TX - 'Lori Ruff', Longview, WhtFem UP9863, *General Discussion and Theories* #2

[DJmultiplecats]

If they did work together in Irving, it could also be retail or food service. Perhaps there are temporary jobs in the summer, like with a fair or carnival? I used to work in a food booth at a carnival every summer; it was a popular job for young people aged 16-23 and we all got off work at around the same time.

 

[annemc2]

Lots of younger people from around the metroplex worked seasonally at Six Flags Over Texas and Wet n' Wild. The 1st shifters would be done around 3 or 4 pm.

If they did work together in Irving, it could also be retail or food service. Perhaps there are temporary jobs in the summer, like with a fair or carnival? I used to work in a food booth at a carnival every summer; it was a popular job for young people aged 16-23 and we all got off work at around the same time.

 

[Sherwood Park]

If they did work together in Irving, it could also be retail or food service. Perhaps there are temporary jobs in the summer, like with a fair or carnival? I used to work in a food booth at a carnival every summer; it was a popular job for young people aged 16-23 and we all got off work at around the same time.

That's true DJ, but I was questioning SS1988's use of the word "establishment". Most people would say they worked together during the summer and leave it at that. The word caught my attention.

 

[Sherwood Park]

Hello

The first time I heard of LEK is when I saw her Texas Driver license photograph on the news a few years ago. The photograph looked very familiar to me, but I did not recognize the name. Later that day I showed the broadcast to my wife, she advised the woman’s face did look familiar, but she did not recognize the name either. I quickly forgot about it.

Last week I was googling mysterious crime cases while I had down time at work, and ran across LEK again. The photograph looked familiar to me again so I googled her name. As I read deeper into the case on different websites, I saw the older photograph on the Ohio Driver license. I then realized that LEK was a girl I dated in the spring/summer of 1988. I showed this photograph to my wife, and she recognized her as well. It’s hard to explain how you meet people in life that make an impact on you, and we just take for granted that they are alive and well living somewhere on this earth.
I have contacted investigator Velling VIA telephone/email, and provided the information to him. He has asked additional questions, and I have answered them as well as I could. I feel like her family should be properly notified first. I believe the name I gave him was her real name, because her Mother called her by that name. I will NOT provide that name right now.
Around march/April 1988 I worked at an establishment with LEK in Irving, TX. I was 17, LEK was 21. LEK advised me she was from Northern California, and she was in the area visiting her Mother for a few months. I gave her a ride home one afternoon after work, and picked her up later in the evening to go have dinner.
We dated for around 3 months, and I had the time of my life with her. I want to make it very clear to everyone that she was one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life, and a Lady. She was definitely an introvert. I think we hit it off so well because I am an introvert myself. We really didn’t go out in public that much. We did spend a lot of time visiting with each other, watching television together, and cruising. LEK was very smart, and articulate. LEK was always dressed well and her personal hygiene was immaculate. She was also VERY modest. Imagine the smile on her face on that Ohio DL. That was the smile I remember, and she was wearing in quite often. She was an absolute joy to be around.
She didn’t talk much about her past, and I believe it was because she did come from a broken home. I know that she probably didn’t grow up having much. When she saw the house where I lived she, commented that she couldn’t believe I wasn’t “stuck up” like most people that came from that kind of neighborhood. I grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood.
It has been 27 years since that spring, and I have thought about her often. I am deeply saddened that she is dead, and it breaks my heart to think about what she was going through when she ended her life. My prayers go out to her husband, and child.
I have no idea why she assumed another identity other than she did have some family issues. She never did go into great detail with me on these issues.
I just wanted to chime in and kind of “take up” for her. The things I have read about her, makes her appear as some time of maniac. I know people change over time, and it appears she was having issues. The LEK I know was not like that at all.

This is for those who might not know what post we are referring to. #680

 

[concernedmother]

I really home for her daughters sake this case can be solved. Imagine growing up not knowing who your mother really was. It will probably haunt her until she finds out. jmo

 

[catlike]

That's true DJ, but I was questioning SS1988's use of the word "establishment". Most people would say they worked together during the summer and leave it at that. The word caught my attention.

Probably much in the way she "advised" him catches mine.

 

[jslk]

Can't make multi quote work [emoji53] re post 927, her 'immaculate personal hygiene' jumped out at me! And agree with other comments. Hmmm.

 

[ellie b]

Can't make multi quote work [emoji53] re post 927, her 'immaculate personal hygiene' jumped out at me! And agree with other comments. Hmmm.

Yes, I must admit, that I thought that was a very odd phrase to use.

