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

[BigCityAccountant]

I noticed that too. I'd like to see addresses where she worked, went to school and where she went to church added so we can see if she was really driving all over Dallas-Ft Worth or if she just changed neighborhoods every few years. What is strange to me is we don't have addresses for her that are close to the University of Texas at Arlington.

Hi Gardener!! If you provide the addresses~~I will update to include.

 

[BigCityAccountant]

Thank you for the map BCA!
Is this saved so you can add to it? I was hoping for one with a link we can zoom in and ask you to add things as we learn things about her locations.
I'm pretty sure the Lori L Kennedy in 2008 is not her since she was married to Blake in 2008.
If you have this saved somehow, Could you add the places she worked and went to school? Also the locations of the churches she attended. Thanks again for all your work, I know that's a lot of addresses to put together.

Absolutely! No problem, just let me know what addresses you would like me to provide.

 

[Hank36]

You're not the only one. Welcome to the group.



Reread the various main threads. She left a resume, so we know where she worked after graduating from college. And before that, on her passport (IIRC), she listed her line of work as "data entry". As for where she lived, we do have a list of her known addresses from 1992 forward. As well as a bit about her church affiliation. And her bankruptcy papers tells us of one of her creditors is a physiatrist, a doctor who specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; she likely saw him for chronic pain. (I detailed what PACER reveals of her bankruptcy in post #293 of the thread "TX - 'Lori Ruff', Longview, WhtFem UP9863, *General Discussion and Theories* #3".) Make of that what you will.



My opinion about the Ruffs have been all over the place since I started looking more closely at this case. Sometimes I find myself thinking they're the villains in the story, sometimes I think we're being unfair to them, & sometimes I wonder if seeking answers to our questions come too close to invading their privacy. They didn't ask for this mystery (or the suicide) to fall into their laps, & it's something I doubt any of us could handle significantly better if it happened to us.

My guess about the family is that they don't know much more than the rest of us -- although they may know something important they're not aware of -- & simply have decided to move on with their lives. They've spent an awful lot of effort on this -- had a private investigator do the first bit of research, then pulled some strings to find some way for the authorities to investigate this mystery, plus other efforts we haven't heard of -- & learned nada about her birth identity. At this point anyone who isn't obsessed with learning who she was would accept it might remain a mystery & move on. After all, there's a little girl who'll turn 8 next month who needs to be taken care of. (And having an 8-year-old daughter of my own, I can tell you that does occupy a lot of your time.)

Or maybe one of the rumors around LEK scared them off, & they decided they didn't want to know any more about her. (I could say which one, but I've gotten in trouble with the mods for "personalizing", so I'll just say anyone who has been following this case can guess which one.)

But we really won't know why they've remained silent about learning the truth unless someone asks them.

Thank you--I'll be honest: I've read some of the main threads but I just don't have time to read all of them, particularly as many of posts are somewhat incomprehensible with all of the initialized names.

More to the point--a lot of the conjecture concerning specific theories is only that. My main takeaway on this issue is simply that she apparently never confided in anybody her reasons for the identity change, which to me indicates she was motivated by shame, not fear; I would think that were she "on the run" from an abusive ex or a religious cult, she'd be less likely to keep her spouse and family in the dark about things.

Either way, I just don't understand why, five years after her death, so many details about her post-1990 life are so blurry. If she lived as a total recluse, that would be one one thing, but it seems clear that as secretive as she may have been about her past, she did have at least something of a social life. Investigations into the lives of other famous fugitives (Whitey Bulger/Catherine Grieg, John List, etc.) have turned up many people willing to discuss incidents, conversations, and other observations of those individuals seeking to live under a new identity; journalists covering these stories certainly didn't eschew interviewing people who only knew these individuals during that period of reinvention.

Is the relative dearth of disclosures about this woman based on media disinterest--because there are no JonBenet-esque photos of her to accompany the article and serve as clickbait?

 

[BigCityAccountant]

I think they look like they're related for sure, but not like they're the same person.

I'm with you on this...Here is why she interested me. She didn't go missing until 1999~~BUT~~she had gone missing before. When she went missing before, one of the places she was found to have gone was a German military base. She also traveled to Greece, Italy, Germany, Spain, India and China for what she deemed her "mission". The first thing that came to my mind was that passport. We have all wondered WHY she applied for it~~and in my mind at least, this could explain that. She was delusional and schizophrenic and it and out of a mental health center. I suspected the bigger eyes were due to being medicated.

