TX - 'Lori Ruff', Longview, WhtFem UP9863, *General Discussion and Theories* #3

[dogperson]

MINE IS ALSO WRONG!!!! my eyes are right but I'm 5'8 and my license says 5'7 and it says auburn hair? Im bottle blonde too, was brown never auburn (I don't see red anyhow) and it says 116.....hahahahahahahahahaha I must have totally lied

Haha, mine says I weigh 118, which I might have the last time I ever filled out any info, but now that I'm smack-dab in premenopause hell it's more like 20 pounds above that! So if I disappear, they will be looking for a brunette with brown eyes who is a couple sizes smaller than me.

 

[llywrch]

I've been collecting what bits of information mentioned in the threads about LEK which haven't been shared, which is the reason for my report on her bankruptcy last weekend. So little information is publicly accessible about her that every little bit helps. In doing so, I came across a puzzle in regards to a speeding ticket she received in 1992.

In my experience, the records involving a ticket are fairly straightforward: the citation, the date one has to appear in court, usually within a month (back in 1992, one had to physically appear in court; nowadays, one need only submit a letter contesting the ticket with a check for the fine, & based on your driving record, a portion may be refunded to you) & pay the fine levied then. There should be, at most two dates.

In this case (court record MC92C4212), there are several dates. First, the date she was accused of speeding (going 51 in a 35 mph zone) which was 14 October 1992. Then three court dates appear: one on 20 November 1992 at 0900; a second on 12 July 1993 at 0930; & a third on 13 September 1993 at 1200. (In the record, one Scott Randall is mentioned as "an associated name". Not sure if he was her lawyer, the police officer who wrote the ticket, an acquaintance, or someone somehow involved in the case.) There is a fourth date, 14 September 1993, where the judge made a decision: of the $200 fine she paid, the court kept $138, & she was put on 30 days' probation.

As with so much with LEK's life, this is odd; she was caught going 16 miles over the speed limit, hardly worth the judge's time to devote three or four separate court appearances. If the police officer couldn't appear for the hearing, & his presence was needed, the case would have simply been dismissed. (I once witnessed a fellow get out of a speeding ticket because the officer forgot to sign the citation, so I doubt the officer's presence was needed.) And the 30 days of probation might be standard practice in Texas, but I've never heard of it before.

So is this record a puzzle due to my lack of knowledge of speeding tickets in Texas? (And I'm happy to remain ignorant about such things.) Or is there another puzzle associated with LEK?

P.S. I have reported practically *everything* in the record: no birthdate has been entered, nor her age or sex; her address, driver's license number, SSN & the complainant's name have all been redacted. There are a few codes I don't understand, but if you understand what those codes mean, you can search the Dallas County court website & find the record fairly easily. (I'd include the URL for the record, but that will only take you to the beginning of where to search, not for the record itself.)

 

[Sherwood Park]

I've been collecting what bits of information mentioned in the threads about LEK which haven't been shared, which is the reason for my report on her bankruptcy last weekend. So little information is publicly accessible about her that every little bit helps. In doing so, I came across a puzzle in regards to a speeding ticket she received in 1992.

In my experience, the records involving a ticket are fairly straightforward: the citation, the date one has to appear in court, usually within a month (back in 1992, one had to physically appear in court; nowadays, one need only submit a letter contesting the ticket with a check for the fine, & based on your driving record, a portion may be refunded to you) & pay the fine levied then. There should be, at most two dates.

In this case (court record MC92C4212), there are several dates. First, the date she was accused of speeding (going 51 in a 35 mph zone) which was 14 October 1992. Then three court dates appear: one on 20 November 1992 at 0900; a second on 12 July 1993 at 0930; & a third on 13 September 1993 at 1200. (In the record, one Scott Randall is mentioned as "an associated name". Not sure if he was her lawyer, the police officer who wrote the ticket, an acquaintance, or someone somehow involved in the case.) There is a fourth date, 14 September 1993, where the judge made a decision: of the $200 fine she paid, the court kept $138, & she was put on 30 days' probation.

