Ah but someone called in the name Cassidy as well:
For three years, a large cadre of dogged online sleuths has been trying to solve the mystery. Late last year, one of them called Velling with a theory: Lori Ruff came from a family back East, she said. The Cassidys. Based on the evidence she provided, Velling believed she was right.
I get the impression until then Velling/Fitzpatrick knew she was a Cassidy but had no idea which part of America she was from and came t a dead end. The called in tip late last year allowed them to concentrate on PA.
I supposed that tipster COULD have been Akoya but she still didn't solve it.
Ah. Ok. When I read that, I thought the person that called in the tip was Fitzpatrick--the forensic genealogist and then she worked with Velling from there. Strange they had a tip sent in but it didn't go anywhere. I supposed that tipster COULD have been Akoya but she still didn't solve it. They had to use DNA to find the family and didn't even have a name until they showed the family pictures of Lori.
Ah. Ok. When I read that, I thought the person that called in the tip was Fitzpatrick--the forensic genealogist and then she worked with Velling from there. Strange they had a tip sent in but it didn't go anywhere. I supposed that tipster COULD have been Akoya but she still didn't solve it. They had to use DNA to find the family and didn't even have a name until they showed the family pictures of Lori.
I take it differently. I get the impression Fitzpatrick is the sleuth that called him.
"For most of the online sleuths, investigating the Lori Ruff case was a matter of poring through records of missing-persons photos looking for women who resembled Lori. There is no doubt they have spent thousands of hours doing this.
Colleen Fitzpatrick, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist, went about the investigation differently. As a scientist, she worked on lasers and optics for 25 years, often using beams of light as a yardstick for measuring something. “People used to ask what I did for a living,” she recalled. “I’d say I shine light on things.”"
Ah. Ok. When I read that, I thought the person that called in the tip was Fitzpatrick--the forensic genealogist and then she worked with Velling from there. Strange they had a tip sent in but it didn't go anywhere. I supposed that tipster COULD have been Akoya but she still didn't solve it. They had to use DNA to find the family and didn't even have a name until they showed the family pictures of Lori.
Omg I have been googling my fingers off between patients
I also second the part about the daughter, and also the Ruffs, not being in any danger. It's refreshing to know that our Lori wasn't some criminal or someone escaping from horrid abuse. It seems like the only thing she was running from was herself. It happens. At least there's a level of closure. And relief. There's no shame for Little Girl Ruff, and she has a huge family, now.I'm happy that her daughter can have a relationship with her bio relatives, that they're not some dangerous criminal abusive set.
I'm intrigued about the missing two years and where she lived and under what name.
I want to see a pic of Kimberly!
I'm annoyed that it seems like it was solved a while back but yet her Namus stayed up and people kept putting in many hours investigating.
And I think that the foia request was the trigger for the story breaking - they must have been pushed into it. So thanks awillis for that and I hope they never charged your credit card!
I take it differently. I get the impression Fitzpatrick is the sleuth that called him.
"For most of the online sleuths, investigating the Lori Ruff case was a matter of poring through records of missing-persons photos looking for women who resembled Lori. There is no doubt they have spent thousands of hours doing this.
Colleen Fitzpatrick, a nuclear-physicist-turned-forensic genealogist, went about the investigation differently. As a scientist, she worked on lasers and optics for 25 years, often using beams of light as a yardstick for measuring something. People used to ask what I did for a living, she recalled. Id say I shine light on things."
It appears to me that Fitzpatrick read about the case and contacted the family and suggested ancestry DNA sites, and they went along with it. She found a 3rd cousin and then reached out to Velling...then kept trying to find a closer match. That is how I read it. Maybe i am wrong on that point. Oh wait I remember now. I called Velling. That's the ticket. I was sailing in my yacht in the med I mean the Indian Ocean with my wife Morgan Fairchild..when i remembered something when I was a spy for MI5...I'm so confused how Fitzpatrick came across the Cassidy's to begin with? The only thing that makes sense is the distant DNA match being the starting point but the article doesn't read that way.
Assuming no trauma or abuse has been omitted from her story, it seems that the breaking up of her family was the catalyst for her leaving. Still, leaving because you don't like your step dad is so extreme.
I wonder why Akoya thought releasing Lori's true identity was dangerous for her daughter?
You've never been a step child. I have been, & I understand fully.
Yes, there are many wonderful step parents out there. But there are also a lot of less than wonderful ones, & it appears that Kimberly did not have one of the wonderful step parents.
You know when you watch a show and the ending is anticlimactic? You're like WTF? This is how I feel right now. I guess in my wild imagination, I was hoping for some outrageous outcome. Does that make sense?