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

[Myosotis]

It would be possible to integrate into the sequence of the way in the bus the line which precedes.

(TENE T FRNENCBRTSE NCBE INC) =

I read here that TENET could refer to the owner of the hospital. This line could be a recall of the appointment at the hospital.

SheerLuckHolmes #212 #218

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131822&page=9

 

[miley]

Maybe RM is both code-writer and code-breaker.JMO.

After looking around, (and I'll have to find the link) I read that the codes match Ricky's handwriting -

 

[Walker]

The FBI seems to be indicating that something contained in these notes may have led to the murder of this individual, Ricky McCormick.

In other words, did Mr. McCormick know "too much"?


JMO: the emotions expressed in the forming of the characters suggest intense fear, tension, but not panic. He is describing a dangerous situation, but he is taking his time.

McCormick did not have steady meaningful employment. His formal education was minimal, but he is known as "street smart." He was perhaps a type who might blend in easily in a downtown location.

Could he have been earning extra cash working as a paid observer for a private investigator?

Let's imagine that he was being employed (maybe off the books) by an investigator to observe some building in St. Louis. Perhaps he was stationed in a higher floor of some other office building, across the street or at least proximate to the building he was observing. He may have also had some type of a listening device which accessed police channels.

These particular notes might record his observations of police response to some incident which occurred at the building.

The letter "E" may refer to the building or to the entrance to that building. "CBE" might mean "could be E." In other words, hearing the police report, he then guesses whether it might the E.

In some cases, "S" may refer to the building security. Since security could be a major focus of his attention, we might assume that this building houses sensitive operations.

The first page consists of 13 lines; the second of 18. Total lines: 31

Line 5: WLDRCBR~SG ~ T 06~ENTxSE . CR5LE . CTTRSe WLD~CBE

With listening device.
Receiving call by R.
Security Guard.
Total [cars] are 6. Entering by Service Entrance.
Cars responding: 5 are law enforcement.
CTT responding to scene.

With listening device.
Could be E.

Line 12 (TF ~?<MSP SOLE MR De LUSE TOTe WLD ~ WLD ~ CBE)

Totally *advertiser censored**ed. Missouri State Police, Security, other law enforcement (agencies) responding. Use L to T. [? Use elevator to top of building?] ... Could be E.

Line 31: D – W – m.y M16 xDRLx

Dead - White – male young M16 rifle ...


Scenario?

Maybe McCormick picked up a message from the building security to the police that a body had been found with an M16 rifle. Or they had been forced to shoot an intruder who had been armed with an M16. Police then called other law enforcement agencies for back-up. They enter the building. Use elevator to go to the top of the building. Confirm that a man has been found dead.

 

[Me3]

I keep going back to the information that we know. Like him being evicted. Well he was on a fixed income, living in Hud housing. Where did his rent money go the months proceeding, that he didn't have it available to use for rent. Were any drugs found in his system? Did he lose it gambling, or on prostitutes? Also, his girlfriend was in the picture at the same time and she has yet to satisfy her court fine. Did she get him involved with the wrong crowd?

Now, as far as the code, he was ten, when he started writing in code, which would mean he should have been in the 4th grade....so maybe if everyone thinks back to the 4th grade. Anyone remember any codes in the Hardy Boys, Mad magazine?

The top right of the page with P1 almost looks like some type of substitution key...for some reason the parenthesis on the outside look almost like other letters have been written on top of them....kind of like he was going through the substitution and occasionally wrote a letter to keep track of where he was in the substitution process.

Thinking outloud...
So looking at (A(SM)) The middle of (SM) is "P" (3 letters between M and S) or "C" (10 letters between S and M), so (AP) or (AC)...(AP) has no middle letter either direction...could the P1 mean move left or right one letter?...(AC) would be "B" (one letter between A and C) or "O" (12 letters between C and A)
If done in reverse...using CBE, common repeat in note
C1(one letter)= C1=(B(D)) or (B(TN)) C2(12 letters)=C2=(OQ) or (O(GA))
B1 =B1=(A(C)) or (A(SM)) B2 =B2=(NP) or (N(FZ))
E1 =E1=(D(F)) OR (D(VP)) E2 =E2=(QS) or (Q(IC))

C3(Reversal of C2)=C3(QO) OR (Q(EA))
B3 =B3(PN) OR (P(DX))
E3 =E3(SQ) OR (S(GA))

Didn't see any glaring words...except BAD which is CBE one letter off. Haven't tried moving the P one letter, but will try that....want to post before I accidentially delete this, which I thought I had.

 

[MYSTIC888]

I finally made it on and and have been wanting to comment for a few weeks now. It's interesting to go through and read everyone's theories on the matter. I am going to give insight onto what my intuition tells me and has told me after looking and reading the letters.

The first feeling I got was that the letters were automotive related. I can't explain why, but that was the initial feeling.

Something that keeps coming to me is that the letters were not written together in the same time frame. In fact, one of the letters was written way before. I feel strongly that these letters were brought together in order to try and make it easier for someone to solve the "riddles". I could be very wrong on this.

NOTES
The word notes seems like just a header on the letter, but I however feel that this might be part of the clue to solve the letters. Sometimes people who use codes put the answers right in front of us and we're still not able to see it. That's the joy they get from knowing that they have fooled everyone.

The last insight I got was that the pocket from which the letters were pulled is significant to the letter/s. What this could mean is that there might have been something in the pocket at the time that was related to the letters or has meaning. My insight doesn't always give "exact" 100% detailed answers. The bad part about this is we will probably never know unless it's written in a report somewhere that is open to the public.

Again, this is all based on my intuition. Some people believe in that sort of stuff, and some don't. All I know is that I feel better putting this information out for others. If it can help in any way, I don't mind saying what I feel and see.

Best!

Mark

 

[Walker]

I don't think this guy is down's syndrome. His picture doesn't portray any of the common physical characteristics that folks with down's syndrome have. DS does occur in all races; however, in African Americans, the number of incidences is low.

I agree.

Hard to tell from just a photo, but my impression is that the man in the photo has a normal "social" intelligence; that is, if one were to have a conversation with him, his observations would reflect a normal level of understanding.

McCormick looks surprised, as if doubting the reality that he has been arrested. He seems almost more shocked than fearful, almost like a "deer in the headlights" look. His eyes don't seem perfectly focused, as if maybe he had a glass eye.

The photo suggests that he is of mixed race: White, Black, and (?) Arab.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

More madness from me, because I am still caught on the notion that RM was hooked on phonics, so humor me.

Is there any chance that RM was listening in (eavesdropping) on the wrong people and they might have been speaking Spanish so he simply took phonetic notes like he was accustomed to?


ALPNTE GLSE- SE ERTE
El punta del glaciar se suerte
the tip of glacier* is this luck

Listen to the pronunciation.

*iceberg? Ice? Crystal meth?....

Anyone here fluent in Spanish that could consider this crazy idea and support or dismiss it?

 

[bessie]

I keep going back to the information that we know. Like him being evicted. Well he was on a fixed income, living in Hud housing. Where did his rent money go the months proceeding, that he didn't have it available to use for rent. Were any drugs found in his system? Did he lose it gambling, or on prostitutes? Also, his girlfriend was in the picture at the same time and she has yet to satisfy her court fine. Did she get him involved with the wrong crowd?

Now, as far as the code, he was ten, when he started writing in code, which would mean he should have been in the 4th grade....so maybe if everyone thinks back to the 4th grade. Anyone remember any codes in the Hardy Boys, Mad magazine?

The top right of the page with P1 almost looks like some type of substitution key...for some reason the parenthesis on the outside look almost like other letters have been written on top of them....kind of like he was going through the substitution and occasionally wrote a letter to keep track of where he was in the substitution process.

Thinking outloud...
So looking at (A(SM)) The middle of (SM) is "P" (3 letters between M and S) or "C" (10 letters between S and M), so (AP) or (AC)...(AP) has no middle letter either direction...could the P1 mean move left or right one letter?...(AC) would be "B" (one letter between A and C) or "O" (12 letters between C and A)
If done in reverse...using CBE, common repeat in note
C1(one letter)= C1=(B(D)) or (B(TN)) C2(12 letters)=C2=(OQ) or (O(GA))
B1 =B1=(A(C)) or (A(SM)) B2 =B2=(NP) or (N(FZ))
E1 =E1=(D(F)) OR (D(VP)) E2 =E2=(QS) or (Q(IC))

C3(Reversal of C2)=C3(QO) OR (Q(EA))
B3 =B3(PN) OR (P(DX))
E3 =E3(SQ) OR (S(GA))

Didn't see any glaring words...except BAD which is CBE one letter off. Haven't tried moving the P one letter, but will try that....want to post before I accidentially delete this, which I thought I had.

I've been fooling around with substitution sequences, too. The letter "Q" is the only letter not represented in the writings, as far as I can tell, anyway, and I've zoomed in and studied each character carefully. So I got a hunch the other day that RM might have worked out the sequences with the letter "Q" omitted. I even considered that the "P1" is a clue or a reminder to himself to leave out the "Q" when assigning numerical values to the letters -- P+1=Q. I'm probably way off base, but what the heck.