Here is her namus profile. https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17555/40/

I was tracking a lead, friend of someone who said they knew her's~~friend, who happened to had attended a college that was accused of cult style training in the 1980's. The college was in Maryland. That's what brought me to her.

Anna was delusional and schizophrenic.

Anna was delusional and schizophrenic.

 

[Gardener1850]

Hi Gardener!! If you provide the addresses~~I will update to include.

Education:
801 Main St, Dallas, TX 75202 EL Centro GED testing location 1990
1601 S Lamar St, Dallas, TX 75215 Dallas Community College 1990
701 S Nedderman Dr, Arlington, TX 76019 University of Texas at Arlington 199?--1997.

Resume:
850 Greenview Dr, Grand Prairie, TX, 75050-2438 Operating Technical Jan 1998- May 1998
2600 Hall - Johnson Road, Colleyville, TX 76034 Highland Meadows Christian Church May 1998 to Dec 1998

Arteriors has 3 locations/not sure which one she worked from April 1999-Jun 2000:
1413 Dragon St, Dallas, TX 75207
11010 Grissom Ln, Dallas, TX, 75229-3507
1745 Hayden Drive, Suite 100 Carrollton, TX 75006

2727 Chemsearch Blvd, Irving, TX NCH Corporation Aug 2000 to Aug 2002
1161 Corporate Dr W Arlington TX 76006 Key Automation Aug 2002-?

Churches:
8505 Douglas Ave, Dallas, TX 75225 Northwest Bible Church where Lori met Blake in 2003720 N Sixth Street, Leonard, TX First Christian Church of Leonard Lori's funeral was held here100 E Thomas St, Leonard, TX 75452 First Baptist Church of Leonard Lori and Blake went to marriage counseling here--their neighbor was pastor11391 S Hwy 121, Trenton, TX 75490 Cornerstone Baptist Church of Trenton Lori was formerly a member here according to her obituary720 North 6th Street Longview, Texas 75601 First Christian Church of Longview possibly a church she attended once married-her obituary asked for any donations to go there

Does anyone know the name of the church in they got married in? I don't think I have it.

 

[Gardener1850]

I'm with you on this...Here is why she interested me. She didn't go missing until 1999~~BUT~~she had gone missing before. When she went missing before, one of the places she was found to have gone was a German military base. She also traveled to Greece, Italy, Germany, Spain, India and China for what she deemed her "mission". The first thing that came to my mind was that passport. We have all wondered WHY she applied for it~~and in my mind at least, this could explain that. She was delusional and schizophrenic and it and out of a mental health center. I suspected the bigger eyes were due to being medicated.

Here is her namus profile. https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17555/40/

I was tracking a lead, friend of someone who said they knew her's~~friend, who happened to had attended a college that was accused of cult style training in the 1980's. The college was in Maryland. That's what brought me to her.

Anna was delusional and schizophrenic.

Anna was delusional and schizophrenic.

She's interesting but she's too old to be FLEK and not old enough to be her mother. Anna would have been born about 1952. Are you thinking she was a sister or aunt or something?

 

[Katinka]

Absolutely! No problem, just let me know what addresses you would like me to provide.

Thanks for the detailed work!
I have a few addresses to add.


Another PO Box
210844 PO Box, Bedford, TX 76095-7844


Work Address
From passport application 03/90
Kelly Services/214-373-6736
8144 Walnut Hill Ln Ste 120
Dallas TX 75231

 

[llywrch]

I think his comments are more insightful and genuine than what spring88 said, which basically said nothing and could have described anyone. On a completely different note, can't she just be Lori or Lek? I don't see why it has to be flek.

Yeah, the more I think about what SS1988 wrote, the less new information I find he actually revealed about LEK: practically all of it was known information about her. Although it did suggest some new ways of thinking about her, for example LEK could have continued living under her birth name in Dallas for some time while also going by LEK. (It's not that hard to do: say she went by her birth name at work, had her car title also in that name, but away from work -- at church & around her roommates -- she went by LEK. Since it's likely the people at work never interacted with her social world, it would pose no real problem.)