 

[SassyBenton]

I’m guessing the establishment they worked at was a restaurant. There aren’t too many options when you’re 17 and looking for work, restaurants are usually willing to hire teenagers. He claimed she said she was visiting her mother for a few short months and restaurant work is also easy to get for short term. They probably worked the breakfast or lunch shift as he said he gave her a ride home in the afternoon. I kind of wonder about her maturity level back then, most 21 year olds wouldn’t date a 17 year old, there is too big of a maturity difference between those ages, IMO.

 

[SassyBenton]

Yes, I must admit, that I thought that was a very odd phrase to use.

That sounds like something a woman would say, not a man and why bring that up anyways? Never in my life have I ever felt the need to vouch for someone’s personal hygiene, why would this poster think that was an important detail about her? He certainly wants to make it clear she was a respectable, clean ladylike person.

 

[EmmaliLucia]

I feel like if she was running away from a severe enough abuse that she might not have been reported because when the abuser found her he planned on killing her.

In her BST ID (The first one I think) she looks like she's easily 25. I noticed that she looks younger in an ID and pictures of a later date, but that could be because she was trying to look younger.
Maybe someone said something to her about looking very old for her age and she did things to make herself look younger.

I'm also wondering if maybe her parents were really dead when she claimed this false identity. Kind of ties in with the "Being in her mid twenties and the only person who could report her missing wanted her dead" theory.

 

[HawkFan2014]

That's true DJ, but I was questioning SS1988's use of the word "establishment". Most people would say they worked together during the summer and leave it at that. The word caught my attention.

Arthur Murray Dance Studio?

 

[Chuz Life]

Hello

The first time I heard of LEK is when I saw her Texas Driver license photograph on the news a few years ago. The photograph looked very familiar to me, but I did not recognize the name. Later that day I showed the broadcast to my wife, she advised the woman’s face did look familiar, but she did not recognize the name either. I quickly forgot about it.

Last week I was googling mysterious crime cases while I had down time at work, and ran across LEK again. The photograph looked familiar to me again so I googled her name. As I read deeper into the case on different websites, I saw the older photograph on the Ohio Driver license. I then realized that LEK was a girl I dated in the spring/summer of 1988. I showed this photograph to my wife, and she recognized her as well. It’s hard to explain how you meet people in life that make an impact on you, and we just take for granted that they are alive and well living somewhere on this earth.
I have contacted investigator Velling VIA telephone/email, and provided the information to him. He has asked additional questions, and I have answered them as well as I could. I feel like her family should be properly notified first. I believe the name I gave him was her real name, because her Mother called her by that name. I will NOT provide that name right now.
Around march/April 1988 I worked at an establishment with LEK in Irving, TX. I was 17, LEK was 21. LEK advised me she was from Northern California, and she was in the area visiting her Mother for a few months. I gave her a ride home one afternoon after work, and picked her up later in the evening to go have dinner.
We dated for around 3 months, and I had the time of my life with her. I want to make it very clear to everyone that she was one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life, and a Lady. She was definitely an introvert. I think we hit it off so well because I am an introvert myself. We really didn’t go out in public that much. We did spend a lot of time visiting with each other, watching television together, and cruising. LEK was very smart, and articulate. LEK was always dressed well and her personal hygiene was immaculate. She was also VERY modest. Imagine the smile on her face on that Ohio DL. That was the smile I remember, and she was wearing in quite often. She was an absolute joy to be around.
She didn’t talk much about her past, and I believe it was because she did come from a broken home. I know that she probably didn’t grow up having much. When she saw the house where I lived she, commented that she couldn’t believe I wasn’t “stuck up” like most people that came from that kind of neighborhood. I grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood.
It has been 27 years since that spring, and I have thought about her often. I am deeply saddened that she is dead, and it breaks my heart to think about what she was going through when she ended her life. My prayers go out to her husband, and child.
I have no idea why she assumed another identity other than she did have some family issues. She never did go into great detail with me on these issues.
I just wanted to chime in and kind of “take up” for her. The things I have read about her, makes her appear as some time of maniac. I know people change over time, and it appears she was having issues. The LEK I know was not like that at all.

This is for those who might not know what post we are referring to. #680

I still believe that LEK's true identity is "Denise Sheehy." I submitted Denise's info two years ago and she was quickly added to the exclusions list (see post #653) I believe she was added much too quickly for any real examinations to have been made.

I have also made some recent findings that I am not at liberty to share. I invite those interested to take a closer look and possibly a 2nd or 3rd look with me.

Hopefully we will all have some official answers soon and if I am wrong about LEK being Denise Sheehy then? That's fine. The most important thing is for families who are looking for answers and closure to get the information they need.


