The U.S. Marshals were on the hunt for a fan that was sitting behind home plate during a Dodgers-Red Sox Wild Card playoff game in 2016. The man who authorities thought was America’s most wanted fugitives was actually just an average joe.
Marshals thought the fan in question was John Ruffo, who was tried and sentenced to 17 years in prison for bank fraud, embezzling an estimated $350 million. Ruffo then vanished and hasn’t been found since. They confirmed Ruffo is still on the run in a statement released Thursday.
The way authorities found out about Ruffo potentially being at the Dodgers game was through his own cousin who was watching. When he thought he saw a portly man who resembled his cousin, he immediately called the Marshals, who asked the Dodgers organization to corporate with their investigation.
The thing that made it difficult for authorities was that the original owner of the ticket had given it away, and they could not track down the man who had brought the ticket. The Marshals eventually were able to track him down and confirm that it indeed wasn’t Ruffo after taking his fingerprints.
With the Dodgers back in the postseason, could we possibly see Ruffo show up? Probably not, but at least authorities know he wasn’t behind home plate in 2016.
Ruffo had about $13 million on him when he disappeared, so he could be comfortably living someone overseas or even in the states if he had some work done to his face and stayed lowkey. You could easily live out your days with a couple of million if you make smart moves and not doing anything crazy to draw attention to yourself.
Flip the page to see an image of the man at the Dodgers game and fugitive John Ruffo and see for yourself if there is any resemblance and video about his scam.