MO MO - Ricky McCormick, 41, St Louis, 30 June 1999

[Mikebr]

One doesnt' have to be autistic to think in this manner. I'm convinced RM's "code" was unique and the key known only to him. It's not medical abbreviations or stock abbreviations (I played around with idea that very early on.) Sure, we can match up the letters with known abbrevations, but then can we put them together in a way that makes sense? Not just in one line, but in a way that follows throughout an entire page or large section of a page? There are very definite patterns in RM's writings. The way to solve the code is not one phrase at a time, but by looking over one entire page at a time and noting the patterns and the relationship between the letters and letter groups.

I'm convinced there is a numerical scheme beneath the letters, and I still believe my solution posted in April and May is pretty close to being accurate. I also suggest everyone read Sammy Sheep's post from May 6th at 10:00 am for good insight.

One more question..did you analyze the zodiac killer cyphers? i think your methods would be interesting in those letters..i think in that case there was a mathmatical or logic based or key based coding..probably written in plain english and translated slowly. that killer remember was using the code to taunt and get an ego rush from control..he made it for solving...
ricky wrote his for himself alone never to be figured out by others....

 

[liz b.]

I agree ; the coded words or phrases would make sense only to RM. It is unlikely,therefore, that the meaning could ever be deciphered by anyone else.

It's interesting,though, that RM carried this piece of paper on him. It seems like he needed to refer to the piece of paper in connection with whatever he was doing that day.

RM had been evicted from his home shortly before he died. I wonder if he had hidden one of his possessions near to where he was found ? Could his coded message be some kind of map to remind himself exactly where to search ? Say, a certain number of paces within the cornfield ?

Also of interest is that the autopsy performed on RM could not determine the cause of death. There was no obituary for him. And I couldn't find out anything about a funeral for him... And,as others have posted, he is not on the SSDI at all.. Puzzling, MOO

 

[Mikebr]

I agree ; the coded words or phrases would make sense only to RM. It is unlikely,therefore, that the meaning could ever be deciphered by anyone else.

It's interesting,though, that RM carried this piece of paper on him. It seems like he needed to refer to the piece of paper in connection with whatever he was doing that day.

RM had been evicted from his home shortly before he died. I wonder if he had hidden one of his possessions near to where he was found ? Could his coded message be some kind of map to remind himself exactly where to search ? Say, a certain number of paces within the cornfield ?

Also of interest is that the autopsy performed on RM could not determine the cause of death. There was no obituary for him. And I couldn't find out anything about a funeral for him... And,as others have posted, he is not on the SSDI at all.. Puzzling, MOO

I agree with you on this one..the article says the authorities could find no other writings of ricky's...hmmm..wonder if there is actually some other writing that they want translated..perhaps a journal in the same script...maybe they released these messages to get some help..i also agree that the notes found with him might be a map or directions or a list of instructions..perhaps if its drug related a customer ledger..not sure, but clearly written by him, for him and not very sophisticated....but i cannot believe a serious FBI investigation would concern itself with the death of a semi homeless man murdered sadly like perhaps 1000's of people over the intervening years...is the request for help for the benefit of some fbi code breaker's entertainment or is it because some larger investigation would be advanced by its solution..i don't buy what the fbi has said..there either is something bigger at stake or we have fbi agents with too much time on their hands.

 

[Soulmagent]

I just read the book Though the Window by Diane Faning, not a remarkable book about serial killer Tommy Sells. In the book it makes mention of some unsolved /unverified cases of murders that might Tommy sells may have commited. It made me wonder if Tommy's connection to St Loius and the drug trade may be why the FBI wants to know more about Rickys note , alone it doesnt stand very important but the FBI has said Rickys body as found where 3 other bodies where found and Tommy has said he killed a woman tied to a tree ,which hits a nerve in this case.

 

[dotr]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2011/12/01/19047061.html
"Once upon a time the James Bonds of this world were recruited into the world of espionage through discreet old-boy networks, all very secretive and hush hush.

Not any more. Britain’s GCHQ intelligence agency has launched an online code-breaking game in an attempt to attract the country’s top graduates via the Internet.

The agency, which works with MI5 and MI6 has invited applicants to demonstrate their code-breaking capacity by deciphering a series of letters and numbers.

The initiative is part of a drive to help shore up the country against potential cyber attacks in the future.

Successful code-breakers will not only win the Internet game, but they could also land a job.

“We hope that the code-breaking challenge will help increase awareness of GCHQ’s mission and the important role it plays in safeguarding the nation,” an agency spokesman said.


“We hope to reach out to a broader audience, who may not be attracted to traditional advertising methods,” he added.

The game at canyoucrackit.co.uk was launched last month and carries on until Dec. 12."

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

I just read all of this fascinating thread - anyone know of any updates on this?

 

[dotr]

Just found this new, long article about the code/case, followed by many comments.
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2012-06-14/news/ricky-mccormick-code-mysterious-death-st-louis/

"It doesn't happen often that we have an unsolved cipher of this length and significance," Olson says. "The characters are not random. There are many E's, for example, that could be used as a spacer. There are many characteristics that suggest it could be solved, many patterns. The problem is we don't know why it is not solvable."


"We cannot get past step two," Olson says of the McCormick case.



"Some have suggested the notes are meaningless, the random scribblings of a man who by all accounts was functionally illiterate and demonstrated a low IQ. Olson is quick to argue otherwise. He is convinced the codes could contain leads about where McCormick was or with whom he met in the last hours before his corpse was abandoned to rot along with his secrets."

