Sunday hard copy then. But yeah, it will reach people that may have known here. In the online version, they ask people that knew her to discuss it in the comments there.
2Hope4
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Am glad this case was solved! We may never hear anymore about it, but Lori's child may at some point want to know more, and hopefully she'll get her answers. But she may be like Lori, and decide what's in the past is best left in the past, we may never know.
Since the past few years, literally the internet is in the majority of people's lives, even people in their 70-80s as I have a few of them on my FB. However there are people that have NEVER touched a computer, and would have no idea about how to use one. My Grandma was one of them. And she was beyond ticked off when she found out a grandchild had put a photo of her on FB during a celebration. She was adamant that SHE didn't have a FB, didn't know what one was, and didn't want HER photo anywhere on it. So much so that the photo was removed. Ironic when she died, the internet is how most people knew.
I can see Lori's biological father giving her money for an apartment, or to help her live on her own in the beginning. If she was close to him, or had contact with him. But we don't even know if they had a relationship BEFORE the divorce, much less after! And in the grand scheme of things, does it matter? I don't think so.
I think our objection changed over the years. We set out to find out who this mysterious person was that had changed names twice that we know of. That goal has been accomplished! Lori's biological family now know what happened to her, and she is deceased now. They likely will never know the why's, or how's either.
I was shocked seeing that Lori was finally identified. Now, I'm not sure how I feel other than satisfied there's a positive identification, and those that knew both Lori, and Kim can hopefully feel some closure.
As a side note, I have two family members, one from my husband's family, one from my family that left for California decades ago. There's been NO contact since with my family member, who I never met. With my husband's cousin, I was able to track him down many years ago, and get him in contact with my husband's aunt (who didn't use the internet) as she loved him, wanted to hear his voice, and know he was OK. Sadly when she died in June, I couldn't find him again to let him know. In the past he would only communicate with me via email, but would call and talk with my husband's aunt. She said it was most certainly him, and they chatted about childhood memories, etc. He left because he was gay, and didn't want family to know, and didn't think he would be accepted, but had heard it was accepted in California. Again, we're talking at least 40yrs ago.
I don't even know the name of my cousin that disappeared anymore. I did search for him for years, but never got a hit anywhere that would identify him as him. Yes I check those UID with hopes to someday know where he is, or what happened. Never met him either, but it was always in the back of my Grandma's mind, and she would bring it up....Mom has mentioned it several times as well. We may never know.
SO much has changed in the last few decades! SO very much!! Mental health issues ARE being talked about, even in MSM now! You didn't see that before. And there's databases with people's prior addresses, and present. There's been leaps and bounds changes in how a missing person was investigated then versus now. Neither of the two I personally mentioned have been listed as missing. They were both adults that chose to leave on their own will, for their own reasons. Whether they ever try to find anything about their past, I don't know.
It brings back a saying my father use to say "They are a long way from home." Meaning a person will tell you what they want you to know, and their viewpoint of the past may or may not be accurate, but you have no way of knowing as you don't know their family and friends to vet any of the information. So take it with a grain of salt.
Since the past few years, literally the internet is in the majority of people's lives, even people in their 70-80s as I have a few of them on my FB. However there are people that have NEVER touched a computer, and would have no idea about how to use one. My Grandma was one of them. And she was beyond ticked off when she found out a grandchild had put a photo of her on FB during a celebration. She was adamant that SHE didn't have a FB, didn't know what one was, and didn't want HER photo anywhere on it. So much so that the photo was removed. Ironic when she died, the internet is how most people knew.
I can see Lori's biological father giving her money for an apartment, or to help her live on her own in the beginning. If she was close to him, or had contact with him. But we don't even know if they had a relationship BEFORE the divorce, much less after! And in the grand scheme of things, does it matter? I don't think so.
I think our objection changed over the years. We set out to find out who this mysterious person was that had changed names twice that we know of. That goal has been accomplished! Lori's biological family now know what happened to her, and she is deceased now. They likely will never know the why's, or how's either.
I was shocked seeing that Lori was finally identified. Now, I'm not sure how I feel other than satisfied there's a positive identification, and those that knew both Lori, and Kim can hopefully feel some closure.
As a side note, I have two family members, one from my husband's family, one from my family that left for California decades ago. There's been NO contact since with my family member, who I never met. With my husband's cousin, I was able to track him down many years ago, and get him in contact with my husband's aunt (who didn't use the internet) as she loved him, wanted to hear his voice, and know he was OK. Sadly when she died in June, I couldn't find him again to let him know. In the past he would only communicate with me via email, but would call and talk with my husband's aunt. She said it was most certainly him, and they chatted about childhood memories, etc. He left because he was gay, and didn't want family to know, and didn't think he would be accepted, but had heard it was accepted in California. Again, we're talking at least 40yrs ago.
I don't even know the name of my cousin that disappeared anymore. I did search for him for years, but never got a hit anywhere that would identify him as him. Yes I check those UID with hopes to someday know where he is, or what happened. Never met him either, but it was always in the back of my Grandma's mind, and she would bring it up....Mom has mentioned it several times as well. We may never know.
SO much has changed in the last few decades! SO very much!! Mental health issues ARE being talked about, even in MSM now! You didn't see that before. And there's databases with people's prior addresses, and present. There's been leaps and bounds changes in how a missing person was investigated then versus now. Neither of the two I personally mentioned have been listed as missing. They were both adults that chose to leave on their own will, for their own reasons. Whether they ever try to find anything about their past, I don't know.
It brings back a saying my father use to say "They are a long way from home." Meaning a person will tell you what they want you to know, and their viewpoint of the past may or may not be accurate, but you have no way of knowing as you don't know their family and friends to vet any of the information. So take it with a grain of salt.
2Hope4
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I have shared Kim/Lori's story on my FB in the past, not recently. I have friends that are from PA. None of them ever shared that post, nor did any of my other 'friends' on FB. So while they might have read, or seen the post, none responded, none shared it. I'm betting if asked now, none would have a clue what I'm talking about.
CaseCracka
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http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssion-and-Theories*-4&p=12698035#post12698035
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssion-and-Theories*-4&p=12687266#post12687266
As I suspected and was adamant about, she had a connection to Pennsylvania.
Post that explains why:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssion-and-Theories*-4&p=12677088#post12677088
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssion-and-Theories*-4&p=12687266#post12687266
As I suspected and was adamant about, she had a connection to Pennsylvania.
Post that explains why:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssion-and-Theories*-4&p=12677088#post12677088
CoverMeCagney
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Well we all kinda suspected that after Prof Abbot accidentally told the world back in March. I don't think the PA connection is a surprise to anyone!
According to the writer of the Seattle Times article in the Facebook Q&A yesterday, the father died in 1987, the year after she moved out.
I meant to quote this response.
I found a different date.
SavetheQueen
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Thanks so much for your work and help, SunnyNZ! 💙Hey all, I think I am done with this case now - call it curiosity satisfied or whatever, but I feel content with the information that I know.
Just wanted to say how impressed I've been at the skills and commitment of so many of you over the last 7 or 8 months that I've been posting here, working to find out Lori's real identity, and I hope to bump into some of you putting your talents to good use on other threads/cases. I'm off over to this one! http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...R-18-21-July-1991-1&highlight=whitehall+motel
See ya
*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified. *
SavetheQueen
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That would answer quite a few questions that I have, and make some things click into place.
*All statements are that of my own opinion unless otherwise specified. *