On the other hand, KdB's post in the YouTube thread reveals a couple of interesting traits she had, which find support in what we know of her. One trait is her fondness for "little girl" things. Maybe this indicates she had a traumatic experience in her youth, which caused her to fixate on a happier time in her life. Maybe this indicates something else. (I have an alternative theory that is definitely NSFW that I'm working out how to explain.) The other trait (which I've suspected, but hadn't found evidence to prove it) was that she had problems interacting with other people: based on how she acted towards her, KdB's mother at first thought LEK didn't like her. Due to an inability in reading other people (I suspect), LEK probably left many people with this impression.

Now KdB could be inventing all of this based on posts we've made. But my impression from the offhand way he mentioned this, & how he answered questions about LEK, that he's being sincere: LEK was just this odd woman he remembered meeting once, a couple of decades ago, & he has nothing to gain from lying. Not even Lulz.

Any way, that's my read, & I've been wrong in the past.

 

[llywrch]

I just think there's not much point changing it now, there was a valid reason why people started using it, everyone knows what it means, let's just roll with it.

Well, I've always called her LEK, since she was the only LEK & was never the Fake LEK, so I'm sticking with my abbreviation.

I can be stubborn. Even when being stubborn is stupid.

 

[sloane7777]

Thanks for the detailed work!
I have a few addresses to add.


Another PO Box
210844 PO Box, Bedford, TX 76095-7844


Work Address
From passport application 03/90
Kelly Services/214-373-6736
8144 Walnut Hill Ln Ste 120
Dallas TX 75231

I just don't think the addresses are going to do much good, or at least they haven't yet , but even the map to me is normal running around Dallas, nothing stands out , the P.O. boxes are just that (somewhere to pick up mail) the Melody lane address , I have co worker over there they are crappy apts./townhomes in not a great area, Hudnall address is the same (basically I would only live there to save money or if I had to ) the 1111 airport freeway , I am there almost every other day , I get my gas at the 7-11 in he parking lot, the Kelly services I have temped for them, as have a lot of people who have moved here, Bedford is a good place to live cheap in a apt and not the crazy amount of crime as the other addresses but all of these places have huge, huge turnover even the businesses in the shopping center have turned over several timesand the ownership of the entire shopping center.
But I'm not sure if any of it makes a difference ....one would think Velling would have traced those addresses

And another Thing I know I read she worked in a gentlemen's club, but I don't remember seeing in print that she was a stripper, honestly she seems the bartender type or waitress ....her mental output just does not scream stripper, the boob job? well, I can tell you being a woman when you are around "nice wool' you want to wear "nice wool" get my drift forgive typos! anyone else having problems posting?

 

[llywrch]

I noticed that too. I'd like to see addresses where she worked, went to school and where she went to church added so we can see if she was really driving all over Dallas-Ft Worth or if she just changed neighborhoods every few years. What is strange to me is we don't have addresses for her that are close to the University of Texas at Arlington.

Months back, I had started writing a post about her known addresses, but looking at them in two ways: one was the current reputation of the apartment complexes (I think I was using Yelp reviews), & how convenient these addresses were for getting by car to places like the Northwest Bible Church (which is where she met Blake), & UT Arlington. In brief, the quality of the apartment complexes were clearly improving -- she was finding her way into better quality places to live -- & these addresses were reasonably convenient for getting to both the NW Bible Church & UT Arlington. (Her Wildwood/Palisades apartment, according to Mapquest, was only 20-30 minutes away from the university campus, which surprised me; it wasn't that far away.)

I never completed writing that post. If anyone is interested in what I wrote, I could post it.

However, the point I wanted to make is while it appears she was "all over the place", her choices weren't entirely random. For at least two obvious centers of her attention, she lived where she could get to them easily. On the other hand, if she had made a friend (or friends) in some part of the Ft. Worth-Dallas area, I'd expect her to gravitate to that part. And the one address she lived at for the longest time -- on Harwood Rd in Bedford -- might simply have been because it was a nice place to live, & she had no reason to move. Her earliest addresses were in places that were, frankly, places I'd not want to live at. One attracted the comment that it "has always been the slummy apartments in town. There is now an elementary school there but it has always been an area filled with drugs and crime. Not a place a woman would choose to live if they had a choice.”

And I found SavetheQueen's observations about Dallas useful. Can you offer any more insights?

 

[llywrch]

There could be the possibility that FLEK may have traveled on the Amtrak passenger train during the late 1980's if she didn't travel by car or on the Greyhound Bus.