I also found that patterns seemed more obvious, especially in "P1", when I wrote out the characters treating each series ending at NCBE and the ones in parentheses as separate lines. For instance, "AL" is used only three times throughout, and each time it appears at the beginning of a line. Lines often begin with "T", particularly "TF". A couple of other things stood out, but I don't have all of my notes with me right now.

I also have a strong hunch that Ricky made a few errors in his calculations.

 

[bessie]

I finally made it on and and have been wanting to comment for a few weeks now. It's interesting to go through and read everyone's theories on the matter. I am going to give insight onto what my intuition tells me and has told me after looking and reading the letters.

The first feeling I got was that the letters were automotive related. I can't explain why, but that was the initial feeling.

Something that keeps coming to me is that the letters were not written together in the same time frame. In fact, one of the letters was written way before. I feel strongly that these letters were brought together in order to try and make it easier for someone to solve the "riddles". I could be very wrong on this.

NOTES
The word notes seems like just a header on the letter, but I however feel that this might be part of the clue to solve the letters. Sometimes people who use codes put the answers right in front of us and we're still not able to see it. That's the joy they get from knowing that they have fooled everyone.

The last insight I got was that the pocket from which the letters were pulled is significant to the letter/s. What this could mean is that there might have been something in the pocket at the time that was related to the letters or has meaning. My insight doesn't always give "exact" 100% detailed answers. The bad part about this is we will probably never know unless it's written in a report somewhere that is open to the public.

Again, this is all based on my intuition. Some people believe in that sort of stuff, and some don't. All I know is that I feel better putting this information out for others. If it can help in any way, I don't mind saying what I feel and see.

Best!

Mark

Welcome to WS, Mystic. It occurred to me that "NOTES" might be a key. It's just hard to believe the FBI would've missed that one. I also get the feeling that the the pages were written at different times and contain unrelated subject matter, or related subject matter but different type of content. "P1" seems precise and organized, while "NOTES" looks like someone brainstorming, jotting down, uhm...notes. More importantly, the patterns and anagrams are very different in each page. NCBE appears like 13-14 times in "P1", but only 3-4 times in "NOTES". PRSE stands out numerous times in "P1", but while SE appears frequently in "NOTES", PRSE is only used once, I believe. Instead, we see repetitions of MRSE and MRE. So, there's definitely a shift of some kind.

You might be onto something regarding the pocket. I hadn't thought about it.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

I still have a hunch that everyone is still over-thinking this thing, myself included. Let's remember that if this is actually RM's work, and unless he is like Rainman, this has to be a far more simple message than any of us have come up with.

To me, the bus/train route thing rang closest, but I keep coming back to phonics. I wish I knew how RM spoke, how he heard words.

 

[bessie]

I still have a hunch that everyone is still over-thinking this thing, myself included. Let's remember that if this is actually RM's work, and unless he is like Rainman, this has to be a far more simple message than any of us have come up with.

To me, the bus/train route thing rang closest, but I keep coming back to phonics. I wish I knew how RM spoke, how he heard words.

It's not phonetic, Adrian. There are definite numerical patterns in the letter combinations. They're not all perfect, though.

 

[Me3]

http://cgi.ebay.com/HARDY-BOYS-SECRET-CODE-ACTIVITY-Puzzle-Color-BOOK-1978-/360344523044

look at third picture and enlarge

Here is a form of code found in a Hardy Boy's activity book. If RM used something along these lines, who knows what he used for his "Document" word, maybe "Notes" or where he started the alphabet. Maybe he has more than one code that he uses...I know Bessie mentioned that the code might shift.

 

[MYSTIC888]

Welcome to WS, Mystic. It occurred to me that "NOTES" might be a key. It's just hard to believe the FBI would've missed that one. I also get the feeling that the the pages were written at different times and contain unrelated subject matter, or related subject matter but different type of content. "P1" seems precise and organized, while "NOTES" looks like someone brainstorming, jotting down, uhm...notes. More importantly, the patterns and anagrams are very different in each page. NCBE appears like 13-14 times in "P1", but only 3-4 times in "NOTES". PRSE stands out numerous times in "P1", but while SE appears frequently in "NOTES", PRSE is only used once, I believe. Instead, we see repetitions of MRSE and MRE. So, there's definitely a shift of some kind.

You might be onto something regarding the pocket. I hadn't thought about it.

