TX - 'Lori Ruff', Longview, WhtFem UP9863, *General Discussion and Theories* #4

[Gardener1850]

She obtained a Texas driver’s license in 1989, listing her age as 19. I wonder if the new agent assigned to this case would share the address listed on the 1989 DL with us?

I'm really curious to know this too. We don't have a photo of her 1989 license. That could be because the picture did not change from 1989 to the 1997 license but it would be interesting to see where she was living in 1989.

 

[mrseeker]

I'm really curious to know this too. We don't have a photo of her 1989 license. That could be because the picture did not change from 1989 to the 1997 license but it would be interesting to see where she was living in 1989.

I thought i posted this earlier but i don't see it. Must have hit the wrong button. I saw on her resume she wrote.."My love and talent of Art and Marketing..." I wonder if she left any drawings or evidence of her talent for Art? We only know about the box, and the rambling letters, and the mess left behind in the house. The words might be resume puffery. She seems to use that a great deal. It would be interesting if she did draw or paint. If she was an artist it might also give more evidence that she did not write those scribbles. Most artists I know have pretty good handwriting. Not scientific i know.

 

[llywrch]

I thought I had read before about Lori working at an apartment complex but I don't recall the name. Can anyone find those posts? I wonder why she didn't put that employment on her resume.

After her death her inlaws found a letter of recommendation from Roger Steinbeck with the letterhead of The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. The general consensus is that the letter is a forgery.

One guess is that LEK found it hard to rent an apartment, so she forged it to help her get one. Or it was forged to land a job as an apartment manager. It's possible she either managed an apartment complex or worked in the maintenance crew of one. If she had, I would expect Velling would have mentioned it; he'd be able to know thru her SSA earnings. Otherwise, I have no idea how to track down which apartment complex it was.

How LEK got the stationary, & why she picked the name "Roger Steinbeck", has been the subject of a lot of speculation & theories. Look at the thread "Letter of Reference" for some of the discussion on this document.

 

[Gardener1850]

I thought i posted this earlier but i don't see it. Must have hit the wrong button. I saw on her resume she wrote.."My love and talent of Art and Marketing..." I wonder if she left any drawings or evidence of her talent for Art? We only know about the box, and the rambling letters, and the mess left behind in the house. The words might be resume puffery. She seems to use that a great deal. It would be interesting if she did draw or paint. If she was an artist it might also give more evidence that she did not write those scribbles. Most artists I know have pretty good handwriting. Not scientific i know.

No, I think that is a pretty good insight. Many people see FLEK as a cold and calculating person because she didn't make any friends and didn't open up to anyone. Yes, she did a lot of things that took chutzpah to pull off. She stood before judges multiple times as LEK. She falsified documents and lied to everyone she met for 22 years. But I think she also could have just had a naturally reserved personality. I see her as a shy artistic type trying to work in the business world. I know many artists who simply prefer to be alone to create their art and they close themselves off to the world while they work. Many of Lori's job descriptions use the words "create", "design" and "photograph". The company she claimed to work for called Arteriors started out as a small lighting design company employing local artists--it's now a huge home design/interior design showroom with locations nationwide. Lori claimed to help with their website but unfortunately archive.org does not have any website captures prior to 2004. I wonder if any of her photos or design work still exists.

 

[llywrch]

Her student loan applications listed three references, one of whom was a former classmate she had briefly dated. According to the man, whom Velling did not name, Jane Doe had “more problems than he could deal with.”
“His recollection was that she was a dancer at a Dallas-area nightclub at the time [she was attending school],” Velling said.

I'm going to repeat myself here. As interesting as this story is, the only proof we have that she worked in "a Dallas-are nightclub" is the word of a former classmate who "briefly dated" her, & said LEK "had more problems than he could deal with". Was this former classmate a disgruntled ex-lover who was still upset because LEK wouldn't sleep with him? Or was he someone more sympathetic to her, but her "problems" drove him away? (Either are possible; he wouldn't be the first guy to talk trash about a woman who didn't sleep with him. And if he actually did have her best interests at heart, he wouldn't be the first "nice guy" who decided he didn't have the time for a walking trainwreck of a person.

Velling may have given it some credence because he couldn't find any earnings for LEK during those years. (Which might be because she was still living & working under her birth name.) And because a lot of the cases he deals with involve people who perform that kind of work from time to time.

