TX - 'Lori Ruff', Longview, WhtFem UP9863, *General Discussion and Theories* #3

[Sherwood Park]

I tend to believe the poster was being truthful. Has anyone ever put the posts into the Gender Guesser?

http://www.hackerfactor.com/GenderGuesser.php

I just tried it. The section of the poster's post that I entered came back as Female. :shush:

 

[Sherwood Park]

From my personal experiences an agent... LOTS. There are lots of attention seekers in the world.
For what it's worth I don't doubt that poster may have known FLEK, however I feel like it was a woman, not a man.


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Isn't that strange. I watch a lot of true crime shows and the detectives and investigators say the same thing, that there are people who call in with untrue stories AND people who confess to famous crimes they never committed. And of course the truly innocent people who think they recognize someone, but it ends up being a mistake.

 

[brian1000]

Sorry if this has been mentioned- I'm somewhat new to the case. I was looking at the entry for LER on findagrave.com and someone left the following comment:

"I will never forget you, or 1988. Sorry for the delay, I just figured out it was you. My prayers are with your Husband and child. -Anonymous"

[SIZE=-2][/SIZE]

I believe that the technology exists to trace this email, to the exact computer from which it came, and ultimately the person who had sent it. The computer could be turned over to law enforcement to do this. I t just strikes me that there doesn't seem the will to really find the true identity of Lori Ruff. Maybe I am mistaken though. I wonder if others could comment. Thank you.

 

[jslk]

The technology certainly exists to trace the IP address of the computer but sometimes this is not conclusive as IPs can end up being routed through other proxy servers 100s/1000s of miles away.

It's certainly a puzzle.

I listened to the Thinking Sideways podcast about the case. They err on the side of the BST case being personally known to LEKR.

Others here have posted that it's possible there was no one to report LEKR missing, that she was an only child, an orphan. It's possible, but that doesn't really explain why LEK was so adamant that the Ruffs did not place an engagement announcement in the newspaper (ie where she could potentially be recognised by 'someone' from the past).

On the Thinking Sideways podcast - I found the presenters to be not terribly sympathetic iykwim? And perhaps it's just from reading here and becoming quite knowledgeable on certain cases/theories, but I found that the cases aren't really delved into in any depth. Not sure I'm going to stick with it!

 

[fizzypop]

I will admit if you read here it's not as in depth as things have gone here, but remember they only have an hour to an hour and a half to tell everything, where people here have been able to dig things up over years! I don't have anything to do with the podcast but I just wanted to say I have found most of them to be pretty interesting, and I've usually learned something I didn't know. I wouldn't say that was the case with this case, because I've read so much here, and with all the sleuths here that's probably the case with anything here that you've been able to read everything about. I don't subscribe, I just pick and choose, usually listening to the ones I don't know a lot about.

 

[tarheelslim]

Others here have posted that it's possible there was no one to report LEKR missing, that she was an only child, an orphan. It's possible, but that doesn't really explain why LEK was so adamant that the Ruffs did not place an engagement announcement in the newspaper (ie where she could potentially be recognised by 'someone' from the past).

I think she was never reported missing because she changed her identity as an adult.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I believe that the technology exists to trace this email, to the exact computer from which it came, and ultimately the person who had sent it. The computer could be turned over to law enforcement to do this. I t just strikes me that there doesn't seem the will to really find the true identity of Lori Ruff. Maybe I am mistaken though. I wonder if others could comment. Thank you.

Seems to me that this comment may have been left by SS1988, the previous poster here who claimed to have known her.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I too tend to believe she was just trying to leave a past behind her and is probably not reported missing because she didn't have strong family ties, part of the reason she wanted to leave that part of her behind. Her behavior was certainly odd but we don't know what kind of mental issues she might have had. Maybe she was just really ashamed at having stolen an identity and didn't want that uncovered. Maybe whatever issues she had couldn't be erased with a new identity, hence the suicide, or she just did it to be vengeful (on Christmas Eve, at the families house, etc...) I don't know. I just listened to a podcast about her. I think it is the simplest answer, she just was super paranoid about it which makes it look like there could be more to it, when it was really just her being her.

eta: There was a time when I daydreamed about getting a new identity. I'd been sick for a while, ruined my credit and been fired from Target. I thought I couldn't move past that and it would ruin my life. Now I would have kept my old family ties and hid my new identity from them, but I would have been pretty protective of what I'd done. I didn't think about this much at the time, I've just been expounding upon my past passing thoughts while trying to brainstorm about FLEK. It could have been something as simple as that combined with her not wanting to have anything to do with her old family. If I didn't care to see mine I would have moved around and started a totally new life with my new ID as well.

EMPHASIS ADDED.

I think this really hits it. I think she had a new identity, still had family in the area, maintained contact with them, she stayed out of the papers, they never knew the difference and they eventually passed away before she did (or haven't seen her photo yet, less likely).

 

[Owutatangledweb]

Top left: commonly circulated missing poster image of Cheryl Ann Moser Iacovone.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/197dfpa.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/i/iacovone_cheryl.html

top 2nd and 3rd from left: pictures from Ridley High School yearbook misspelling her last name two different ways... but I'm fairly certain this is the same girl? Just wanted to see some more angles of her face, without luck, since she's pretty much posed the same way.

top right 2 pictures and bottom are young lek, of course, for comparison. bottom right and bottom left are older lek for comparison with the 2 age progressed Cheryl Moser Iacovone pictures in the middle.