 

[dotr]

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/da...mccormick_codes_elonka_dunin_cryptography.php
"Video: The Ricky McCormick Codes Explained


By Chad GarrisonFri., Jun. 15 2012 at 2:24 PM "

 

[impatientredhead]

I see a drug dealer list, fairly high up, feeding his own dealers who are then dealing small amounts to buyers. The code looks to me like who belonged to originally, who it was handed off too, quantity, money specifics, the mid dealers street name

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Just found this new, long article about the code/case, followed by many comments.
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2012-06-14/news/ricky-mccormick-code-mysterious-death-st-louis/

"It doesn't happen often that we have an unsolved cipher of this length and significance," Olson says. "The characters are not random. There are many E's, for example, that could be used as a spacer. There are many characteristics that suggest it could be solved, many patterns. The problem is we don't know why it is not solvable."


"We cannot get past step two," Olson says of the McCormick case.



"Some have suggested the notes are meaningless, the random scribblings of a man who by all accounts was functionally illiterate and demonstrated a low IQ. Olson is quick to argue otherwise. He is convinced the codes could contain leads about where McCormick was or with whom he met in the last hours before his corpse was abandoned to rot along with his secrets."

Thanks, Dotr. Interesting article, more information to be sure, but, still unsolved. Hmmmmm.

 

[AmandaRose]

The first thing that jumps out at me is that the "words" are extremely long, as though each real letter would be represented by two or more coded letters. I know absolutely nothing about coding, but this is interesting.

Oh, and also, the numbers 71, 74 and 75 are interesting because they are all major freeways that run through southwestern ohio.

in truth this could be written in a different language. I know some foreign languages will make a word that is only 4 letters long in english and have it be 7-10 letters long in another language.

 

[AmandaRose]

Ok, so here's what I've got for the 2nd page, if it makes it any easier to try and figure out. Some of his letters weren't super-clear, so I did the best I could:

ALPNTE GLSE-SE ERTE
VLSE MTSE-CTSE-WSE-FRTSE
PNRTRSE ONDRSEWLD NCBE
NWLDZLRCMSPNEWLDSTSMEXL
DULMT6TUNSE NCBEXC
(MUNSAISTENMUNARSE)
KLSE-LRSTE-TRSE-TRSE-MKSEN-MRSE
(SAE6NSE SE NMBSE)
NMNRCBRNSEPTE2PTEWSREBKNSE
26MLSE74SPRKSE29KENOSOLE173RTRSE
356LE CLGSEOUNUTKEDKRSE PSESHLE
651MTCSEHTLSENCUTCTRS NMRE
99.84.5 5UNEPLSENCRSEADLTSENSKSENBSE
NSREONSE PVTSEWLDNCBE (3XORL)
NMSENRSEIN2NTRLERCBRNSENTSRCRBNE
LSPNSENGSPSEMKSEKBSEPCBEAVXL’R
HMCRENMREFCBE 1/2MUNDPLSE
D-W-M14HIL XDRLX

i did notice from the orig notes was that some of the E's were both upper and lower case, which tells me that they have two separate meanings possibly.

 

[AmandaRose]

Thanks, Dotr. Interesting article, more information to be sure, but, still unsolved. Hmmmmm.

not all murders are covered by that logic, some are just in in the wrong place at the wrong time and should never have been there in the first place. it was a question of removing a witness that was unplanned for being there, then at this point it is self-preservation.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

not all murders are covered by that logic, some are just in in the wrong place at the wrong time and should never have been there in the first place. it was a question of removing a witness that was unplanned for being there, then at this point it is self-preservation.

Oh I totally agree with you. This is interesting that all this came up ten years later, KWIM? And the code stumps the FBI. <shakes head> really a good mystery I suppose.

 

[dotr]

Line 1, just to try.Could P's represent person (head on body) dash- dead body? Cemetery markers?

planet legs south east tree ?

 

[Swamp Fox Trot]

The "AL-" in line 4 makes me wonder if part of it might be in Arabic. Maybe the was from the nefarious immigrant gas station owner to his thugs. Surely someone has tried that.

 

[dotr]

E, Man?, female legs and man(rape?)
e, Child?
P + 1(one) phone?

 

[dotr]

I don't know if this blog has already been posted or not, or whether the info. is accurate-but there certainly is lots of interesting detail...

http://prophecyexperimentalzone.blogspot.ca/2012/06/more-details-of-life-and-death-of-ricky.html

 

[Swamp Fox Trot]

I'm not convinced McCormick wrote it.

It might be directions related to some criminal activity. If you look at a St. Louis map, near Bellevue you see streets like "W J St" that would look weird even if properly decoded.

I'm not convinced it's in English either. How would they know what language it's in if they haven't solved it?

 

[md70]

I have even considered the possibility the it has nothing or very little to do with the RM case. Perhaps they didn't want to tell the public the truth (terrorism, bioterrorism, etc.) and so they have tied it to the RM case because the notes were found around the same time, in the same area, and RM was known to write codes when he was younger. Maybe the whole RM thing is a red herring and the FBI just doesn't want to tell the public the truth until they know for sure what is in the notes. As to why they asked the public for help, who knows. Maybe if you can crack the code, it means you are involved. Maybe there are other code sheets we don't know about that they have already solved so they have an idea what it's about but the key is different for these and they can't crack it for whatever reason.

Then there is always the possibility that RM did write the code or that it's not a code at all and RM was just plain looney tunes. :banghead: