The buckskin girl IDENTIFIED

**IDENTIFIED** 

(source)

Hey everyone, I was recently researching some old unsolved cases I've posted about here in the past and found out that "The Buckskin girl" has finally been identified. 

If you remember, the Buckskin girl, (who was nicknamed so on account of a unique handmade, deer skin poncho she was found wearing) was an unidentified, female homicide victim found in Troy, Ohio, on April 23rd 1981.

To quote my original post on the case:
 "She was found fully clothed, although shoeless, with no signs of sexual assault. She had died due to blunt trauma to the head. Believed to have possibly been a hitchhiking teenage runaway, or even the possible victim of a serial killer, she was estimated between the ages of 18 - 26. She was white, between 5'4 and 5'6, with brown eyes and brown / red hair parted in the center and pulled back into two high braids. She had a scar on her chin, wrist, arm and ankle.

Due to the good condition of the body, investigators were able to obtain DNA, finger prints and dental information. Despite having the samples, the Buckskin girl has lay unidentified in Riverside cemetery, Troy, Ohio for 34 years, So, who was the Buckskin girl? And who killed her?"

Well it seems we can answer at least one of those questions now: Her name was Marcia Lenore King. 

She was 21 years old and came from Littlerock, Arkansas. She was identified recently using her DNA with the help of the DNA Doe project (Read their FB update on the case HERE)

Read a report about the case HERE

The headless body found in Norfolk in 1974

On the 27^th of August 1974 the headless body of a woman with her hands and legs bound was found on Cockley Cley farmland near Swaffam, Norfolk, on a road leading towards “Break Hill farm”.

This land was registered to a man named Sir Peter Roberts, 3rd Baronet (a hereditary title of the lowest order awarded to a common person who is generally referred to as “sir” if you were wondering), who was a politician for the Conservative party up until 1966. He died in 1985 and was apparently succeeded as Baronet buy his son, Samuel.

The man who discovered the headless woman was a 19 year old farm worker (also referred to as a tractor driver in reports) called Andrew Head. Apparently when he found the body it was wrapped in plastic. He lifted it slightly out of curiosity and only needed a slight view to identify that there was a dead body under it.

“I lifted one corner of the cover over the body and that was enough - I could see what it was. I went home and phoned the police.” (Source)

According to this article he found her in the overgrown grass by the side of a road.

I made my usual visit to Google maps to see what the location looks like and came up with this.

Apparently this is more specific to the place she was found.

As we can see here it’s pretty rural and is described as a village / civil parish.

I did some poking around the internet to see if I could get a feel of what the place was like in the 1970’s and was met with some pretty interesting information. 

Cockley Cley was a huge estate owned by Lady Roberts who began offering the grounds e as a refuge for Jewish children (many of whom had lost their parents) fleeing from the war in the 1940’s. Some of the kids came from major cities in England like London but most from Germany and Austria.

This is a picture of them together.

The information on this website was provided by a woman named Lillli Tauber who came to stay with Lady Roberts. She documents her experience here.

So back to the case. The headless Jane Doe was found deliberately concealed in overgrown grass.  

She was dressed in, what I would describe as a pale pink, short, swing nightdress with a jewel or bateau neckline that had pink ruffle detailing along the neck and hem. It was later identified to have been a dress available for purchase from Marks and Spencer’s around 1969.

(source)

She is thought to have been between her early 20s – 35 years old, was very petite in stature standing at around 5ft – 5ft 2, and may have been dead for 1 – 2 weeks before being discovered (as indicated by how badly decomposed her body was.)

Although the police appealed for information, nobody came forward.

(source)

She was never identified and authorities believe that she was never even reported missing.

Now let’s take a look at the items she was found with.

The plastic sheet she was wrapped in had the letters NCR printed on it. Police concluded that this type of plastic sheet was very specific and letters referred to the National Cash Registers.

Recently a group of forensic students in Dundee, Scotland, made some headway with the plastic sheet and the rope when they linked both items to a factory in Dundee (Jute factories) that manufactured items for several companies including NCR.

(Source: Norfolk Police.)

The rope is also thought to have come from the same area. 

(Source: Norfolk Police)

Interestingly on the Wikipedia pagefor Jane Doe I found out that police “suggested the rope was made for use with agricultural machinery". That’s slightly interesting. 

