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

[SouthWestHiker]

I forgot to mention the T's earlier. You are so right. There are at least two symbols that one would interpret as being a lower case "t" until you compare them to the whole work and find they look nothing like the numerous other T's. I haven't gotten to the point where they appear in this little experiment I'm working on, but when I do, I'll see if they make sense as plus signs. The one that stands out the most is in the first line of the NOTES page. looks like "ER + E".

Another thing I've found when working with the characters is that although extremely difficult to determine, spacing is very important .

True, when I looked at the notes originally, I saw a big mess with so many unclear letters that I gave up trying to make my own transcript.

This could also explain why the FBI hasnt found anything... so many unclear letters and just a few wrongs could mess up the whole thing.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

OK, I have gone through a closeup look of the NOTES page and here is my transcript with comments based on careful examination. If you would like to have a look for yourself to cross-reference our get your own read, you can view it here. You can also download it and zoom in even more (as I did) using a graphics viewer or program.

Ok, here y'all go:

Comments:

The boxes represent the circles RM drew around the sections of code. I will list the cell comments (indicated by the red markings) by cell co-ordinates (e.g. C2)

C2 - This could also be Lx since a small x appears to be written over the base of the L or vice versa.
D4 - This R seems to have been written over a T.
Q4 - This has been read as a W and that might be correct, but upon a closer look it was constructed differently than most of the other W’s (see D5). It looks very much like a Y with a tiny capital A (drawn like his other A’s) and an ‘s.
D5 - This “W” also seems inconsistent with RM’s handwriting and could also be read as VY.
G7 - This is pretty clearly a V rather than a U because his U’s elsewhere are written differently.
I9 - This has been commonly read as MU, but looking closer it could be a capital H with a small 7 and 4 next to it.
S9 - This has been read as an L and might be, but up close it better resembles one of his 6’s.
M11 - This character has been read as a 6, but upon close inspection it does not resemble the clear 6’s RM has written elsewhere, but rather a small (possibly superscript) 5 or S.
E13 - Could be an R, but the construction is closer to his K.
H13 - Could be an R, but the construction is closer to his K.
N13 - This has been read as a T, but it is the ONLY T that appears to be lower case or, as I surmise, a +.
B14 - Having been overwritten, this could be either 26, 36, or even 86.
I14 - Looking closely, this really does look more like a ? to me than one of RM’s 7’s, but it could be either.
Q14 - K strikeover C or vice versa.
V14 - S strikeover O or vice versa.
AB14 - This has been read as a T and could be, but it is missing the right side of its cross and does resemble RM’s 7’s.
E15 - S strikeover O or vice versa.
V 15 - Could also be a P.
C16 - Could be a 5.
D16 - Could be an I.
G17 - Could be a 5 or even 15 with the 1 being tiny and hidden in the lower curl of the 5 as I have suggested here earlier.
I17 - Could be a Z.
R17 - This could also be weakly constructed N.
Z17 - This could also be a weird L.
AJ17 - Pretty illegible.
Z18 - Has been read as a 3, but up close it looks more like a J to me.
B20 - Pretty illegible.
M20 - Could be an I.
T20 - Could be a C.
Y20 - Could also be an A.
AJ21 - This could be an apostrophe or just an artifact in the graphics.
H24 - This could be a sloppy dash, but it’s pretty vertical for that.
K24 - This could be an M, but it is constructed more like his H.
L24 - This could be a 1.


I have started on the (P1) page and will post my findings when I'm done.

 

[dotr]

Wow, that is impressive Adrian Harbinger! Oddly, when I look at RM's notes in the mirror,everything seems to look clearer and neatly- lined up.

 

[Walker]

saudi.net.sa WHOIS

Note the date created and last updated.



Coincidence?

What is the purpose of that site?

 

[legalmania]

There are people at M.I.T. who do nothing all day long but break codes. I think this is some kind of scam. Why so much information for one person? I would start with his childhood school mates all the way throughout his life and find out if he had a buddy or girl who was dyslexic or autistic or spoke several languages, I saw English, Spanish, Dutch maybe some French or Italian, I don't remember if the internet had language translation yet. It happened a long time, I don't have time to read all the post, has he done it again? It could mean nothing except, just to keep us busy. The fact that no reward is being offered is weird, they don't want to spend their money on this murder. I feel really bad for the victims family. I gotta say though some of you have really gotten into this. It could be the words to a song, poem all mixed up who knows, I noticed some of it rhymes and is repeated. Some of it reminds me of the movie Nell. I see some numbers, what is that all about? He used the year of the death. Whoever you are why don't you turn yourself in and give the family the peace they deserve.

