I've always thought that if (based solely on my curiosity-not the level of the crime) I could choose one mystery to be solved, I would want to know who killed Jonbenet. Finding out who Lori Ruff was just might be taking over now. I know that my curiosity isn't important in the grand scheme of things, but I can't believe how consumed I am by this woman and her story. The more I learn, the less I know.
Her ability to adopt an entire new identity and keep even the experts guessing this many years after her death is just amazing. Normally I would have to keep reminding myself to have compassion for someone who has been so deceitful but my compassion for her comes easily. Instead I have to remind myself to have compassion for her inlaws.
It's been mentioned several times but I think it bears repeating that almost none of the information we think we know about her has more than one source. It blows my mind that so few friends or acquaintances have anything to say about her, either before or after her identity change. "She was a dancer." Says one guy. "I dated her back in '88." Says one guy.
How can she have just been invisible before she became Lori Ruff? She almost had to live a life of atypical isolation but it didn't turn her into woman naive about the ways of the world, it turned her into a woman with the ability to pull off a fraud so clean that it appears to have stumped seasoned investigators and sleuths with access to a huge database of information.
Why don't people who knew her as Lori Ruff talk about her? When someone is in the news, there are always at least a couple of people who are eager to have a moment in the limelight by talking about, even exaggerating their connection with the person of interest. Why is this the exception?
Like many of you, I think the inlaws found basic answers to her identity a while ago and that's why they stopped pursuing help from the public. Their motives for not revealing what (or even just THAT) they know could be anything from protecting their grandchild to protecting their image but I have a hunch that they know. I'm also mindful of the fact that most of what we know has gone through their filter before it got to us. I don't think they've altered facts, but they've been able to deliver the information with the scene set with them as the good guys, victims of this crazed lunatic their son married. That may even be an accurate portrayal of events but I feel sad that there is nobody to take up for her.
I've tried to convince myself that Lori looks like the various missing persons who have been mentioned as possible matches but if I'm being honest with myself, not a single one really looks like they could be her. I also think if there was a legitimate match with any of those known missing people, it would have probably been confirmed by now.
Of all of the peculiar bits of information collected about her, there is one thing that takes up a disproportionate amount of space in my brain- the pastor's description of her hands. I know it's not rational and I can't explain why, but reading those quotes from him about her hands sends chills down my spine.
I know this post contains nothing that hasn't been said before but if you made it this far in reading this long, disjointed post, thanks for listening. I've appreciated reading through the various opinions here on on this board. And if the truth is ever revealed, I'll probably be at least a little bit right and a little bit wrong about the various conclusions I've come to. I just hope that day comes soon.
:dunno: