TX - 'Lori Ruff', Longview, WhtFem UP9863, *General Discussion and Theories* #5

[reasypeasy]

This is an eye opening article about the way young women were frequently kidnapped by the OMG in Florida in the 1970s http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-12-17/news/9512160801_1_spaziano-fauss-outlaws/4

This one line caught my eye, regarding a gang member trying to find a new identity for a young woman associated with the gang (this young woman 'played along' with the gang and did as they asked as a matter of survival) "In Youngstown, *advertiser censored** said, she spent a day in the public library looking through obituaries of young women. Sp****o hoped to find someone whose identity *advertiser censored** could assume."

Hmmm. Imagine someone in that situation who finds herself at least *two* identities worth stealing and sees how this means she can eventually escape the the gang? Write the best, most complete, least fragile of the two identities down on a piece of paper (pull one from a book if needs be) and shove it under the innersole of her shoe or somewhere similar.Present the other options to her handler on the piece of paper he has given her. Then she's so very close to getting out. Just has to get herself a little money in her possession and do some legwork on the rest of the new identity... open a PO box and take it from there.

 

[Gardener1850]

Sorry BigCityAccountant, I just don't see Tara as being FLEK. For one thing, she has attached earlobes (AKA pixie ears). You can change your earlobes with surgery but Tara went missing AFTER Lori had already obtained two photo id's with pictures of her with detached earlobes. I think parents of a 19 year old living at home would notice if their daughter had earlobe surgery. Also how would she have gotten away from home to travel to for several months? http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/257dfnm.html

• May 20, 1988 - Jane Doe gets a copy of Becky Sue’s birth certificate from Kern County, Calif.
• June 16, 1988 - Jane Doe obtains an Idaho ID card with her picture and Becky Sue’s name. She now has government ID “proving” she’s Becky Sue.
• July 5, 1988 - She gets her name legally changed in a Dallas court from Becky Sue to Lori Erica Kennedy.
• July 12, 1988 - Applies for and receives a Social Security number as Lori Kennedy
• July 13, 1988 - Obtains a Texas ID card
• Sept 20, 1988 --Tara goes missing while riding her mother's bicycle.

If Tara's case had happened in Ohio I would think she was a victim of this evil man: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ms-of-accused-killer-James-Dean-Worley/page62 His MO seems to be hitting women with bicycles.

 

[dvo]

Sorry BigCityAccountant, I just don't see Tara as being FLEK. For one thing, she has attached earlobes (AKA pixie ears). You can change your earlobes with surgery but Tara went missing AFTER Lori had already obtained two photo id's with pictures of her with detached earlobes. I think parents of a 19 year old living at home would notice if their daughter had earlobe surgery. Also how would she have gotten away from home to travel to for several months? http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/257dfnm.html

• May 20, 1988 - Jane Doe gets a copy of Becky Sue’s birth certificate from Kern County, Calif.
• June 16, 1988 - Jane Doe obtains an Idaho ID card with her picture and Becky Sue’s name. She now has government ID “proving” she’s Becky Sue.
• July 5, 1988 - She gets her name legally changed in a Dallas court from Becky Sue to Lori Erica Kennedy.
• July 12, 1988 - Applies for and receives a Social Security number as Lori Kennedy
• July 13, 1988 - Obtains a Texas ID card
• Sept 20, 1988 --Tara goes missing while riding her mother's bicycle.

If Tara's case had happened in Ohio I would think she was a victim of this evil man: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ms-of-accused-killer-James-Dean-Worley/page62 His MO seems to be hitting women with bicycles.

These documents paint a pretty clear picture of what very likely happened to Tara Calico (unfortunately), corroborated by multiple sources. That case doesn't feel like a mystery to me anymore, having read through the reports. That, and the timeline issues of course, plus...by all accounts, she was just too darn well adjusted to be FLEK. In my opinion.

 

[jamielaurens]

BBM.

Quoting to bring this back into the foreground of the discussion. There are still documents related to the case we haven't seen. Sadly, I'm not local.

Hello: I'm a first-time poster, but I am a long-time Dallas resident -- happy to do any research on a local level that may be helpful.