 

[Whitehat]

Hello again.

I was just thinking that we may be assuming too much regarding the importance of P1. It's quite obvious to me that these two separate pages were written at different times. I think we should examine the direct and common nature of why someone would write something like that. If I, or anyone else, were to write P1 at the top of the page and circle it, it would stand firm that it is to signify the first page. We are making the assumption that these two pieces of paper are somehow connected, but I don't think they are. I think that there were multiple pages associated with the P1 page, and the P1 page just happened to be the only one recovered from that set.

We should also take a step back and examine the context. Why would someone such as RM be carrying these specific pages with him? What value could they possibly be to him? While we do know where the body was found, we have no idea where he disappeared from. Someone looking to hide a body might well just have thrown him in the trunk and driven to the nearest remote area to dispose of him. I don't think it had anything to do with gambling, or the riverboats. This would suggest to me that he was killed in the northeast quadrant of St. Louis and then intentionally dumped in a remote area which is probably along the route that the killer would be traveling anyway. It's likely the killer had some familiarity with the area and possibly traveled it often. After all, people are creatures of habit.

I think one of the most important questions to ask ourselves is one I listed previously, yet I want to reiterate and stress it. What purpose or value would these have been to him that he would be carrying them on his PERSON? That indicates considerable value. We should brainstorm on how these writings could have an effect on his day to day life. A prime example of this is the transit theory that has been presented.

Being a Libra, I'm constantly evaluating both sides of any argument. I could argue that a homeless man, or possibly a voluntary vagrant, might want to keep notes regarding transit times, bus stations, subway rails, etc... On the other hand, I can also see that someone who has probably relied on those systems for quite some time and is highly familiar with the city would have no need to write such things down. It would be committed memory. Especially for someone with "street smarts". I rode the rail system in Germany for years, back and forth to beer gardens and festivals, sometimes so lit that I could barely recall the trip, but I didn't need to rely on written notes to get between major cities and stops, even in a near comatose-drunken state.

Why was he killed? What was he doing at the time the murder happened? Where was he initially killed? Have the notes anything to do with the murder? Do these questions matter? In all actuality, they don't and they are completely irrelevant. Intriguing, to be sure, but a distraction because there would be no need to consider the code if we could answer those questions.

Allow me to pose the following to spur conversation:

If you were a vagrant with minimal resources and medical conditions, what information would you consider important enough to carry on you at all times? What information would require being recorded? Let's put apart the fact that it was coded to begin with and focus on the intent. People record those things which are just unfamiliar enough to not be easily memorized; those things that are not so intimate in our daily lives that they are easily recalled.

 

[Walker]

P1 in side of a circle while nothing else on the page is circled but all of the NOTES page is circled. All the circles on the NOTES page seem to be carefully attached except the first one. What is the thing at the top of the second circle a parentheses on top of a parentheses, the number 4 or simply a way to close the circle? The “P “ does it stand for page, part, person or P=1 ??? If you look at the U’s some have tails some do not. Does that mean the ones without tails are V’s? The N’s some are very small and point upward like a lighting bolt or a Tilde? On the P1 page the date does it read (ACSM) or could it read T(A[ 5 Mj)) ? P1 first line second M it looks more like a upside down u with a cross in the middle, last line NOTES page does it read M14HIL or maybe M14MIL? The E’s some look like C’s with a line through the center (as in math). The last line of the P1 page clearly starts off with a chevron and maybe the line before it too.

RM seems to use a lot of math or computer science related symbols for someone who dropped out of high school.

1. Parentheses, often used to denote the order of operations in a mathematical expression, and also used in logic to separate statements;

2. The tilda is used to denote the negation of a statement in logic as in the statement “P and ~Q” or P and not Q;

3. As you mention above, the E often but not always resembles the Greek letter epsilon (that is, rounded, the C with a line through it). (See character number 8 in line 1 of P1). Epsilon is frequently used in proofs of theorems in basic calculus to denote an arbitrarily small distance. In set theory, epsilon means “is a member of the set.”