Maybe the assailant was a farm worker who simply purchased the type of rope that was made up in Dundee? Or maybe they were a shop keeper / worker who ordered a cash register for their store that had been made in the same Dundee factory and was wrapped with the rope they produced when shipping / delivering? Maybe the murderer was a delivery driver?

Do you think this factory really has anything to do with the headless body found in Norfolk? (other than the rope and plastic were produced there of course.)

Now police really worked hard on solving this case. Apparently they talked to over 1500 people in total and made visits to several thousand houses in the area. They searched the nearby fields but found nothing.

Her body was evenexhumed in 2008 in order to do some DNA and isotopic tests using modern technology. When working to pinpoint her origins they narrowed the area she was possibly from down to Germany, Austria, Denmark and northern Italy. They concluded that she had given birth at least one time in her life and that her diet was composed mainly of fish and shellfish. The water she consumed was believed to be found in Scotland.  

When her DNA was ran through databases, it turned up nothing.

The most popular theory concerning the identity of Jane Doe is that she is a prostitute who went missing in 1974 from the area she usually frequented for work- the docks in Great Yarmouth. 

She was nicknamed "The Duchess" and simply vanished one day neglecting to take any of her belongings with her. 

Apparently the majority of her clients were men who were often traveled for work, such as delivery drivers. She would even sometimes join them as they drove cross country doing deliveries- which sort of gives some weight to the idea I had earlier. I mean if he had to dispose of a body he would probably have things like rope and plastic in the back of his van, if he picked up cash registers from the factory in Dundee to deliver elsewhere he’d have both the rope and  to restrain the woman and the plastic tarp to wrap up her body. Then all he’d have to do is conceal her body by the side of a road in the middle of nowhere.

As for taking the woman’s head, was this an attempt to conceal her identity or something more disturbing? Apparently the Duchess was well known around the Great Yarmouth docks so if anyone was to see her face they would surely recognize her. Maybe her killer was the person she was last seen with and he didn’t want the suspicion to fall on him?

Jane Doe and the Duchess have never been confirmed to be one and the same, so for now, the case remains unsolved.

Who was the Arroyo Grande Doe? 1980

On October 5^th 1980 an off duty police officer named John Williams and his companion discovered the naked body of a teenage girl near highway 146 in Henderson, Nevada. She appeared to have met a very violent end.

(image findagrave)

 The unidentified girl had been beaten and punched in the face and sustained blows to the skull and lacerations from a hammer, as well as numerous stab wounds from an ice pick or a similar implement. The murder weapons were never officially found or identified and are usually listed as “some kind of hammer” and “a two pronged instrument”.

The girl had been washed before being discarded on the dirt road- a small piece of shower curtain was also found at the scene. 

The girl was most likely murdered in another location and brought out to the isolated area to be dumped. I imagine she was probably murdered in a house or maybe even a hotel if her killer had the facilities to wash her and drag along pieces of shower curtain. They probably did so to eliminate any forensic evidence she may leave behind while being transported in the perpetrators vehicle (at least that would be my guess).

Reports state that she was posed, however none describe the specific position, only that she was face down on the ground. She had been there for no more than 24 hours before she was found

Apparently this is the location where Jane Doe’s boy was discovered, on what is these days theintersection of highway 215  (around Arroyo Grande Boulevard, hence why she came to be known as Arroyo Grande Doe.)

(Google maps)

There's no specific coordinates, but I believe it's around this area.

Her profiles describe her as between 15 – 25, definitely on the younger side of the estimate, 5”2 in height and around 100lbs in weight. She had Light brown hair that was possibly dyed blonde and had grown out, green/ blue eyes, a gap in the right side of her teeth and pierced ears. The most distinguishing feature is a small DIY “S” tattoo on the underside of her right forearm, however it probably wouldn’t be much use in identifying her as it was very fresh.

(image crimewatchers)

I wonder if she did it herself (was she left handed?) or if someone else tattooed her. 

Did she actually want the tattoo or was it something someone forced on her? 

What did it mean? Was it her name, or the name of a partner or child? 

It seems strange to me that she got it so close to the time of her murder, it makes me wonder if her killer marked her, or if her killer was someone she knew, like a boyfriend or acquaintance who just turned on her. 