For an item that is covered in less than 50 words, this one detail has received a lot of attention. Some people have even read into this one tidbit a long, sordid past for LEK. Even if there is some truth in his recollection (& he hadn't confused her with someone else), she might have done it briefly entirely out of desperation for money.

FWIW, a former member who worked as a stripper (she posted under the username AstroKitty) was of the opinion she never worked as a "dancer". Based on her experience, & what was known of LEK, LEK didn't have the personality or social skills needed to make it work for more than a brief period of time.

 

[awillis0513]

No, I think that is a pretty good insight. Many people see FLEK as a cold and calculating person because she didn't make any friends and didn't open up to anyone. Yes, she did a lot of things that took chutzpah to pull off. She stood before judges multiple times as LEK. She falsified documents and lied to everyone she met for 22 years. But I think she also could have just had a naturally reserved personality. I see her as a shy artistic type trying to work in the business world.

I concur. I don't see her as cold or calculating, but rather someone who had something terrible happen to them.

I think (moo) that she met Ben Perkins Jr. and a couple other individuals we've dug up through a domestic violence situation.

I am on the board of an organization that houses domestic violence victims and their children, and if anyone asked me (even after their death) if I had seen this woman before (and if I had) I would confidently say no. You steel yourself for those things.

I have a hunch that a few of the former addresses could have been safe houses. Also, I've known of women who used PO boxes that forwarded mail to a different address. If this was bad enough, she may have used one in a city that was no way affiliated with her.

Two other things: 1. I think this also explains some of the note. She could have been changing phone numbers often and contacting individuals in different states for references; 2. I would love to see if there's an escheated safety deposit box from the 1980s in one of the states that contains her original identity documents. This would actually be brilliant. Pay for the box initially and just walk away. The items end up in safekeeping with the state until she chose to get them or not.

Just my opinion, and my gut.


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[mrseeker]

I'm going to repeat myself here. As interesting as this story is, the only proof we have that she worked in "a Dallas-are nightclub" is the word of a former classmate who "briefly dated" her, & said LEK "had more problems than he could deal with". Was this former classmate a disgruntled ex-lover who was still upset because LEK wouldn't sleep with him? Or was he someone more sympathetic to her, but her "problems" drove him away? (Either are possible; he wouldn't be the first guy to talk trash about a woman who didn't sleep with him. And if he actually did have her best interests at heart, he wouldn't be the first "nice guy" who decided he didn't have the time for a walking trainwreck of a person.

Velling may have given it some credence because he couldn't find any earnings for LEK during those years. (Which might be because she was still living & working under her birth name.) And because a lot of the cases he deals with involve people who perform that kind of work from time to time.

For an item that is covered in less than 50 words, this one detail has received a lot of attention. Some people have even read into this one tidbit a long, sordid past for LEK. Even if there is some truth in his recollection (& he hadn't confused her with someone else), she might have done it briefly entirely out of desperation for money.

FWIW, a former member who worked as a stripper (she posted under the username AstroKitty) was of the opinion she never worked as a "dancer". Based on her experience, & what was known of LEK, LEK didn't have the personality or social skills needed to make it work for more than a brief period of time.

I think it could be speculation too. I have mention though, if she did, a man is in the picture somewhere. I really think we should see if a man changed his name in Dallas about this same time. She had a breast enlargement and perhaps needed the money dancing, and I see a man pulling the strings. He might be the cause of all the moves. He might be the one who needed to hide.

 

[llywrch]

No, I think that is a pretty good insight. Many people see FLEK as a cold and calculating person because she didn't make any friends and didn't open up to anyone. Yes, she did a lot of things that took chutzpah to pull off. She stood before judges multiple times as LEK. She falsified documents and lied to everyone she met for 22 years. But I think she also could have just had a naturally reserved personality. I see her as a shy artistic type trying to work in the business world. I know many artists who simply prefer to be alone to create their art and they close themselves off to the world while they work. Many of Lori's job descriptions use the words "create", "design" and "photograph". The company she claimed to work for called Arteriors started out as a small lighting design company employing local artists--it's now a huge home design/interior design showroom with locations nationwide. Lori claimed to help with their website but unfortunately archive.org does not have any website captures prior to 2004. I wonder if any of her photos or design work still exists.