Thank you for your reply. What I found interesting about the repetition of letter combination's is that they happen so often and are all similar to NOTES. What I used for my basis was that a lot of the letters found on both pages are in the word NOTES. I think that is the key. For someone to use 2 forms of coding would be even difficult for themselves to remember and use. They have to stick to one way. The letters in combination are all related in some way.

After seeing a picture of this gentleman, my intuition tells me that he was autistic and extremely intelligent. He was smarter then those around him, but yet he was treated as someone with "issues". That isn't the case. I'm not sure if I missed it somewhere, but is there a description of where he died or where he was found? I see a large brick building and field. Someone knew he would be there as this place is somewhere he visited often. I also see him in overalls. Not sure the meaning behind that yet, but just another clue from my vision.

 

[Walker]

Thank you for your reply. What I found interesting about the repetition of letter combination's is that they happen so

Thank you for your reply. What I found interesting about the repetition of letter combination's is that they happen so often and are all similar to NOTES. What I used for my basis was that a lot of the letters found on both pages are in the word NOTES. I think that is the key. For someone to use 2 forms of coding would be even difficult for themselves to remember and use. They have to stick to one way. The letters in combination are all related in some way.

After seeing a picture of this gentleman, my intuition tells me that he was autistic and extremely intelligent. He was smarter then those around him, but yet he was treated as someone with "issues".

McCormick was known as "street smart." Street smart contradicts autism.

"Street smart" means that the individual knows a lot about people, and that he has a keen awareness of what is going on around him, and responds appropriately, usually in a tough or dangerous urban area. The street smart person knows how to take care of himself even in very difficult circumstances, and generally avoids trouble.

OTOH The autistic person fails to respond normally to other people which impairs his emotional, intellectual and social development. In one case that I have heard about, the teenager was enrolled in a special college program: he would complete all of his assignments satisfactorily, but he would forget to take showers or change his clothes. At 20, he was constantly in need of attention. Obviously, he would be completely vulnerable on his own in a "street" situation.

But I agree with you that he may have been much more intelligent than other people in his social environment.

 

[Me3]

Thank you for your reply. What I found interesting about the repetition of letter combination's is that they happen so

McCormick was known as "street smart." Street smart contradicts autism.

"Street smart" means that the individual knows a lot about people, and that he has a keen awareness of what is going on around him, and responds appropriately, usually in a tough or dangerous urban area. The street smart person knows how to take care of himself even in very difficult circumstances, and generally avoids trouble.

OTOH The autistic person fails to respond normally to other people which impairs his emotional, intellectual and social development. In one case that I have heard about, the teenager was enrolled in a special college program: he would complete all of his assignments satisfactorily, but he would forget to take showers or change his clothes. At 20, he was constantly in need of attention. Obviously, he would be completely vulnerable on his own in a "street" situation.

But I agree with you that he may have been much more intelligent than other people in his social environment.

Welcome Mystic888. I agree with Walker, I have personal experience with an adult with Autism/Asperger Syndrome. He has zero street smarts...but he is very obsessive about certain actresses, star wars, Harry Potter, American Idol, and computers. He can carry on a conversation, but his social skills are null and he has no idea when to end a conversation and can't cross the street by himself. He is also very uncordinated and can't even figure out riding the bus; however, he can remember every detail about the computer or car tags, phone numbers and recite them off the top of his head. I don't think RM was autistic.

 

[MYSTIC888]

Thank you for your reply. What I found interesting about the repetition of letter combination's is that they happen so

McCormick was known as "street smart." Street smart contradicts autism.

"Street smart" means that the individual knows a lot about people, and that he has a keen awareness of what is going on around him, and responds appropriately, usually in a tough or dangerous urban area. The street smart person knows how to take care of himself even in very difficult circumstances, and generally avoids trouble.

OTOH The autistic person fails to respond normally to other people which impairs his emotional, intellectual and social development. In one case that I have heard about, the teenager was enrolled in a special college program: he would complete all of his assignments satisfactorily, but he would forget to take showers or change his clothes. At 20, he was constantly in need of attention. Obviously, he would be completely vulnerable on his own in a "street" situation.

But I agree with you that he may have been much more intelligent than other people in his social environment.

Autism takes on many forms and levels. Just because you're autistic doesn't mean you can't cope to certain environments. I will stand behind my initial feelings that he has some form of autism and respect your thoughts. We're all here for the same thing to get insight into this gentleman and figure out what these notes are really about.

The only other feeling I get is that these notes were written for and or about the person involved in his death. Whether they were working together or if McCormick was being used for some type of illegal activities, the notes implicate the person involved.


p.s.