View attachment side bys.bmp

 

[toronto_allie]

I can see the resemblance in that side-by-side but Denise was born in 1954 - she'd be 54 in 2008 when the Ruffs' daughter was born. Seems unlikely to me.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I can see the resemblance in that side-by-side but Denise was born in 1954 - she'd be 54 in 2008 when the Ruffs' daughter was born. Seems unlikely to me.

Denise was 5'2" and wore size 5 1/2 shoes at age 16. She also has DNA and dentals on file. Seels unlikely to me too.
Since the exclusion was made quickly I would bet they used dentals.

 

[Chuz Life]

I can see the resemblance in that side-by-side but Denise was born in 1954 - she'd be 54 in 2008 when the Ruffs' daughter was born. Seems unlikely to me.

This is a very interesting point to consider but it's not unheard of for a woman to have a child at that age.

Still it is something worth a closer look. Thanks for the input.

EDIT: Please consider this finding;

"More than anything, Lori wanted a child. Several times, she miscarried, according to Blake. The family now suspects part of the difficulty was that she was older than she claimed. She had repeated fertility treatments until, finally, in the summer of 2008, she gave birth to a baby girl."

 

[Chuz Life]

Denise was 5'2" and wore size 5 1/2 shoes at age 16. She also has DNA and dentals on file. Seels unlikely to me too.
Since the exclusion was made quickly I would bet they used dentals.

I understand your point. However, many of us have speculated that LEK may have had a growth disorder called "Marfan's Syndrome" and some of her images seem to support that possibility.

If you examine the images of LEK's various driver's licenses and other documents - you can see that she went from a reported height of 5'6" in 1988 to a reported height of 5'11" in 1990 on her passport application.

I can not know what was used to exclude Denise Sheehy. I can tell you that Denise's sister recently went to Texas to submit DNA and it was related to an UID there. I shared that here in the forum not too long ago. Hopefully, the results of that effort will shed some light on at least one of these cases if not both.

 

[Sulamith]

That's true DJ, but I was questioning SS1988's use of the word "establishment". Most people would say they worked together during the summer and leave it at that. The word caught my attention.

Using the word "establishment" caught my attention also. I thought of a bar or club and then remembered what Joe Velling said:

"He tracked down a few friends and colleagues from years ago. One said she had been working as a dancer at a “gentleman’s club” in the early 1990s, according to Velling. A clue, perhaps. But no one he found knew anything about Lori before 1988."

I wonder if Mr. Velling was able to confirm that she worked at a club. I would hope so as I cannot imagine mentioning that if it were not true.

Yes, strange comment by spring/summer1988 Post #680 , "...personal hygiene was immaculate" and that she dressed "VERY modest" Deflecting maybe? If LR was working at a club, I would imagine hygiene is important. It would not surprise me that clubs would hire underage workers, especially way back then. MOO


http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...and-took-her-secret-to-the-grave-who-was-she/

 

[toronto_allie]

"More than anything, Lori wanted a child. Several times, she miscarried, according to Blake. The family now suspects part of the difficulty was that she was older than she claimed. She had repeated fertility treatments until, finally, in the summer of 2008, she gave birth to a baby girl."

Even with that evidence, I can see her being older than she claimed, but not 54. Wikipedia says mothers over 50 are at 3 times the risk for "low birth weight, premature birth, and extremely premature birth; their risk of extremely low birth weight, small size for gestational age, and fetal mortality was almost double". There was no mention of any of this, not that it's any of our business at all but if she went through a difficult time with a premature or sick baby I would think it would possibly be brought to attention to explain more about her state of mind at the time of her suicide or something.

A quick google search puts menopause from age 48 to 55. I'm sure there are women who haven't hit menopause by 54, but to me all of this info puts it at a very small chance she was as old as 54.

Thank you for bringing up Denise Sheehy - I can only hope she somehow had a happy ending to her story. I hope her sister finds some answers. I'll be putting her on the list of cases I periodically check up on.

Sulasmith - "establishment" being "gentleman's club" makes SO much sense. Wow. If that's true (and I have no way of knowing how we could ever verify it), it gives spring/summer's story more credibility. At least in my eyes.

 

[Chuz Life]

Even with that evidence, I can see her being older than she claimed, but not 54. Wikipedia says mothers over 50 are at 3 times the risk for "low birth weight, premature birth, and extremely premature birth; their risk of extremely low birth weight, small size for gestational age, and fetal mortality was almost double". There was no mention of any of this, not that it's any of our business at all but if she went through a difficult time with a premature or sick baby I would think it would possibly be brought to attention to explain more about her state of mind at the time of her suicide or something.

A quick google search puts menopause from age 48 to 55. I'm sure there are women who haven't hit menopause by 54, but to me all of this info puts it at a very small chance she was as old as 54.

Did you see that she (LEK) had multiple miscarriages?