As with so much with LEK's life, this is odd; she was caught going 16 miles over the speed limit, hardly worth the judge's time to devote three or four separate court appearances. If the police officer couldn't appear for the hearing, & his presence was needed, the case would have simply been dismissed. (I once witnessed a fellow get out of a speeding ticket because the officer forgot to sign the citation, so I doubt the officer's presence was needed.) And the 30 days of probation might be standard practice in Texas, but I've never heard of it before.

So is this record a puzzle due to my lack of knowledge of speeding tickets in Texas? (And I'm happy to remain ignorant about such things.) Or is there another puzzle associated with LEK?

P.S. I have reported practically *everything* in the record: no birthdate has been entered, nor her age or sex; her address, driver's license number, SSN & the complainant's name have all been redacted. There are a few codes I don't understand, but if you understand what those codes mean, you can search the Dallas County court website & find the record fairly easily. (I'd include the URL for the record, but that will only take you to the beginning of where to search, not for the record itself.)

I think he might have been the lawyer, he is still in practice.
http://www.randallscottattorney.com/traffic.html

 

[llywrch]

I think he might have been the lawyer, he is still in practice.
http://www.randallscottattorney.com/traffic.html

Hmm. Hiring a lawyer for a court appearance would cost, at minimum, a few hundred bucks.

Had LEK plead guilty or no contest, she'd be out $200 at most. If she had done as I had when dealing with a speeding ticket, said I'm not guilty & made some believable argument, I figure she'd probably end up being refunded the same amount.

Was she that frightened of being uncovered as living under a false name that she believed she needed to spend that much money to keep her secret? Did she feel she had to fight this charge, no matter the cost, because that's how she is? (*) Or was she simply not good at handling money, & thought spending a few hundred plus to save $62 a good deal?

(*) I add this possibility because the first time I looked at this court record I thought it was evidence that LEK was combative. That when facing a challenge like this -- or finding a bankruptcy plan not to her liking, or dealing with in-laws she did not like -- that she was eager to scrap with them? Putting these pieces together, I had thought I had a glimpse of the woman who changed her name to Lori Erica Kennedy. But now I'm not sure, & wonder if I'm just reading something that's not really there into the scant & incomplete facts we have about her.

 

[dogperson]

I wonder if she got a lawyer to fight the 30 days of probation??? She may have felt that justified the cost of a lawyer. I'm an auto insurance agent in TN and none of my auto customers have ever been sentenced to 30 days probation for a moving violation. Possibly for a situation in which they committed a crime, such as fleeing the scene of an accident, etc. but not for a speeding ticket. It's possible you might receive a 30 day probation if you were speeding and notice a cop behind you and attempt to evade him to keep from being pulled over. I could see a person getting a license suspension for speeding if there were other factors, such as driving without insurance, but not probation.

 

[llywrch]

I think I figured out the conditions of LEK's speeding ticket. A bit of Googling uncovered this page: http://www.speedingticketcentral.com/Texas-speeding-ticket.html

On that page there is a paragraph that explains, "In some circumstances, you may request Texas deferred adjudication from the Court. If you have a good driving record, and you are not currently on deferred disposition, you may make a request of the Court. Deferred disposition means you will be placed on probation for a period of up to one year. If you successfully complete the probationary period without receiving a moving violation anywhere in the State of Texas, the original charge will be dismissed. As part of deferred disposition, you are required by law to take a defensive driving course unless you can present proof to the Court that you have had a defensive driving class in the twelve months preceding the date you were given your ticket. You must also provide the Court with proof of insurance. For this reason we recommend that you take the online traffic school and save your Texas speeding ticket deferment."

Her final appearance in court was almost 1 year after her first appearance. In the end, the citation was dismissed, so officially it is not on her driving record. And this appears to be a special case of the Texas legal system that, in pre-Internet days, would not be common knowledge to the average person -- thus LEK did benefit some from hiring an attorney.

