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

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bessie said:
The FBI has all of the information, and it didn't help them solve it. I posted last week that power of suggestion is strong. Any more information would only confound us further. For example, if they told us RM liked to fish, we'd only see terms related to fish and fishing. It would blind us to other possibilities, IMO. "Fresh eyes" means just that, a fresh, unadulterated view. JMHO. Already, I think we've inferred too much about RM's character and lifestyle. It's difficult not to let our biases interfere. But for now, I'm going back to just playing with the writings and try to forget all I know about the author.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
dotr said:
I assume that they have already run these notes by RM's former teachers, classmates and friends, as well as in the prisons...
I would be interested in what, if any- t.v. shows, RM may have enjoyed in childhood, but especially any books or comics that he may have read, that might have inspired his code.
Click to expand...

That's the problem with this whole situation of trying to decipher the code. The FBI has released it to the masses on the Internet, but there are very few facts about who Ricky was. I can appreciate the concept of getting fresh, uninfluenced, eyes on the code. And I think that anyone looking at the notes would agree that there is something to it...it's not just random scribblings. But without more facts about Ricky, we can make the a whole lot of assumptions and probably make the code mean anything we want it to.

I think it would be interesting if one of the local new stations or newspapers started conducting interviews and digging for information about Ricky and sharing what they find with the public. They could make it a daily/weekly segment as long as they're getting new info.
 
dotr said:
I assume that they have already run these notes by RM's former teachers, classmates and friends, as well as in the prisons...
I would be interested in what, if any- t.v. shows, RM may have enjoyed in childhood, but especially any books or comics that he may have read, that might have inspired his code.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the notes are encrypted in some way, so nobody can read them. But trying to decipher them without even knowing if you're going to recognize a word or phrase to know you're on the right track would be very difficult. Also, since these notes were presumably written by and for Ricky, there could be lots of things in there that only he would understand. For instance, if you tried to decipher my grocery list, even with a simple substitution cipher, it would be very difficult to figure out what it means because the terms are personal to me and often abbreviated or spelled in an odd way.
part of my grocery list, very simple code (each letter = a different letter):
LL/NN
IzI -- tu 3
HIY
(B) Vax 2, PH u Inctu
Vtzy l yw
 
The one fact that was released is the one I think is most important. He started his coding technique when he was 10. Although it is likely that he "improved" it a bit throughout the years, I think the core of the code is going to be the same he used all of his young years. Basically, he would start to think in his code.

That happened to me after I started using Autocorrect in Word. Doing it day in and day out, it becomes second nature to you after a while...just like typing or riding a bike. Another technique I use is to use the first 2 letters of 2 commonly connected words. In my case, these are medical:

lach = laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
laap = laparoscopic appendectomy.
insu = interrupted sutures.
 
dotr said:
I wonder which is the correct version, either way,it does not seem like a "natural" death to me.

Maj. Tom O'Connor of the Major Case Squad said authorities were treating the suspicious death as if it were a homicide. A medical examiner has not been able to determine an exact cause of death yet. An initial medical examination found no obvious gunshot or knife wounds, he said.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/article_bcc02074-5b1a-11e0-b199-0017a4a78c22.html

McCormick, who was identified by his fingerprints, suffered from chronic heart and lung problems, O'Connor said, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility that his health may have contributed to his death.
Click to expand...

except that is according to "an initial medical examination..."

In an article today, it states, "St. Charles County Sheriff 's Department initially contented itself with "suspicious death." But a more detailed examination suggested his throat had been slashed."

The article goes on to say,
"According to his family, Mc-Cormick enjoyed devising ciphers as a boy and continued to experiment with them into adulthood."

(snip) Ricky was considered "street smart" by police, he was clearly more intelligent than his unspectacular educational performance would suggest.

(snip)"Matthew Aid, a former codebreaker and historian of the National Security Agency, observes: "This gentleman may have devised a cipher tied to a book. For example you take a particular edition of King Lear and use the letters in the text to construct a cipher. Only a person who knows it's King Lear and is equipped with the same edition can translate the message. I tend to doubt this gentleman has read the works of the Bard but he may have been a mathematical genius on the quiet. Education means nothing in code breaking -it's an instinctive business."

Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/Public+asked+help+decipher+dead+code/4579972/story.html#ixzz1IyUMMkws​
 
Here is what I've gleaned so far... most articles refer to a homicide, therefore, I believe Ricky was murdered. (his throat was slashed)
Articles say he was street smart. (nothing less)
I think he liked creating ciphers - call it a hobby, a pastime or whatever... it was definitely his thing and since he created them for roughly 30 years, he was probably good at it.

What I don't understand... authorities say they believe the codes were written up to three days before his death. Even the article I quoted above says, "It is believed the notes were written a few days before the killing."
how do they know that?

ETA: (quote from above) NSA codebreaker, Michael Aid "I tend to doubt this gentleman has read the works of the Bard but he may have been a mathematical genius on the quiet. Education means nothing in code breaking -it's an instinctive business."

It sounds like he is referring to Ricky as the codebreaker not (code) writer?
 
dotr said:
I assume that they have already run these notes by RM's former teachers, classmates and friends, as well as in the prisons...
I would be interested in what, if any- t.v. shows, RM may have enjoyed in childhood, but especially any books or comics that he may have read, that might have inspired his code.
Click to expand...

60's show. Man From Uncle. Ricky's body was found wearing the secret decoder ring.
 
For the record, personal attacks are not permitted at WS. I am not a mod, but have been here long enough to know the ropes. Please keep on topic without personally attacking others-everyone is entitled to their opinion here.
 
Please do not attack each other personally. That means directly or through mockery
Please post responsibly with respect to others personal information.
If you state something to be a fact, link to it so we can all read it in context.
If you are deducing something, make that clear and if that deduction is based on facts, be sure to link them.
If you are just throwing out your own ideas, specify it is just opinion. Stating something that is opinion as though it is a fact is misleading and disruptive.

Thanks.
 
miley said:
Here is what I've gleaned so far... most articles refer to a homicide, therefore, I believe Ricky was murdered. (his throat was slashed)
Articles say he was street smart. (nothing less)
I think he liked creating ciphers - call it a hobby, a pastime or whatever... it was definitely his thing and since he created them for roughly 30 years, he was probably good at it.

What I don't understand... authorities say they believe the codes were written up to three days before his death. Even the article I quoted above says, "It is believed the notes were written a few days before the killing."
how do they know that?

ETA: (quote from above) NSA codebreaker, Michael Aid "I tend to doubt this gentleman has read the works of the Bard but he may have been a mathematical genius on the quiet. Education means nothing in code breaking -it's an instinctive business."

It sounds like he is referring to Ricky as the codebreaker not (code) writer?
Click to expand...

"Regarding dating of documents in general, absolute and relative
dating have to be distinguished:With absolute dating, the analytical
dates lead to the determination of a time frame, in which a questioned
entry must have been produced.With relative dating, samples
of two or more questioned areas (or different sheets) are analyzed
and compared to determine which sample is older/younger than the
other(s)."
http://www.chem.siu.edu/chem439/ink_dating.pdf
Maybe RM is both code-writer and code-breaker.JMO.
 
(It is my first intervention. I am French-speaking. Be lenient my bad English.)

RM was found died near a corn field with West Alton on June 30, 1999 and was seen for the last time at the Hospital of Park Forest in St-Louis on June 25. It did not have a car.

If RM was driven out of his housing on June 24, 1999, it is reasonable to think that it seeks to be relocated in the days which follow. I have worked for 20 years near vulnerable people who seek to be relocated.

Missouri Court, Search by Case Number (Case #22990-04198)

6/24/1999 Eviction executed and possession of premises returned to plaintiff on 062199 . Sheriff fee 20.00 paid.

Defendants' Address: 1400 Chouteau Avenue, St Louis, MO

(Shadowraiths)

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - FBI wants public help solving encrypted notes from murder mystery


I looked at the messages coded under this angle and I studied the network of Subway and bus by taking account of the fact that it was not necessarily the same one at the time. For example, there was only the red line of Subway of use in 1999.