It could be that Lori was shy, but I don't think she had any real artistic talent based on the screengrabs of her aneyeforconsulting.com website. You can find some at http://www.screenshots.com/aneyefordetailconsulting.com/

I could do a better job laying out a webpage, & I know I don't have much artistic talent. I suspect her use of "create", "design" and "photograph" were more based on who she wanted to be than who she was.

I've been meaning to show her resume to a friend of mine with many years experience as a graphic designer. (He's worked at places like Nike, Adidas & Columbia Sportswear doing graphic design, so he has the background to evaluate it as a potential hire.) I wonder what he'd make of her resume.

 

[awillis0513]

It could be that Lori was shy, but I don't think she had any real artistic talent based on the screengrabs of her aneyeforconsulting.com website. You can find some at http://www.screenshots.com/aneyefordetailconsulting.com/

I could do a better job laying out a webpage, & I know I don't have much artistic talent. I suspect her use of "create", "design" and "photograph" were more based on who she wanted to be than who she was.

I've been meaning to show her resume to a friend of mine with many years experience as a graphic designer. (He's worked at places like Nike, Adidas & Columbia Sportswear doing graphic design, so he has the background to evaluate it as a potential hire.) I wonder what he'd make of her resume.

This reminded me of the websites I learned to make at a summer camp I went to around this tie as a 10-11 year old. It was one day a week for five weeks at a local community college. (My Mom has always loved computers.) I'm 99% sure she made it on Microsoft Office tool. These things were so simple to do. She could have easily figured it out after taking one or two classes.


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[llywrch]

I think it could be speculation too. I have mention though, if she did, a man is in the picture somewhere. I really think we should see if a man changed his name in Dallas about this same time. She had a breast enlargement and perhaps needed the money dancing, and I see a man pulling the strings. He might be the cause of all the moves. He might be the one who needed to hide.

They say the most common reason a woman gets a boob job is because of a man, so you might be right. And we know so little about LEK that we can't really rule anything out.

(As I wrote this post, I pondered whether she could work for one of those landscaping companies mowing lawns in office parks, & realized I have no sense whether she could work an outdoor job that required a lot of physical effort. I can't even imagine how she spent her evenings after work: watching tv, reading a book, or knitting. There is just so much we don't know about her, & could we know even the answer to that question we might be able to get closer to learning her birth name.)

But IMHO, the one detail of her life that seems to attract the most attention is the claim by a would-be boyfriend that she was a "dancer" at a nightclub, when there is so much more to this mysterious woman to ponder & investigate. It's almost as if any single woman with a mysterious past is expected to have worked as a stripper at some point, when it's far more likely she was employed as a waitress (maybe working off the books) or working the phones cold-calling people for gutter replacement services (working for commissions she was never able to earn).

 

[Katinka]

I'm going to repeat myself here. As interesting as this story is, the only proof we have that she worked in "a Dallas-are nightclub" is the word of a former classmate who "briefly dated" her, & said LEK "had more problems than he could deal with". Was this former classmate a disgruntled ex-lover who was still upset because LEK wouldn't sleep with him? Or was he someone more sympathetic to her, but her "problems" drove him away? (Either are possible; he wouldn't be the first guy to talk trash about a woman who didn't sleep with him. And if he actually did have her best interests at heart, he wouldn't be the first "nice guy" who decided he didn't have the time for a walking trainwreck of a person.

Velling may have given it some credence because he couldn't find any earnings for LEK during those years. (Which might be because she was still living & working under her birth name.) And because a lot of the cases he deals with involve people who perform that kind of work from time to time.

For an item that is covered in less than 50 words, this one detail has received a lot of attention. Some people have even read into this one tidbit a long, sordid past for LEK. Even if there is some truth in his recollection (& he hadn't confused her with someone else), she might have done it briefly entirely out of desperation for money.

FWIW, a former member who worked as a stripper (she posted under the username AstroKitty) was of the opinion she never worked as a "dancer". Based on her experience, & what was known of LEK, LEK didn't have the personality or social skills needed to make it work for more than a brief period of time.

FLEK thought highly enough of the ex-boyfriend to list him as a reference. What would be the benefit of him lying to a SS agent about a woman he knew almost 20 years ago who was already dead? I wonder if Velling questioned the other two references listed on the application?