IMHO, this suggests that, even after 4 years, LEK was still very much an outsider in her new hometown. Someone with a more developed social network might have learned of this way to keep a speeding ticket off her record thru word of mouth.

 

[j123]

llywrch, thank you for the new ideas you're bringing into the discussion about LEK. It's really exciting to read about the new angles you're looking at the case from.

 

[Linda9681]

I think I figured out the conditions of LEK's speeding ticket. A bit of Googling uncovered this page: http://www.speedingticketcentral.com/Texas-speeding-ticket.html

On that page there is a paragraph that explains, "In some circumstances, you may request Texas deferred adjudication from the Court. If you have a good driving record, and you are not currently on deferred disposition, you may make a request of the Court. Deferred disposition means you will be placed on probation for a period of up to one year. If you successfully complete the probationary period without receiving a moving violation anywhere in the State of Texas, the original charge will be dismissed. As part of deferred disposition, you are required by law to take a defensive driving course unless you can present proof to the Court that you have had a defensive driving class in the twelve months preceding the date you were given your ticket. You must also provide the Court with proof of insurance. For this reason we recommend that you take the online traffic school and save your Texas speeding ticket deferment."

Her final appearance in court was almost 1 year after her first appearance. In the end, the citation was dismissed, so officially it is not on her driving record. And this appears to be a special case of the Texas legal system that, in pre-Internet days, would not be common knowledge to the average person -- thus LEK did benefit some from hiring an attorney.

IMHO, this suggests that, even after 4 years, LEK was still very much an outsider in her new hometown. Someone with a more developed social network might have learned of this way to keep a speeding ticket off her record thru word of mouth.

I smiled when I read this. I grew up in a tiny town. I knew everyone and could " work the system" to get things cheaper or get out of tickets. Once you move to a place like Dallas, that all changes!! It is not easy to network in a large city unless you become very active and political ( and have money)... Dallas is HUGE. Really really huge. We have lived here for a year and I still get lost. Each suburb is a city in itself. You can live in McKinney, and work in Plano, and not know anyone in Plano because it's such a big town!! Yesterday I was prove lodged to see pictures of Dallas from the 1940s and it was a big town even then! ( and hotel rooms only cost 1 dollar a night!)
Really I doubt she would ever have developed those kind of connections even in 10 years, nor would she have tried since she was not trying to draw attention to herself.
I really wish I had more free time to go visit these places in Dallas and suburbs she lived in. I work full time in South Dallas, live very far up North and am in grad school full time. I look forward to digging further after I get more settled..
One interesting thing, the places she did live were not "ghetto" poor. They were more lower middle class. I work in the bad bad poor part of town, and she had NO addresses we know of anywhere around there. The burbs she chose were pretty nice... Not upscale. I think those areas tend to be very transitional, by nature.. Which will make it even harder to interview anyone who may have known her because they have probably moved on.. And in a city this size most people change jobs and locations often.
Just some insight.
I was thinking of her yesterday as the anniversary of her death approaches. My dad took his own life a few years ago and I will never understand suicide.

With that I also would like to thank you for your fresh, intelligent insight and hard work ( to all the new posters!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Owutatangledweb]

Hawk, can you tell us where you got this information from? I am beginning to wonder if Perkins was a prior alias or even her prior real name.

 

[brian1000]

Hawk, can you tell us where you got this information from? I am beginning to wonder if Perkins was a prior alias or even her prior real name.

I have the notes copied and pasted in a word document, that Lori left behind. It would be be ironical if the real name was sitting in the notes all this time.

I keep feeling that in-spite of all our best efforts, from the diligent efforts of so many good people, that we are overlooking something.

I do feel that we are making progress from so many directions. Keep up the good work websleuthers. I feel like we are all getting a little more relaxed with postings. We can make mistakes. We are just ordinary people. But websleuthers do care and want to make a difference. Thanks to everyone.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I am aware of where the name came from. Was wondering where Hawk got the addresses he/she posted.

 

[HawkFan2014]

I am aware of where the name came from. Was wondering where Hawk got the addresses he/she posted.

All from ancestry.com.