(image Doe network)

She had been punched in the face and the fatal wounds were inflicted from the back, so maybe she got into a physical altercation with someone and was then attacked from behind while trying to get away?

The possible hammer / ice pic combo of weapons is something to think about too. If this was premeditated those are unusual weapons as part of a murder kit. (or was that the point?) Usually it’s a straight up knife, gun, wire, rope etc. Could these have been hastily grabbed nearby items from a home? 

Was the two pronged implement a kitchen item? Or possibly garage tools? 

What do you think?

Dreamindemon [X]

Wikipedia [X]

Crime watchers [X] 

Post mortem image below

Burned body Wake County, North Carolina, 1968

So today I was having a look at some unidentified Jane Does when I stumbled upon this one case from the late sixties in North Carolina.

From what I can tell, the burned body of a woman was found the day after several people witnessed her walking towards a church in Wake County. They did not recognize the woman, but noted the green polka dot dress she was wearing as she walked along ten ten road. A quarter of an hour later when the witnesses drove back the same way the woman was nowhere to be found. They noticed smoke rising up from a nearby field, but assumed the source of it was nothing untoward and probably just a local farmer disposing of some unwanted materials.

They were shocked when the following day they heard the news that the burned body of the same woman they had driven past the day before was found.

I consulted Googlemaps to get an idea of what the location looks like and followed ten ten road to the nearest church, which appears to be the Holland united Methodist church.

However if you follow the road along, you can find two more churches including The McCullers community Baptist church and Highland Baptist church. The Doe network profile for the unidentified woman states that she was found near the town of Fuquay-Varina if that shines any light on the matter.

(From the Doe network)

There doesn’t really seem to be much information regarding this case, and the DN page even states at the bottom that “The whereabouts of the victim's remains are unknown” – It’s unclear if this is due to her burning overnight (although they recovered clothes, makeup items, I imagine bones etc. as well as some hair and fragments of her clothes obviously) or if her remains were simply lost or whatever. I’m leaning towards the remains were lost because they have a reconstruction image of Jane Doe from the newspaper report, and were also able to reveal that she was around 35 years of age, 130lbs, around 5”4 in height, had dark brown – black hair with signs of graying,noted a scar on the left side of her lower stomach and remarked that she had very small ears. 

She was thought to be Caucasian and possibly native American. Her dentals are on record as well as her blood type, so even though her remains are no longer around, there is still DNA, dentals and finger prints to go on. The Namus profile checks the “All body parts recovered” box.

The death was treated as a murder of course, and there was only ever one suspect who died in 1992. The DN report doesn’t identify him, but a newspaper article named him as Tobacco planter called Robert Reagan. Reagan’s family rejects the accusation, pointing out that he isn’t around to defend himself or stand a fair trial; however the man himself confessed that he followed the unidentified woman in a car with an acquaintance to get a look at her, but she disappeared from view.

Apparently Robert Reagan used to work in Canada and there’s this theory that the two met there and planned to meet in Wake County and he ended up killing her. I know she was from out of town and no one recognized her in the local area, but other than Reagan once working in Canada I’m not sure if there’s anything else that links Jane Doe to the country. I mean it’s a good idea to extend the search and circulate the missing posters there of course on the off chance, but there’s nothing else that I can see that suggests she was Canadian as no one talked to her and she didn’t have any items on her that would indicate she was.

Now for the items found with her body:

-She had a transistor battery

-A pair of tweezers (“Permo Tweeze” brand)

-A possibly navy hair net.

-Hair clips (Bobby pins?)

-A pair of brown and gold bifocal spectacles.

-A single razor blade folded in paper (Gillette)

-What was probably a make-up mirror in several fragments.

-Two buttons.

-Various toiletries and makeup by Helena Rubinstein New York including silk fashion liquid foundation, overnight cream and “Skin dew “crème.

-What is listed as “_ilk of _intimate” on the DN profile. A quick search turned up that it was most likely “Silk of Intimate” a fragrance by Revlon.  

(Images Doe network)

-A ballpoint pen cap with “Unipeco Mt. Vernon N.Y. U.S.A.” inscribed. –Some people imply that this meant she could have been from or in New York. All a search brings up is a pencil manufacturing directory website that lists as “Unipen co.” with the following information: “Union Pencil Co. - AKA Unipeco Mt. Vernon, NY USA”.