4. The last line of P1 begins with “< 194” which might be read mathematically as “is less than 194.”

5. Towards the end of line 7 of P1, “U” appears, a symbol which often denotes the union of sets. For example, “A U B” means the union of the elements of set A and the elements of set B.

6. Operations symbols. Line 4 of P1 begins “AL-P …” which resembles a minus sign. In line 5, towards the end, we find “… LE[dot]CTT…”. A dot is often used to denote the multiplication sign. We also find small “x” frequently. The “+” sign vs. “t” has been mentioned.

7. In the first line of P1, the ninth character looks like combination of a plus sign with an upside down “U” over it. Upside-down “U” is used to denote the intersection of sets in Boolean algebra. In Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, an upside down “U” was the number 10.


We observe some apparent diacritical marks placed in an unusual manner. . For example, the 13th line of the “Notes” page, ends with “SE.” The diacritical mark appears over the “S.” These type of marks are typical of Arabic script.

Earlier on the same line, we find “SE~SKSE,” but the “~” looks like a hook lying sideways. This symbol resembles the Arabic modified letter alif maq&#7779;&#363;rah.
[See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet]

 

[DeadCat]

If you were a vagrant with minimal resources and medical conditions, what information would you consider important enough to carry on you at all times? What information would require being recorded? Let's put apart the fact that it was coded to begin with and focus on the intent. People record those things which are just unfamiliar enough to not be easily memorized; those things that are not so intimate in our daily lives that they are easily recalled.

I think this is an excellent idea--I've also been thinking about it. I'll give us a start with some of my ideas (mixed with others I've seen passed around here or on other sites). After making this list, I feel like there are A LOT of ideas missing -- please add more, everyone!

Intentionally Hidden Data I (For hobby, fun)
1) friendly notes from a gf that just happened to be in his pocket
2) daily diary

Intentionally Hidden Data II (Criminal or Embarrassing info--can we think of some more reasons for secrecy?)
1) directions to an out of town location (i.e. not typical, well used route) related to an upcoming or past criminal activity (CBE = Carbondale?)
2) list of past crimes committed by him or others
3) description of one criminal activity or organization witnessed
4) illegal drug or gambling related transactions
5) notes from an underage gf which he didn't want discovered
6) data which someone else would want to be kept secret--maybe he was carrying info for a gf or family member
7) contacts list--addresses and phone numbers related to criminal activity
8) some folks have come up with the theory that the notes were a type of personal language (slang and shorthand) and detail personal regrets and desire to get revenge on those either in the mental health or the court/jail system.
9) data he wanted hidden but from only one person (so, not necessarily criminal activity)--like he was cheating on his gf or messing around with a family member's wife--


Shorthand (Not necessarily criminal or secret related)
1) personal shorthand from some kind of training activity (Video1 had suggested automotive sales/repair shop training)
2) notes to keep track of health (again, not encoded, just shorthand) or record info given to him at the hospital (instructional)
3) notes on data he needed to keep track of after being evicted--maybe phone numbers/addresses of contacts (not necessarily related to anything criminal),
4) keeping track of upcoming court dates for him and his roommate/gf
5) ebook data needed to transfer the book to another computer (have you read this suggestion on MSNBC? What's that about?)
6) recording something he overheard possibly in another language (I forget who suggested this hired spy theory).
7) notes related to an attempt to get money together ($905) to pay to prevent the eviction

 

[Clewless]

What is the purpose of that site?

A WHOIS lookup gives you the registration and ownership information for a domain name.

 

[Me3]

OK, I have gone through a closeup look of the NOTES page and here is my transcript with comments based on careful examination. If you would like to have a look for yourself to cross-reference our get your own read, you can view it here. You can also download it and zoom in even more (as I did) using a graphics viewer or program.