 

[HawkFan2014]

Hawk, can you tell us where you got this information from? I am beginning to wonder if Perkins was a prior alias or even her prior real name.

Ancestry.com. Perkins would be her Mothers age. Why start fresh in Bedford?

 

[DJmultiplecats]

I'm so confused. What is the significance of Jennifer Perkins other than the name showing up on that note page? Are these addresses/phone numbers for Jennifer Perkins connected to FLEK other than that the name shows up in her notes?

 

[tiffay01]

Just read on a different forum that she was identified two years ago, has anyone else read this? Saying we here had made the Ruff families life crazy with accusation and such. Anyway was just curious if anyone else had seen anything?

 

[CD82]

Just read on a different forum that she was identified two years ago, has anyone else read this? Saying we here had made the Ruff families life crazy with accusation and such. Anyway was just curious if anyone else had seen anything?

If she were identified, her NamUS page would have been taken down long ago. I think I know the post you're talking about and it's likely just an internet troll.

 

[tiffay01]

If she were identified, her NamUS page would have been taken down long ago. I think I know the post you're talking about and it's likely just an internet troll.

I assumed, but I figure with as odd as this entire case has been since the get go, it would only be fitting for it to have ended two years ago and for some reason not be taken down!

 

[llywrch]

Samuel Johnson once criticized some poetry as being both good & original: but the parts that were good were not original & the parts that were original were not good. Writing a post on LEK reminds me of that quip, in that every poster tries to say something new & insightful, but the parts that are new are not insightful, & the insightful parts are not new.

So it was with my post about LEK's bankruptcy.

Reading thru the original thread on LEK (Now TX - Longview, WhtFem (UP 9863), 41-50, Suicide - Assumed Identity, Dec'10), I found an earlier report from her bankruptcy, post #1703, written by AngelaE8654 on behalf of Occam's Razor:

For some reason I haven't been able to complete my registration for websleuth, so somebody who's already a member, please post this info, because I haven't seen it anywhere:

Per PACER Bankruptcy records.

Lori Kennedy 2436 Harwood Rd. #387, Bedford TX 76021 filed Case No. 97-4011bjh13 on 02/21/97. She paid her fee in full. It was a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. The presiding Judge was Barbara J. Houser and the Trustee was Tim Truman. Her attorney was Richard L. Venable.

Her Schedules & Plan documents aren't available (this isn't unusual for so old a case. They just didn't scan in the documents).

She apparently reaffirmed all of her unsecured debts (which only totaled about $2K) and didn't list her student loan (which was nondischargeable anyway). Her major creditor was American Honda Finance which listed a secured claim of $10,501.73

Her Amended Plan was confirmed on the first try on 12/03/97. She was discharged on 07/17/01 without further modification of her Plan.

What does this tell us?

1. She apparently filed the Chapter 13 to do a "cram down" on her car, to pay it off through the trustee at the fair market value of the collateral, rather than the contract amount owed. She didn't seek discharge of her unsecured debts.

2. She apparently got her attorney all of the info he needed in a timely manner, attended the creditors meeting and continued to make her plan payments for over 4 years. This indicates someone with a lot more self discipline than most bankruptcy creditors. I think that it also indicates someone with a prior knowledge of bankruptcy laws and procedures. She filed before she graduated and b4 her S/L came due. She knew she could cram down the car and save enough money to make her S/L payments when they started.

I don't see anything else significant in the bankruptcy docs available on PACER.

Somehow Occam's Razor was able to access parts of the proceedings I either couldn't or didn't know how, which invalidate my theories. So the reason for LEK's bankruptcy wasn't that she had some kind of misfortune; she was simply being resourceful in reducing the debt on her car & making her student loans more affordable. She wasn't behind in her payments to the doctor or her landlord. (Where it appears she lived for at least the rest of 1997, & possibly thru 2001.) There was no huge debt that hung over her head for years. This can't be used as evidence that LEK was struggling to make a life in Dallas.