That's possible. But back in the 80s there was one other form of inexpensive transportation, what we used call then "hippy buses". The ones I remember were "Green Tortoise" & "Grey Rabbit".

These were small businesses that had grown out of the alternative counter-culture of the 1960s. Some old hippy, maybe with help from his friends, would buy an old Greyhound bus, make a few modifications, & make a living carrying passengers between cities. (And a side benefit was that passengers were allowed to smoke dope on the bus. Did I mention that it was run by hippies?) The two I mentioned specialized in making trips along the I-5 corridor; back in the early 1980s, I rode one with a pal from Portland to Berkeley, visited San Francisco for a week, then rode it back up. Very affordable for a struggling student who doesn't expect much in terms of comfort: IIRC, the price was something like half -- or less -- what Greyhound charged.

I don't know if any hippy buses ran other routes, but I'd be surprised if the two I mentioned were the only ones in existence. I haven't heard of them in years, so I don't know if they were still around in 1988. (Even in the early 80s they were obviously a sketchy operation, & probably scrambled every month to make paychecks.)

Just another possibility.

 

[Gardener1850]

Months back, I had started writing a post about her known addresses, but looking at them in two ways: one was the current reputation of the apartment complexes (I think I was using Yelp reviews), & how convenient these addresses were for getting by car to places like the Northwest Bible Church (which is where she met Blake), & UT Arlington. In brief, the quality of the apartment complexes were clearly improving -- she was finding her way into better quality places to live -- & these addresses were reasonably convenient for getting to both the NW Bible Church & UT Arlington. (Her Wildwood/Palisades apartment, according to Mapquest, was only 20-30 minutes away from the university campus, which surprised me; it wasn't that far away.)

I never completed writing that post. If anyone is interested in what I wrote, I could post it.

However, the point I wanted to make is while it appears she was "all over the place", her choices weren't entirely random. For at least two obvious centers of her attention, she lived where she could get to them easily. On the other hand, if she had made a friend (or friends) in some part of the Ft. Worth-Dallas area, I'd expect her to gravitate to that part. And the one address she lived at for the longest time -- on Harwood Rd in Bedford -- might simply have been because it was a nice place to live, & she had no reason to move. Her earliest addresses were in places that were, frankly, places I'd not want to live at. One attracted the comment that it "has always been the slummy apartments in town. There is now an elementary school there but it has always been an area filled with drugs and crime. Not a place a woman would choose to live if they had a choice.”

And I found SavetheQueen's observations about Dallas useful. Can you offer any more insights?

This is the kind of info I was hoping to find by looking at her address history. I do wonder, how bad those apartments were back in the 90's when she lived there. I looked up the Yelp reviews for a place I lived in the 90's that was a very nice apartment at the time--it was brand new and catered to college students when I lived there. A couple years after I moved out I remember hearing form a former roommate that stayed there that the place had gone downhill. The company was sold and they changed from catering to college students and started taking section 8. Crime increased and my friend moved out as fast as she could when there was a rape in the apt parking lot. My point is, those places Lori lived might be bad today but how were they when she lived there? Only long-time Dallas locals would know, I suppose if that was always a sketchy neighborhood. I'd like to see your post if you care to post it. Always good to have more minds looking at this. I feel like we have huge gaps in what we know about her history.

 

[HawkFan2014]

It seems like she was just a customer. I will say, after Googling this tea shop, it is clearly meant for children.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In my family everyone loves football, horse races, live music, water sports, and cooking. If you don't, you will not be joining the family. Maybe the entire family loved a good tea party? We all support any news business inlaws open. Did FLEK? I did a quick search Lori @ndrews. Mother is Jackson. I'm NOT saying it is her. JMO worth looking at.

 

[milkymama]

Does anyone know the name of the church in they got married in? I don't think I have it.

The marriage certificate, which can be found here for free---> https://dentontx.search.kofile.com/48121/Home/Index/6 doesn't state the name of the church but lists the name and address of the reverend who performed the ceremony.

 

[milkymama]

I'm not sure how Texas probate works .