-I found a vintage pen by them for sale on eBay, so that gives us an idea of what it may have looked like (although there is various colors and designs of course)

(Image source)

Unless the cosmetics and pen were gifts from New York, it looks more likely that she’d traveled from there than rather than Canada. A bag isn’t listed on the items found, so unless it was taken it’s weird that someone would carry those items without a bag of some sort. Also, if she wasn’t from North Carolina or nearby, where was she staying? 

Did she just hop off a train or get a ride or what?

If so why? 

And how did she end up burned alive?

Her case was enteredinto Namus in February of this year.

 She remains unidentified. 

If you have any information contact the relevant authority on

919-856-6800

Note: Strangely, while searching for more information on this case, I found a similar report, although considerably more recent. Just 18 miles away in February 2017, again in Wake County, NC, the body of a burning woman was discovered by disc golf players who didn’t even realize that the burning mound was a human body and attempted to put out the blaze. Although completely unrecognizable, the Doe was later confirmed to be a 59 year old woman identified as Elizabeth Marie Vandenbout, who had apparently committed suicide. There was reportedly a propane tank at the scene, as well as a cell phone.

Link

Mount Vernon Jane Doe

Five minutes before midday on Valentine’s Day of 1988, the body of a young woman was discovered in an abandoned industrial estate. She was naked and deliberately posed on her back with crossed ankles and outstretched arms. This report states that she was “carefully placed on a set of used garage door springs”.

 Her neck was encircled with a deep red ligature mark- a clear sign of what would be determined as a homicide by strangulation. Her wrists and ankles showed signs of being bound and although sexual assault was ruled out, examination revealed that she'd had a sexual encounter before her murder. She had been dead for no longer than 12 hours before her body was found and traces of cocaine was found in her blood.
The girl could not be identified and came to be known as the mount Vernon Jane Doe.

Jane Doe looked no older than her early twenties and was quite possibly a teenage girl. Her hair was dark blonde / light brown and straight, her eyes were hazel with a spray of freckles across the skin underneath.  She had a distinguishing mark- a large circular smudged birthmark across the right side of her neck, just above the collar bone. The autopsy photo showed a large swelling across her forehead, probably due to blunt force trauma.

Originally authorities suspected that she had been the victim of a serial killer Acevedo Francisco. Although unidentified at the time, he was responsible for the murders of three other women in the NYC area between the late eighties and mid-nineties. However two decades later when he was finally charged with the crimes, it was confirmed that he was not responsible for the death of Mount Vernon Doe.

A PI involved with the case believes the unidentified victim is a missing girl named Cathleen Marie Martin. Martin went missing a year before the mount Vernon Jane Doe was discovered. Her Charley project page states that she was 110lbs and 5”8; however Jane Doe is reprtedly 105lbs and 5”3. The weight is similar but the height is off by a good few inches. Also there is no mention of the distinguishing birthmark on the neck.

(Cathleen Martin)

So who was the Mount Vernon Jane Doe?

And who killed her?

   

The Walker County Jane Doe,Orange socks and Henry Lee Lucas

Hey, how's it going?

This week I have an unsolved Jane Doe case for you. This is a case from the eighties with both an unidentified victim and killer. 

****I have to warn you that there is postmortem images contained within this post as well as one crime scene photo, so reader discretion is advised.****

In the Oakwood cemetery in Hunstsville, Walker Country, Texas, the body of an unidentified woman rests in a casket provided by Huntsville Funerals. 

Her grave is marked with a headstone given by Morris Memorials that reads “unknown white female”. 

(image from findagrave)

She was murdered in 1980 and her naked, bruised and battered body was discovered by a passing truck driver making their way down interstate highway 45.

Little is known about the girl other than her physical appearance and measurements. 

(Image source: Icaremissingpersons)

She was Caucasian, of average height (around 5”5) a brunette with a winged hair style, brown eyes (scar above her right eyebrow) and pierced ears.  She was possibly from a middleclass background (judging by the condition of her body and teeth) and was around 14- 16 years old. Her Doe network page lists her weight as between 105 – 120lbs. 

She was found  “on the shoulder of I-45 north, a half mile south of FM 1696 exit, 2 miles north of Huntsville” (or 30.770025,-95.640115 if you want to look up the specific spot)

(Image from Google maps)

(Image source apparently shows the specific spot.This was posted at Websluthes.)