I concentrated on the sequence of figures 71-74-75 and 194
There was formerly a bus 71 who circulated on the axis Fourteen Street /Lindell which passes on other side of Forest Park in direction of Florissant Avenue.

http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/stldate.html

To note that 1400 Chouteau is near Florissant Avenue and Fourteenth Street.
The bus 74 circulate on Florissant Avenue towards north and crosses the way of the bus 75 who circulates on Pershall Road and joined motorway 367 (or 67).

http://www.metrostlouis.org/Libraries/System_Map_PDFs/MO_System_Map.pdf

The latter assembles north towards West Alton and crosses the road 94. At this point it is possible to cross the double track to reach the point where was found RM by St-Charles Street and W Alton Trail until Machens Club Drive. (There is also a farm to the 194 Orchard Street in W Alton in the vicinity!?!)

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=fr&rl...code_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA


(FLR SE PRSE ONDE 71 NCBE)
(CD NSE PRSE ONSDE 74 NCBE)
(PR TSE PRSE ON REDE 75 NCBE)
(TF NRCMSP SOLE MRDE LUSE TOTE WLD N WLD NCBE)
(194 WLD’S NCBE) (TRFXL)


The FBI says that he was not a homeless person.I am in the profession. He is not perhaps a homeless person in a strict sense but he is unstable on the residential level. He remains probably on the right and on the left at parents, friends, knowledge, etc. And that should not finish always well. This is why it has several addresses.
 
Welcome Myosotis!

You raise some very interesting points.
 
Myosotis said:
(It is my first intervention. I am French-speaking. Be lenient my bad English.)

RM was found died near a corn field with West Alton on June 30, 1999 and was seen for the last time at the Hospital of Park Forest in St-Louis on June 25. It did not have a car.

If RM was driven out of his housing on June 24, 1999, it is reasonable to think that it seeks to be relocated in the days which follow. I have worked for 20 years near vulnerable people who seek to be relocated.

Missouri Court, Search by Case Number (Case #22990-04198)

6/24/1999 Eviction executed and possession of premises returned to plaintiff on 062199 . Sheriff fee 20.00 paid.

Defendants' Address: 1400 Chouteau Avenue, St Louis, MO

(Shadowraiths)

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - FBI wants public help solving encrypted notes from murder mystery


I looked at the messages coded under this angle and I studied the network of Subway and bus by taking account of the fact that it was not necessarily the same one at the time. For example, there was only the red line of Subway of use in 1999.

I concentrated on the sequence of figures 71-74-75 and 194
There was formerly a bus 71 who circulated on the axis Fourteen Street /Lindell which passes on other side of Forest Park in direction of Florissant Avenue.

http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/stldate.html

To note that 1400 Chouteau is near Florissant Avenue and Fourteenth Street.
The bus 74 circulate on Florissant Avenue towards north and crosses the way of the bus 75 who circulates on Pershall Road and joined highway 367 (or 67).

http://www.metrostlouis.org/Libraries/System_Map_PDFs/MO_System_Map.pdf

The latter assembles north towards West Alton and crosses the road 94. At this point it is possible to cross the double track to reach the point where was found RM by St-Charles Street and W Alton Trail until Machens Club Drive. (There is also a farm to the 194 Orchard Street in W Alton in the vicinity!?!)

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=fr&rl...code_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA


(FLR SE PRSE ONDE 71 NCBE)
(CD NSE PRSE ONSDE 74 NCBE)
(PR TSE PRSE ON REDE 75 NCBE)
(TF NRCMSP SOLE MRDE LUSE TOTE WLD N WLD NCBE)
(194 WLD’S NCBE) (TRFXL)


The FBI says that he was not a homeless person.I am in the profession. He is not perhaps a homeless person in a strict sense but he is unstable on the residential level. He remains probably on the right and on the left at parents, friends, knowledge, etc. And that should not finish always well. This is why it has several addresses.
Click to expand...

In such a context, the two sheets would be a list of things to be made for the removal including a route (P1) and a list of potential residences (NOTES). Perhaps it sought side of Illinois with Alton. Three lines start with Al in addition to (ALSM) in top on the right (P1).
 
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