 

[sloane7777]

See my post above. I pulled the exact quote from the article.

Thank you so he didn't specify Dallas ? I have it in my head that this was in Seattle

 

[mrseeker]

FLEK thought highly enough of the ex-boyfriend to list him as a reference. What would be the benefit of him lying to a SS agent about a woman he knew almost 20 years ago who was already dead? I wonder if Velling questioned the other two references listed on the application?

Wonder what problems the boyfriend said she had. Drugs? Maybe wanted to be too serious? Money? or already showing mental illness? Perhaps she wanted to move to fast for him and he broke it off. She then finds Blake a few years later, sort of a clod and marries him.

We really don't know much about her even during the years she was Lori.

 

[sloane7777]

katinka , I totally agree w astrokitty She 100% does not strike me as a dancer, and I have a do know many and FLEK just contradicts that in many little ways from what we know, it's just off

 

[sloane7777]

also if her student loan app. had 3 references ...other than brief date guy, do we know the other two? I cant find anything ?

 

[sloane7777]

sorry Katinka, I just saw that you asked the same thing! I'm really tired insomnia, I swear I have slept 30 min this whole week , ignore my yapping

 

[Gardener1850]

It could be that Lori was shy, but I don't think she had any real artistic talent based on the screengrabs of her aneyeforconsulting.com website. You can find some at http://www.screenshots.com/aneyefordetailconsulting.com/

I could do a better job laying out a webpage, & I know I don't have much artistic talent. I suspect her use of "create", "design" and "photograph" were more based on who she wanted to be than who she was.

I've been meaning to show her resume to a friend of mine with many years experience as a graphic designer. (He's worked at places like Nike, Adidas & Columbia Sportswear doing graphic design, so he has the background to evaluate it as a potential hire.) I wonder what he'd make of her resume.

This reminded me of the websites I learned to make at a summer camp I went to around this tie as a 10-11 year old. It was one day a week for five weeks at a local community college. (My Mom has always loved computers.) I'm 99% sure she made it on Microsoft Office tool. These things were so simple to do. She could have easily figured it out after taking one or two classes.


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I've looked at the archived pages for almost every place she worked because she claimed to do website design/maintenance for most of her jobs. I took basic web design classes in the early 2000's as part of continuing education for a job I had then. Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks and Front Page are all website creation tools she listed on her resume. At the time she made her website they were top of the line for "plug and play" design and used by people who didn't know html code languages well. Those applications and the basic designs she used were being taught in an intro web design class in 2000, IME. I'm not up on what is taught today and I didn't advance my website building "career" enough to know what is used. All that to say, it would be interesting to hear from your friend, Ilwych. IMO her website is nothing impressive but it also is typical of a website from that time period. Other than websites of major multiple million dollar companies most websites used to look like what she did from my (albeit fuzzy) memory of the internet. We have to remember most people used very slow dial up modem connections back then. Websites tried to increase traffic/page views by having fewer graphics because the graphics took a LONG time to load. If I ran across a website like that today I would find it sketchy and probably not give them any of my info, but back then the website could seem legit. JMO.

 

[Gardener1850]

Thank you so he didn't specify Dallas ? I have it in my head that this was in Seattle

In the live chat Velling repeated several times that we have no solid evidence FLEK was ever in Seattle.

 

[Gardener1850]

sorry Katinka, I just saw that you asked the same thing! I'm really tired insomnia, I swear I have slept 30 min this whole week , ignore my yapping

Don't be sorry. Additional eyes are always good to have no matter how tired. I struggle with insomnia too. Hope you can get some sleep soon!

 

[docbh]

Wonder what problems the boyfriend said she had. Drugs? Maybe wanted to be too serious? Money? or already showing mental illness? Perhaps she wanted to move to fast for him and he broke it off. She then finds Blake a few years later, sort of a clod and marries him.

We really don't know much about her even during the years she was Lori.

Some men have a tendency to paint all their exes with a brush of "she was crazy" even if the woman wasn't, but I think the fact that she was apparently running from something and ultimately committed suicide after struggling with mental health issues lends a tad more credence to the "she had more problems than I could deal with" statement.

That having been said, no idea about the validity of the club work claim, except it is a way to make money quickly and given the cash nature of the business there might not be records. Dancer, waitress, or housekeeper though? Who knows.



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