On the morning of November first she was found on her front, face down on the ground and naked.  It would later be determined that she had been violently beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled with a pair of stockings.  A pair of red sandals were next to her body.  She had met a violent and painful end, and the killer was never identified. Examination of the body shows that she was killed around 3am.

(An actual photo for ID purposes from the Doenetwork website.)

It is thought that she was dumped along the highway, as pieces of (assumed to be her) stockings and underwear were forced into her vagina and rectum. The Wikipedia article notes that this was probably to plug the bleeding that had occurred (as the result of the insertion of a large blunt object during the assault) while the killer drove the body to dispose of it.

Her attacker left behind a bite mark on her shoulder- this was later compared to the dentals of infamous serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. He was active around the time that Walker county Doe was discovered and although he liked to take responsibility for murders he did not commit, his dentals did not match those of the bite on the unknown girl. Looking at most of the reports about the Walker county Doe, though, you get the impression that the general consensus is she was murdered by a serial killer or at least someone who had a penchant for murder and had done it before.

(Henry Lee Lucas. Image from Wikipedia)

Following the discovery of the body, local authorities asked around the area in hopes that someone had seen the girl. Many people claimed to interact with her on Halloween night, all giving a similar description of her outfit and relaying conversations they had.

They all described her as wearing a dirty, long sleeved, yellow shirt with jeans and a white knitted jumper with oversized pockets. She was said to be carrying her red sandals (which, judging by the red shoes found at the crime scene indicates it was most likely the same girl)

None of these articles of clothing were found at the scene other than her shoes and her necklace which was still around her neck.

(The Hitch n' Post more recently. Image from TBC)

According to manager of a truck stop (“Hitch n’ Post), another civilian (local business owner Bobby Roach) who witnessed her step out of a blue two tone Chevrolet Caprice(at 6:30pm), and a truck stop waitress, the girl was heading towards Ellis Prison, and asked each of them for directions.  Although the waitress was concerned as the girl looked young, she drew her a map to the prison so the girl could visit a friend she claimed to have there. Police asked around the prison, but none of the inmates said they knew her.

(From the whowaswalkercountydoe page)

She is possibly originally from Rockport or Aransas Pass, Texas, as this is what she apparently told the waitress, but no-one there could identify the girl. Police asked around schools in the local area too, but that didn’t turn up anything either.

Comparisons have been made between the murder of the Walker county doe and the unsolved murder of the Georgetown Doe- more commonly known as “orange socks”.

The orange socks murder happened just two years prior to the Walker county case on the 30^th October.  It also happened in Texas, the cause of death was also strangulation, the victim was found completely nude except for a pair of orange socks on her feet and of course Henry Lee Lucas confessed to doing it.  So it’s quite easy to see why people often talk about a link in the two cases as there are a few similarities including the location and modus operandi. Also, both the girls were hitchhiking, although Orange socks is assumed to be from Oklahoma on account of a matchbox bearing the name of the state being found at the scene.  

(Crime scene image from wikipedia)

According to an article on this page one of the investigating officers (Dale Myers, I believe) who was at the crime scene said that when he talked to Lucas in regards to the bite marks and his dentals not matching up, Lucas claimed to have had reconstructive teeth surgery..

“We had the bite mark on her left shoulder, and when I went to interview him, he told me he had dental reconstruction done. I was devastated. We had photos of him before, and his teeth looked like they would have matched the bite mark, but we just couldn't make that match. I still believe Henry Lee Lucas killed this girl.”

As a final point of interest I found this on the "who was walker county doe" Facebook page.

What are your thoughts?

Until next time, friends.

The Broward county Doe:

Australian born serial killer Christopher “Beauty queen killer” Wilder was responsible for the rape and murder of 8-9 (likely more) victims across the U.S, including an ex-girlfriend, during a killing spree in early April of 1984.

He was apprehended, and died by his own hand during a struggle with police on the 13^th of April of the same year. He shot himself twice, with one of the bullets exiting his body and wounding (non-fatal) a police officer who was attempting to restrain him.