 

[sloane7777]

Sorry BigCityAccountant, I just don't see Tara as being FLEK. For one thing, she has attached earlobes (AKA pixie ears). You can change your earlobes with surgery but Tara went missing AFTER Lori had already obtained two photo id's with pictures of her with detached earlobes. I think parents of a 19 year old living at home would notice if their daughter had earlobe surgery. Also how would she have gotten away from home to travel to for several months? http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/257dfnm.html

• May 20, 1988 - Jane Doe gets a copy of Becky Sue’s birth certificate from Kern County, Calif.
• June 16, 1988 - Jane Doe obtains an Idaho ID card with her picture and Becky Sue’s name. She now has government ID “proving” she’s Becky Sue.
• July 5, 1988 - She gets her name legally changed in a Dallas court from Becky Sue to Lori Erica Kennedy.
• July 12, 1988 - Applies for and receives a Social Security number as Lori Kennedy
• July 13, 1988 - Obtains a Texas ID card
• Sept 20, 1988 --Tara goes missing while riding her mother's bicycle.

If Tara's case had happened in Ohio I would think she was a victim of this evil man: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ms-of-accused-killer-James-Dean-Worley/page62 His MO seems to be hitting women with bicycles.

QUESTION??? didn't they run her DNA thru CODIS ? and if so aren't listed people who have samples in CODIS a rule out by default ? I cant get that clear? So Tara has her moms Sample and we have FLEKs , they are both in NAMUS and CODIS RIGHT??????? COLOR ME ALWAYS CLOUDED ON THIS ISSUE

 

[Gardener1850]

Hello: I'm a first-time poster, but I am a long-time Dallas resident -- happy to do any research on a local level that may be helpful.

Welcome :welcome4:

Thank you for being willing to do research! The thing I think I would most like to see is her full name change application from 1988. Other legal documents to obtain would be her bankruptcy filling from 1997 and her speeding ticket (date?). And if you are really bold, investigation into her suicide--that would be in Longview, however--might be too far of a drive for you to make. I've never had to get legal documents. I know you can get them with the FOI Act but I don't know how. Hopefully someone else here can walk you through the process or tell you where to look. It would really help if we got some new info on this case!

 

[Gardener1850]

QUESTION??? didn't they run her DNA thru CODIS ? and if so aren't listed people who have samples in CODIS a rule out by default ? I cant get that clear? So Tara has her moms Sample and we have FLEKs , they are both in NAMUS and CODIS RIGHT??????? COLOR ME ALWAYS CLOUDED ON THIS ISSUE

I'm a little confused about it as well. It has been explained before but I don't quite understand how it works. I think they have to do a targeted search to get a match or rule-out. Could that be why there is a list of rule outs that keeps growing?--I was under the impression those are people that have been submitted and specifically checked. I could be wrong though. I don't understand why we have so many UID with DNA databases available. Perhaps a mother and daughter would not ping as a match and would have to be compared by a technician? I imagine for most older missing persons cases we only have family DNA to compare not the missing persons DNA directly. Does any of this make sense? I'm just making guesses, I don't think it's a fast process at all like tv shows portray it to be.

 

[BigCityAccountant]

These documents paint a pretty clear picture of what very likely happened to Tara Calico (unfortunately), corroborated by multiple sources. That case doesn't feel like a mystery to me anymore, having read through the reports. That, and the timeline issues of course, plus...by all accounts, she was just too darn well adjusted to be FLEK. In my opinion.

i would guess that too...but what if this was a planned run away??? The fact that the pictures surfaced in the states FLEK was in have me pause to think it might be her...

The boy in the picture was not the boy from New Mexico..he was found in the mountains with foul play NOT suspected...

Gardener not sure what you mean with the ears...hubby looked at it and said.. Wow that looks like the same person... Can you elaborate on what you see???

 

[Gardener1850]

i would guess that too...but what if this was a planned run away??? The fact that the pictures surfaced in the states FLEK was in have me pause to think it might be her...

The boy in the picture was not the boy from New Mexico..he was found in the mountains with foul play NOT suspected...

Gardener not sure what you mean with the ears...hubby looked at it and said.. Wow that looks like the same person... Can you elaborate on what you see???

Tara had attached earlobes. Lori's are unattached aka free.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earlobe

 

[Gardener1850]

Besides, if you read through that link above it appears Tara was murdered by a jealous boy and evidence in the case "went missing" due to corrupt LE. I don't see any reason for her to fake her abduction and leave clues like Tara did. They found pieces of Tara's broken walkman along a road as if she threw a piece out every few miles to leave a trail to her whereabouts. Why would a run away do that? I think the deathbed confession of one witness, the suicide note confession of a kid involved, and all the local rumors for that case point to Tara being murdered. And I had never looked at her case before today. That document is pretty clear she wasn't a runaway who staged her death. MOO.