Websleuths discussion on Cheryl Ann Moser Iacovone:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ryl-Ann-Iacovone-17-Secane-12-July-1977/page3

Does anyone know / remember if this one was submitted?

 

[Linda9681]

Seems to me that this comment may have been left by SS1988, the previous poster here who claimed to have known her.

Why do you say that?


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[CoverMeCagney]

Seems to me that this comment may have been left by SS1988, the previous poster here who claimed to have known her.

Just bringing forward the first post (of 10) made by spring/summer1988 on 21st May, the same day as the FindAGrave post. S/S1988 has not logged in here since June.

05-21-2015, 02:22 AM #680 spring/summer1988 spring/summer1988 is offline
Registered User
Join Date
May 2015
Posts
10
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.

I believed that person at the time, and would love to know if they ever got a response from whoever it was they were going to report to. There is an option to either message or EMAIL S/S1988 on his/her profile.

 

[brian1000]

Just bringing forward the first post (of 10) made by spring/summer1988 on 21st May, the same day as the FindAGrave post. S/S1988 has not logged in here since June.



I believed that person at the time, and would love to know if they ever got a response from whoever it was they were going to report to. There is an option to either message or EMAIL S/S1988 on his/her profile.

This account by s/s1988 appears to be a made up story. There is no s or s1988 on websleuths.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

This account by s/s1988 appears to be a made up story. There is no s or s1988 on websleuths.

Link to post referred to above by spring/summer1988:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11788274

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[CoverMeCagney]

I just think that poster was genuine. A troll would cause more mischief and would more likely invent a more dramatic character than the one S/S did. Maybe I'm being totally naive, I don't see much trolling on websleuths, but those 10 posts by him (and I do think it's a him) held so much detail I found it believable. And this is why I think maybe the case has already been solved, we just don't know about it, and might never.

 

[PJFL]

This account by s/s1988 appears to be a made up story. There is no s or s1988 on websleuths.

Try again using the full user name.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I've just emailed S/S via the link on his profile. Hopefully it will show up in his email box rather than waiting for him to log on here. An answer would be great.

 

[dvo]

The fact that there was a photography studio at the Mockingbird address in 1988/89 seems to align with some of the topics alluded to on the notes page:

The below is really hard to read, but a commercial artist's office was one suite off of the #191 referenced on LEK's July 1988 Social Security application. This is in 1990... it says Frondrick, Jeff 214-324-3959:

Between finding studios for both a photographer and a commercial artist at this address, as well as the photography-related lingo on the notes page and advertising/marketing resume of LEK I'm thinking perhaps she was working in this industry under her previous identity as well, and maybe some of these people, if they could be tracked down, would know her under her previous identity?

There was also a talent agency in suite #183 in 1990.. I'm having a real struggle getting the clips Google Books shows me to actually show the information that's coming up in the search, but in the picture it's highlighting the bottom of a listing for "Electric Artists Talent Agency, Ste. 183, 6102 E. Mockingbird, Dallas, TX 75214 Phone: 214/748.3825"

 

[jslk]

Re photo comparisons. I was thinking about this recently, and how tempting it is to link superficially similar images.

When I was in high school, there was a student in the year below me (same sex) who looked so alike to me, it was spooky. People would routinely assume we were siblings/related. I think if comparing photos (ie yearbooks) you would assume we were siblings, if not the same person. We have no genetic link at all, and we looked a LOT more similar than a lot of the photo matches posited for LEKR.

Jmo.

 

[SassyBenton]

I have been following this story since the first article came out from the Seattle Times. I’ve thought of many possibilities of who this woman was and this is what I think is most plausible. (Please note, this is all just a theory, I have no evidence this is true)

I think LEK ran away from an FLDS sect in her late teens/early twenties with the assistance of someone who helped her find a place to live temporarily and helped her obtain a fake identity. This would explain her over-the-top secrecy about her past, why she claimed she had no existing family and why no one has come forward to identify her. (People who leave the sect are shunned afterwards so her family would not be looking for her.) There is a FLDS sect in Bountiful, British Columbia, almost a straight shot down to Boise, ID, where she obtained the driver’s license under BST’s name. I think she did possibly stay at the house listed on the driver’s license (the couple who lived there was known to take in runaways) but they either don’t remember her or have lied about knowing her. Perhaps they were afraid of getting in trouble for housing a runaway. I think from there she worked odd jobs (dancer) to make ends meet, changed her identity again and tried to live some sort of normal life. The sect in Bountiful has been investigated for abuse and trafficking women so I wonder if her psychological problems came from early abuse or other mistreatment at the sect. I think there is also a possibility that she had a child that she had to leave behind when she escaped, which is why she was so overly protective of her daughter.

What do you guys think?

 

[Linda9681]

About the photography thing... Yes yes yes. It keeps popping up. Also the person from Texas that contacted me who said she knew FLEK is a photographer. Remember that mockingbird address had a photog associated with it. Wasn't there another one too? And Visages from notes page is a photo studio.


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