(image: Wikipedia)

Wilder was thought to have many more victims than officially recorded, including victims back in his home land of Australia. He had an extensive history or rapes, assaults and sexual violence on his record;  So it is no surprise that he is also the a suspect in the case of an unidentified Caucasian female in her early twenties to mid-thirties, found in February of 1984 in a canal in Florida. She had been strangled to death and floated face down in the water, wearing only a pair of shorts, for 2 days before being discovered.

The unidentified woman is, for now, known as “The Broward County Doe”.

Any supporting act that points to Wilder as the perpetrator is that he lived on Boynton Beach in close enough proximity to the crime and was known to frequent the area. He had also dumped the body of a previous victim in a canal before (Terry Walden) and raped two young girls in the same state only a year earlier.

As always, if you have any information on this case, do not hesitate to contact case manager Wendy Crane at the Davie Police Department on 954-357-5242.

The Cemetery suicide of the unknown woman

(Image: Google Earth)

On the 18^th of December 1996 in Annandale, Fairfax County, Virginia, an unidentified woman was found dead by suicide in the infants section of a small cemetery in Pleasant valley memorial park.

She had premeditated her suicide, leaving a typed note saying:

“Deceased by own hand… Prefer no autopsy. Please order cremation with funds provided. Thank you, Jane Doe.”

She left $100 in the form of two $50 bills to be given to the coroner and the cemetery.

Jane Doe was found on a plastic sheet that she had laid out on the ground. There was a small, decorated 8” Christmas tree nearby.

She had ingested brandy and valium and her blood-alcohol level was 0.14.

She was wearing head phones and listening to a stand-up comedy cassette of “The 2000 year old man” routine by Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. There was a plastic bag over her head with masking tape making it air tight at the neck.

There were no clues to her identity on her person and no leads for investigators to follow, however the contents of her backpack included:

-A portable cassette player

-2X cassettes including “Monty Python and the holy grail” and “You might be a redneck” by Jeff Foxwirthy.

-2 empty juice bottles

-Roll of masking tape (the same one used to seal the plastic bag around her neck)

The unknown woman was estimated between 50 – 70 years old, Caucasian, around 5”0 tall with curly copper brown hair and a C-section scar.

Her nails were painted with red polish.

Who was the cemetery suicide Jane Doe?

As always guys, if you have any leads on this case, contact:

 Northern District Medical Examiner’s Office 703-530-2600 

Fairfax County Crime Solvers 800-411-TIPS or 703-691-8888

sources: http://doenetwork.org/cases/245ufva.html

The Jefferson County cold case:

On the 27th January 1993 in Ina, Jefferson county, Illinois, the severed head of an unidentified woman was found in a brush in Wayne Fitzgerrell state park. 

The map below (from Google maps) gives us a general idea of the what the area looks like.

 Two little girls discovered the head while playing in the park, according to investigators the perpetrator made no effort to conceal the head on disposal.The general consensus is that it was probably thrown from a moving vehicle and is considered a murder.

 As you can tell by the reconstruction, the face was definitely recognizable with what looks like brown mahogany hair in a grown out bob haircut with bangs / a fringe. A small mole on her left ear was noted.
Although I agree with most that the image does look waxy and ghoulish it was probably rendered directly from the postmortem image and therefore holds the most likeness.

The dental analysis revealed a possible change in economic circumstances (or just a possible disregard for dental care) as there was costly previous work performed, coupled with a more recent state of decay. 

The victim was Caucasian and her age is estimated anywhere between 30 – 50. (The only news clipping I could find said she looked around 30)

Jane Doe had also suffered from Torticollis (more commonly know as wry neck syndrome) which meant she may have had difficulty turning her head certain ways and might have often spasmed involuntarily. It's thought that her head was likely often turned to the left.
The only other information about the Jane Doe is that her neck condition could have been linked to a past accident, as she had what is described on the isp.state site as a "healed traumatic lesion on the skull". I'm assuming that's a skull fracture or some sort injury sustained in her life previously. 

(image source)

Her identity remains unknown. 

If you have any information regarding this case, contact Stacie Speith at the Illinois state police on 618-529-6500quoting case number LE: C93-0159 

Sources: wikipedia
FB cold cases

The man who married Jane Doe:

DOE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.

(Thanks for the heads up Mike in Dallas)

Read the Seattle times article here! << click click

Edit: Just remembered this case and intend to go back to it with some more sources and updates etc. Stay tuned.