I also forgot to post this earlier. The way the lines are written and indented is key to solving as well. It's possible that the letters have to line up with the "key" in order to solve the cipher. That was something I took notice of as well. Just my observation.

 

[DeadCat]

Alright, I've been following for awhile, and finally have an account...autism, Downs Syndrome, genius, a hired spy etc? I think one should focus on what is known and build conclusions (or not) from that only.

I'm glad someone highlighted again the eviction right before his death. That could be relevant. From what we can tell, he and the woman living at the address (1400 Chouteau) couldn't come up with a $905 judgement against them. (So, if he was involved in any kind of work/criminal activity, it wasn't too successful/lucrative). The eviction was actually executed 6/21. What would that mean? I believe that means all his belongings would have been physically carted off (by the sheriff's office) or put out on the street for scavengers to take.

If RM was actually using that place as a residence, it would have been a very tramatic event, possibly. Where would he have slept for the next week? (on the street? in a homeless shelter? with family?) What belongings would he have been without which he might have to rebuy or recover? Someone is posting that the "code" was just coded info used in order to recreate an early ebook on another computer--could that be true? (I haven't really seen any real proof of this). It's also interesting to me that his body was identified through fingerprints. I wonder, did the killer remove his wallet,but leave the notes? Or did he not have a wallet or ID in a wallet? To me, I would think that someone involved in criminal activity, who took the time to carry and dump the body away from the crime scene would have taken any coded notes which might contain information in them about the criminal activity. (Especially if they already took the wallet. And, yes, I'm assuming a lot there--he may not have carried id).

I also wonder about the hospital visit on the 25th of June--was it a pre-existing appointment or did he go BECAUSE of the eviction (he was upset and needed to talk to someone or his pills were all thrown out with his things and he needed refills?)? (And did his lack of meds cause serious repercussions to his health?!)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch archives can shed a bit of light on the events of that week--I believe there was a murder downtown. (I don't remember the details, but I can look it up again if anyone wants) If RM was sleeping on the streets, maybe he saw something and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Second, I'm hesitant to post this out of respect for the family members still present, but there was an article in the newspaper after his conviction or arrest for his sex crimes. I don't want to embarrass anyone, especially innocent children who may be following any of these posts. However, this article may help explain who are "family" for RM and what sort of problems/issues existed.The below article explains that 2 of RM's children were from this "sexual affair".
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), November 19, 1992, THURSDAY,
MAN, 34, ACCUSED OF RAPE; SEXUAL AFFAIR STARTED AT 11, GIRL TELLS POLICE
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3A

Early on, I remember post-ers making the point that codes are written for a purpose. I think that's important to consider. Even if the purpose was just for fun. But, some of these translations recently, are making me ask, "why?" Why would RM encode such things? Or even jot down shorthand of such things? Would it be that hard for him to remember betting procedure (someone's solution on MSNBC)? I don't understand.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

It's not phonetic, Adrian. There are definite numerical patterns in the letter combinations. They're not all perfect, though.

I believe you. I am in the process of examining the two pages of code up close in my graphics program and there are a lot of anomalies in the characters. I am just getting started, but here are just a few that might be leading to wrong assumptions and thus wrong thinking:

If you have a program that allows you to zoom in on the text, I think if you look at the way certain characters are constructed you will find that most observers have perhaps confused at least the following ones:

6, 5, H, M, R, K, 2, Z, W, Y, I , 1, U, V (and that's just so far)

I'm certain that if you examine the two pages of code close up, you will see what I am talking about.

I feel like I am reworking something the FBI has to have done, and with much more sophisticated software and/or equipment. Why the hell they can't give us the transcript they were working with in addition to the raw handwritten version is beyond me.

Anyway, I will examine the whole thing then reassess it with the new possible characters. When I am done, I will post my transcript here so everyone can analyse it.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

Hello? Has this angle been looked at already?

The code enlarged is revealing I think.

 

[bessie]

Looks good, Adrian. I'm using a totally different approach and will post a sample soon. I have very little time to work on this puzzle, but it's bothering the heck out of me. I have this idea, and I'll never get any sleep until I follow it through and prove myself wrong. But who knows. Between all of the different ideas and possibilities that have been presented here, we just might hit on the right one.

As for the FBI posting the original handwritted note, again I think it was a caution against influencing our choices. If it's true that their crypto team can't figure it out, then they've missed something, and that "something" might be in the interpretation. So their sample is tainted, so to speak. As difficult as it is to read, I'm glad they supplied us with the original.