On the other hand, Occam Razor's findings indicate that LEK was above average intelligence -- or at least paid attention in her Business Administration classes. I, for one, would never have thought to use a Chapter 13 filing that way. Further, this indicates that LEK was making a decent income somehow: I suspect SSA agent Velling had evidence she was living much better than her SS withholdings would indicate. (Why else would he believe an ex-boyfriend's claim she was a "dancer at a Gentlemen's Club"?)

And the connection to Dr. Dr. Charles Crane, physiatrist, does support theories that LEK had Marfan's, or a more rare disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. (Which wdmcmahan suggested in the Marfan's thread; again I'm reminded about original & insighful.) EDS also has yet no clearly identified genetic markers (according to the Wikipedia article), so DNA testing would not reveal this, whereas Marfan's might have been.

But to repeat what I first wrote about her bankruptcy, far too much about her life is an incomplete skeletal account which raises more questions than it answers. About the only thing we can be sure about LEK is that she was not wanted for any crimes in her former life. Not that she might have committed one, but that she was not a suspect nor a person of interest in any.

 

[tiffay01]

Samuel Johnson once criticized some poetry as being both good & original: but the parts that were good were not original & the parts that were original were not good. Writing a post on LEK reminds me of that quip, in that every poster tries to say something new & insightful, but the parts that are new are not insightful, & the insightful parts are not new.

So it was with my post about LEK's bankruptcy.

Reading thru the original thread on LEK (Now TX - Longview, WhtFem (UP 9863), 41-50, Suicide - Assumed Identity, Dec'10), I found an earlier report from her bankruptcy, post #1703, written by AngelaE8654 on behalf of Occam's Razor:



Somehow Occam's Razor was able to access parts of the proceedings I either couldn't or didn't know how, which invalidate my theories. So the reason for LEK's bankruptcy wasn't that she had some kind of misfortune; she was simply being resourceful in reducing the debt on her car & making her student loans more affordable. She wasn't behind in her payments to the doctor or her landlord. (Where it appears she lived for at least the rest of 1997, & possibly thru 2001.) There was no huge debt that hung over her head for years. This can't be used as evidence that LEK was struggling to make a life in Dallas.

On the other hand, Occam Razor's findings indicate that LEK was above average intelligence -- or at least paid attention in her Business Administration classes. I, for one, would never have thought to use a Chapter 13 filing that way. Further, this indicates that LEK was making a decent income somehow: I suspect SSA agent Velling had evidence she was living much better than her SS withholdings would indicate. (Why else would he believe an ex-boyfriend's claim she was a "dancer at a Gentlemen's Club"?)

And the connection to Dr. Dr. Charles Crane, physiatrist, does support theories that LEK had Marfan's, or a more rare disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. (Which wdmcmahan suggested in the Marfan's thread; again I'm reminded about original & insighful.) EDS also has yet no clearly identified genetic markers (according to the Wikipedia article), so DNA testing would not reveal this, whereas Marfan's might have been.

But to repeat what I first wrote about her bankruptcy, far too much about her life is an incomplete skeletal account which raises more questions than it answers. About the only thing we can be sure about LEK is that she was not wanted for any crimes in her former life. Not that she might have committed one, but that she was not a suspect nor a person of interest in any.

I could not agree with you more. She did a fantastic job at covering her tracks and keeping herself and her true identity hidden. I do believe if the Ruff family had more interest in finding out who she was before then this would have been solved by now. I don't believe they have any true rush to know her identity IMO.

Your take on the bankruptcy makes a very valid point, I hadn't actually thought of it that way. I also think it's spot on. She was very smart there is no disputing that. There just isn't anyway someone could do everything she did, and pull it off for as long as she did, and not have a good amount of intelligence about them! Again IMO.

 

[SassyBenton]

I was googling some of the addresses recently mentioned on here and this website popped up. Has anyone ever seen this? If you put in an address it tell you who has lived there and what their previous addresses are. Perhaps it could be useful in our search for LEK identity?

http://www.myrelatives.com/address-lookup/tx/bedford/h/highway-121/2420