Lori Erica Ruff ("née": Kennedy) was a private and introverted woman.

In 2003, the tall, pretty brunette married a man named Blake Ruff after meeting him at a church bible study group in East Texas.

They eloped in Dallas, as Lori rejected the idea of a well-attended traditional wedding and the newspaper announcement that came with it.

She never warmed to her family in law and spent a lot of time alone, also working from her computer at home as a marketing consultant.

Lori was always evasive when questioned about her childhood and past, stating only that both her parents were deceased and that she had no living relatives.

Her husband didn’t push her for answers or attempt to make her open up in any way.

They tried for a baby, but Lori miscarried several times, before finally giving birth to a daughter in 2008.

She was very protective of her child, and never allowed anyone to babysit.

She spent time with her daughter, dressing up and frequenting tea shops as she always liked to do.

Problems arose in their relationship, causing Blake to move out of the marital home in 2010.

He moved back to his family home and ordered a divorce.

Lori began to have a meltdown; she lost weight and received counseling at a nearby church, where she would ramble and repeat to the pastor on the subject of her flaws and problems and questioned what was wrong with her and why her marriage had deteriorated.

She would fidget and repeat herself and stare at her open palms and the back of her long hands.

In 2010 Blake’s father discovered the body of Lori in Blake’s car, a black Tahoe, outside of their family home.

She had committed suicide with a shotgun to the head.

She had two letters on her person; one for Blake and one for her daughter with a note that it be opened on her 18^th birthday.

According to the report, the letters were nothing but pages of incoherent rambling.

During a search of the Ruff’s marital home, which was in very poor condition inside, scattered with paper scrawling’s of conscious commentary from the hand of Lori, the police found a safe box at the bottom of her closet.

Blake noted that when they were living together Lori was adamant that he never open the box and that it was personal. As usual, Blake didn’t question it or push her as to why, he simply accepted it.

An officer jammed the box open and was shocked by the contents.

Inside were various documents.

One of which was a certificate in which Lori had legally changed her name, from Becky Sue Turner, To Lori Erica Kennedy.

The only problem was, that Becky Sue turner had died many years ago in Fife, of asphyxiation in a house fire. She was only two years old.

Some digging revealed an article on the tragedy.

 

Becky Sue Turners birth and death certificates were also in the box.

Lori had apparently taken over the identity of Becky Sue only a month or two after the death.

She had ordered a copy of the birth certificate and knew that since Becky sue had died in a state that she wasn’t born in, it would be less likely that she would get caught taking over her identity.

  

From there she got an I.D Card for the state of Idaho stating that she was 18 years old and went on to legally change her name to Lori Erica Kennedy and obtained a social security card.

She got a GED and a degree in business from the University of Texas.

There was a letter of reference signed by a man named Roger Steinbeck, who claimed that Lori had worked for him “since high school until 1988”. However the letter was vague and had no mention of any specific date and what Lori’s actual role or duties were.

The letter was written on hotel stationary from “The oriental hotel” in Bangkok, Thailand.

The hotel is an actual establishment (Now the mandolin Oriental hotel) and one of the first five star hotels built in the city. It was host to many celebrities back in the day, such as Audrey Hepburn, John Steinbeck, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson.

Officers contacted Roger Steinbeck, but were met with a dead end and reported that he didn’t exist.

It is not known if Lori ever traveled over sea’s, however she didn’t have a passport under the name Lori Erica Kennedy until 1990, and no stamps for Thailand were found in it.  

Amongst the documents were two other sheets of paper; one with notes, scrawled phone numbers and names, and one with dates and the letters D and M, leading people to believe she had possibly been working out dates to indicate ages of her new identities parents.

When her finger prints and face were ran through data bases nothing showed up.

In fact, finding out anything about Lori pre 1988 was impossible.

The only other information that investigators were able to find out through talking to an old acquaintance was that she had previously worked as a dancer in a gentleman’s club. The autopsy revealed that she had breast implants, but had gotten them as Lori and not her previous identity.

Some people speculate that Lori was running from a tragic past, or was in a witness protection program, but nobody knows the truth.

Lori Erica Kennedy took her secret to the grave.

(sources and images: seattletimes, dailynews, websluethes, reddit, doenetwork)