 

[sunnynz]

Welcome :welcome4:

Thank you for being willing to do research! The thing I think I would most like to see is her full name change application from 1988. Other legal documents to obtain would be her bankruptcy filling from 1997 and her speeding ticket (date?). And if you are really bold, investigation into her suicide--that would be in Longview, however--might be too far of a drive for you to make. I've never had to get legal documents. I know you can get them with the FOI Act but I don't know how. Hopefully someone else here can walk you through the process or tell you where to look. It would really help if we got some new info on this case!

Ditto what Gardener said jamielaurens - also, I don't think anyone has ever gone and looked at local phone books from around the time of FLEK arriving in Dallas to see if there are any listings under either of her names that bring up an address that we don't yet know about. (Correct me if I'm wrong, people).

 

[newfiedee]

I have a queations... Are autopsy reports available to the public? And do you know if namus has autospy reports and photos...of loris case.

 

[Gardener1850]

Ditto what Gardener said jamielaurens - also, I don't think anyone has ever gone and looked at local phone books from around the time of FLEK arriving in Dallas to see if there are any listings under either of her names that bring up an address that we don't yet know about. (Correct me if I'm wrong, people).

That's a good idea sunnynz. If our local friend wants to go to the library they should have old phone books from the 1980's there. Some names to look up besides Becky Sue Turner and Lori Erica Kennedy would be the names on the notes page:
Laciner
Perkins, Jennifer

 

[Gardener1850]

I have a queations... Are autopsy reports available to the public? And do you know if namus has autospy reports and photos...of loris case.

Good question. I think they should be available under the FOI Act but I don't know for a suicide. Namus does not have that info AFAIK. The focus of the case has always been on solving who she was but I feel like we lose a big chunk of info when we ignore her suicide.

 

[1&2&3]

It is quite amazing to me that FLEX resembles so many missing people!

It is truly like she is the girl next door.

 

[Gardener1850]

I've been re-examining missing persons who fit FLEK's description and timeline. One I found interesting is Deborah Ann Hohenshilt. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hohenshilt_deborah.html

She was discussed but quickly put aside because the circumstances of her disappearance pointed to fowl play. By all accounts she was a hard-working young woman--she had her real estate license and was working in a clothing store to pay her bills. She had her own apartment. It was her boss who first reported her missing when she didn't show up for work the next day (some articles say 2-3 days later). There is no indication she was involved in anything like drugs or gangs, just the scene at her apartment (blood, teeth and missing sheets), her cats being left and her car being parked a block away which seemed to point to her being murdered/kidnapped. Despite all this I still thought she had enough physical resemblance to FLEK to look into her history a bit. I found it odd that they never named any suspects--her boyfriend was cleared. She also had an ex-husband but he is not mentioned in any stories about her.

Some background on her family:
Deborah's mother died from cancer in 1962 (when Deborah was 3 months old).
Deborah's father died in 1986 from a heart attack. Her father had remarried and had a daughter and 3 sons with his second wife.
In 1986 Deborah's half sister was living in Bryan, Texas.
Even though she was missing from Florida, her family grew up in Lawrenceville, NJ (which is less than an hour drive from the Strafford, PA library FLEK had written on her notes page).
Her father (and his entire family) was born and raised in Philadelphia (even closer to the library).
Her mother died in Cheltenham Township, PA about a 30 minute drive to the library.
Deborah's paternal grandfather died from a heart attack in a Las Vegas, NV hotel in 1962. He had been living in Ventura, CA.
Deborah's father filled out her mother's death record and he happened to make his E's curly just like FLEK's E's. His M's, W's and A's were also similar in style.
Deborah's grandmother put up a $10,000 reward for her return. Grandmother told the press she was devastated because she and her 87 year old husband were counting on Deborah to take care of them in their old age. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1988-02-24/news/0020140115_1_daytona-beach-omeara-kerney
Deborah married in Ohio at the age of 17. I couldn't find what happened to her husband but he remarried in Ohio and appeared to stay there.

Thoughts?

Does no one else think Deborah looks like FLEK? I think she's a dead ringer in the one photo we have but I would like to see more pictures and I have not found any more.

I haven't found much else significant about DAH's family except that her grandmother's sister lived 2 blocks from a branch of the Chester County, PA library. The library phone number from the notes page is part of a county-wide system of libraries in Chester County. Deborah could have walked to that branch of the library when visiting her great aunt/cousins house.