Interestingly, Lori's property didn't exactly go through probate. One of their neighbors, who was also the pastor giving them marriage counseling, provided a document "AFFIDAVIT OF HEIRSHIP" in Fannin County TX. Apparently, this type of affidavit is used to avoid probate. There are various forms that can be found on the web to use for this, but the document filed was not a form exactly, but was a typed list of claims being attested to. It can be found here:

https://www.texaslandrecords.com/txlr/TxlrApp/index.jsp

Info on Texas Affidavit of Heirship:

"A Texas Affidavit of Heirship is a simple form used to transfer property instead of going through probate when a person dies without a will. The Texas Affidavit of Heirship is the instrument of choice when all heirs agree to not probate the will"

http://heirship.com/2009/10/texas-affidavit-of-heirship.html

 

[FrankieB]

Yeah, the more I think about what SS1988 wrote, the less new information I find he actually said about LEK: practically all of it was known information about her. Although it did suggest some new ways of thinking about her, for example LEK could have continued living under her birth name in Dallas for some time while also going by LEK. (It's not that hard to do: say she went by her birth name at work, had her car title also in that name, but away from work -- at church & around her roommates -- she went by LEK. Since it's likely the people at work never interacted with her social world, it would pose no real problem.)

On the other hand, KdB's post in the YouTube thread reveals a couple of interesting traits she had, which find support in what we know of her. One trait is her fondness for "little girl" things. Maybe this indicates she had a traumatic experience in her youth, which caused her to fixate on a happier time in her life. Maybe this indicates something else. (I have an alternative theory that is definitely NSFW that I'm working out how to explain.) The other trait (which I've suspected, but hadn't found evidence to prove it) was that she had problems interacting with other people: based on how she acted towards her, KdB's mother at first thought LEK didn't like her. Due to an inability in reading other people (I suspect), LEK probably left many people with this impression.

Now KdB could be inventing all of this based on posts we've made. But my impression from the offhand way he mentioned this, & how he answered questions about LEK, that he's being sincere: LEK was just this odd woman he remembered meeting once, a couple of decades ago, & he has nothing to gain from lying. Not even Lulz.

Any way, that's my read, & I've been wrong in the past.

I agree completely, he has nothing to gain. He mentioned her hands and the tea preference, as well as awkward social skills, all little tid bits not mentioned in the typical run downs. Unless of course he is a detail oriented troll as someone mentioned. But what would be the point? It's not an extremely popular case, he has barely gotten attention and even then he takes a while to reply. I wish he would join us here and share some more recollections.

Also, I am very interested in your theory, even if it's NSFW, please share soon.

 

[Katinka]

I just don't think the addresses are going to do much good, or at least they haven't yet , but even the map to me is normal running around Dallas, nothing stands out , the P.O. boxes are just that (somewhere to pick up mail) the Melody lane address , I have co worker over there they are crappy apts./townhomes in not a great area, Hudnall address is the same (basically I would only live there to save money or if I had to ) the 1111 airport freeway , I am there almost every other day , I get my gas at the 7-11 in he parking lot, the Kelly services I have temped for them, as have a lot of people who have moved here, Bedford is a good place to live cheap in a apt and not the crazy amount of crime as the other addresses but all of these places have huge, huge turnover even the businesses in the shopping center have turned over several timesand the ownership of the entire shopping center.
But I'm not sure if any of it makes a difference ....one would think Velling would have traced those addresses

And another Thing I know I read she worked in a gentlemen's club, but I don't remember seeing in print that she was a stripper, honestly she seems the bartender type or waitress ....her mental output just does not scream stripper, the boob job? well, I can tell you being a woman when you are around "nice wool' you want to wear "nice wool" get my drift forgive typos! anyone else having problems posting?

I think the addresses are helpful in a number of ways. Someone who lived at or managed one of the complexes at the same time as Lori could read this post and remember her or confirm she didn't live at that location. The locations also point out patterns. She lived in large complexes and moved often, this would allow her to live anomalously. As pointed out in previous threads Lori used a few addresses that were just a number or two off from a legitimate address, used mail boxes that didn't exist or spelled the name of the city incorrectly. This could point to a grifter technique to disguise her actual location. She may not have lived in some of the apartments, but used them because they had open mail room areas where she could rummage through unclaimed mail and pick out her correspondence. Also, she had three PO Boxes in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that we know of and a mail drop in NV. Lori was very interested in mail.

 

[milkymama]

Lori's Findagrave has been fairly active recently as far as comments being left.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=dfl&GRid=113578500&

 

[FrankieB]

Lori was very interested in mail.

Now that you point that out I realize it's true. Is it likely at all she kept contact with somebody from her past through the years? Or maybe they were just bills, catalogues and stuff...