Looking at Deborah's family tree is rather depressing as most of her immediate AND extended family had died by 1988. Neither of her parents had any siblings so she had no aunts, no uncles, no first cousins, only great aunt and great uncles and most of them died by the time she was 26. IF Deborah was FLEK she would have been telling the truth that her parents had both died. Lack of any details on her mother would be explained because her mother died when she was a baby. Aside from her grandmother, Deborah had her half-siblings and her stepmother but they did not live in the same state as her. I found some interesting things about the grandmother but I think they are too personal to post here, even with her being dead since 2005. I will just say I have suspicions that Deborah may not have been "all for" the plan of supporting her grandmother and her latest husband. She was 26 years old and everyone closest to her was dead. She was working 2 jobs to support herself and was expected to support her grandmother as well in a few years. Maybe she had other plans and wanted to go to college? Sounds like as good a reason as any to run away and recreate yourself. Once she left no one was looking for her except her grandmother. MOO.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Does no one else think Deborah looks like FLEK? I think she's a dead ringer in the one photo we have but I would like to see more pictures and I have not found any more.

I haven't found much else significant about DAH's family except that her grandmother's sister lived 2 blocks from a branch of the Chester County, PA library. The library phone number from the notes page is part of a county-wide system of libraries in Chester County. Deborah could have walked to that branch of the library when visiting her great aunt/cousins house.

Looking at Deborah's family tree is rather depressing as most of her immediate AND extended family had died by 1988. Neither of her parents had any siblings so she had no aunts, no uncles, no first cousins, only great aunt and great uncles and most of them died by the time she was 26. IF Deborah was FLEK she would have been telling the truth that her parents had both died. Lack of any details on her mother would be explained because her mother died when she was a baby. Aside from her grandmother, Deborah had her half-siblings and her stepmother but they did not live in the same state as her. I found some interesting things about the grandmother but I think they are too personal to post here, even with her being dead since 2005. I will just say I have suspicions that Deborah may not have been "all for" the plan of supporting her grandmother and her latest husband. She was 26 years old and everyone closest to her was dead. She was working 2 jobs to support herself and was expected to support her grandmother as well in a few years. Maybe she had other plans and wanted to go to college? Sounds like as good a reason as any to run away and recreate yourself. Once she left no one was looking for her except her grandmother. MOO.

I don't think she particularly looks like FLEK, but she has the height and the timing works. IMHO it is worth looking into. If anyone is looking for her they should be shown the 1988 Idaho pic of FLEK. I am pressed for time right now, does Deborah have prints or DNA in the system? On what basis can she and FLEK be compared?

 

[Gardener1850]

I don't think she particularly looks like FLEK, but she has the height and the timing works. IMHO it is worth looking into. If anyone is looking for her they should be shown the 1988 Idaho pic of FLEK. I am pressed for time right now, does Deborah have prints or DNA in the system? On what basis can she and FLEK be compared?

According to her NamUs page, there is no DNA for Deborah, no fingerprints, no dental records. I imagine the lack of DNA is because of almost everyone in her immediate family being dead. She has half-siblings (by her father) who are still alive. Would comparison of their DNA be any use? I know very little about DNA but from what I've gathered it would be better if we had her mother's DNA for mitochondrial comparison. Well her mother died when she was 3 months old (1962) so we are at a dead end for forensics unless the half siblings DNA would work. Her half siblings believe she died in 1988 though. I guess it would take someone reaching out to them with a photo of FLEK? Does Namus do things like that?

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/7531/21

 

[Gardener1850]

Deborah Ann Hohenshilt

Can our resident computer make-up artists (dvo or darknagel) please add make-up similar to Deborah's to Lori's early pictures? I think the shape of her eyes, her hair and face shape are a match but Deborah appears to have higher cheek bones/a thinner face because of the make-up she is wearing. Deborah is wearing earrings, so we can't see her ears, but I think they are the right level on her face as well.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

According to her NamUs page, there is no DNA for Deborah, no fingerprints, no dental records. I imagine the lack of DNA is because of almost everyone in her immediate family being dead. She has half-siblings (by her father) who are still alive. Would comparison of their DNA be any use? I know very little about DNA but from what I've gathered it would be better if we had her mother's DNA for mitochondrial comparison. Well her mother died when she was 3 months old (1962) so we are at a dead end for forensics unless the half siblings DNA would work. Her half siblings believe she died in 1988 though. I guess it would take someone reaching out to them with a photo of FLEK? Does Namus do things like that?

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/7531/21

Not necessarily at a dead end at all. Half siblings by the father would give you a "possible". Forensic genealogy could find mitochondrial relatives of the mother. NAMUS does none of that. Even if there is no match to FLEK, and because of the circumstances I would not expect one, it could achieve the positive step of having Deborah's DNA in the system.
If the half siblings are actively looking for Deborah they need to see the 1988 Idaho pic of FLEK. They could be invited to participate in this forum.