Ok, here y'all go:

Comments:

The boxes represent the circles RM drew around the sections of code. I will list the cell comments (indicated by the red markings) by cell co-ordinates (e.g. C2)

C2 - This could also be Lx since a small x appears to be written over the base of the L or vice versa.
D4 - This R seems to have been written over a T.
Q4 - This has been read as a W and that might be correct, but upon a closer look it was constructed differently than most of the other W’s (see D5). It looks very much like a Y with a tiny capital A (drawn like his other A’s) and an ‘s.
D5 - This “W” also seems inconsistent with RM’s handwriting and could also be read as VY.
G7 - This is pretty clearly a V rather than a U because his U’s elsewhere are written differently.
I9 - This has been commonly read as MU, but looking closer it could be a capital H with a small 7 and 4 next to it.
S9 - This has been read as an L and might be, but up close it better resembles one of his 6’s.
M11 - This character has been read as a 6, but upon close inspection it does not resemble the clear 6’s RM has written elsewhere, but rather a small (possibly superscript) 5 or S.
E13 - Could be an R, but the construction is closer to his K.
H13 - Could be an R, but the construction is closer to his K.
N13 - This has been read as a T, but it is the ONLY T that appears to be lower case or, as I surmise, a +.
B14 - Having been overwritten, this could be either 26, 36, or even 86.
I14 - Looking closely, this really does look more like a ? to me than one of RM’s 7’s, but it could be either.
Q14 - K strikeover C or vice versa.
V14 - S strikeover O or vice versa.
AB14 - This has been read as a T and could be, but it is missing the right side of its cross and does resemble RM’s 7’s.
E15 - S strikeover O or vice versa.
V 15 - Could also be a P.
C16 - Could be a 5.
D16 - Could be an I.
G17 - Could be a 5 or even 15 with the 1 being tiny and hidden in the lower curl of the 5 as I have suggested here earlier.
I17 - Could be a Z.
R17 - This could also be weakly constructed N.
Z17 - This could also be a weird L.
AJ17 - Pretty illegible.
Z18 - Has been read as a 3, but up close it looks more like a J to me.
B20 - Pretty illegible.
M20 - Could be an I.
T20 - Could be a C.
Y20 - Could also be an A.
AJ21 - This could be an apostrophe or just an artifact in the graphics.
H24 - This could be a sloppy dash, but it’s pretty vertical for that.
K24 - This could be an M, but it is constructed more like his H.
L24 - This could be a 1.


I have started on the (P1) page and will post my findings when I'm done.

Thanks so much for posting. I'm entering in spreadsheet so that I can play around with it. One thing that stands out to me is when I look at column P, it is mainly E's (I don't think that would be common in regular writing)....wonder if the other non-E rows in column P are supposed to have the E in column P. I'm going to play around with that. Maybe the code is vertical? These notes are driving me nuts!

 

[DeadCat]

WHY is the FBI involved at all?[/B] I've read several explanations about local LEOs asking for help. But, I don't buy it. My personal opinion is that Ricky McCormick is the potential victim of a serial killer (but not Travis).

Wasn't RM's previous crime/conviction considered a felony? Does this mean he served his time in a Federal jail? Would that be enough reason for his death to be forwarded to the FBI? Does anyone know about this?

Also, another thought--may be nothing, but...WLDS is a radio station (1180 on a.m. which reaches the St. Louis (Belleville) listening area.
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WLDS&service=AM&status=L&hours=D
http://www.weai.com/wlds/wlds-programming

 

[Walker]

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

McCormick had a criminal record, but [Maj. Tom O'Connor of the Major Case Squad] and St. Charles County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Wilson said they do not believe it contributed to his death.
Authorities said he had a criminal record and was convicted on a charge of statutory rape. He was sentenced to three years but served 11 months, they said.
Wilson said McCormick was unemployed and on disability welfare; he was not homeless.
O'Connor said authorities found no evidence of fights or disagreements McCormick might have had.

 

[legalmania]

Hello again.

I was just thinking that we may be assuming too much regarding the importance of P1. It's quite obvious to me that these two separate pages were written at different times. I think we should examine the direct and common nature of why someone would write something like that. If I, or anyone else, were to write P1 at the top of the page and circle it, it would stand firm that it is to signify the first page. We are making the assumption that these two pieces of paper are somehow connected, but I don't think they are. I think that there were multiple pages associated with the P1 page, and the P1 page just happened to be the only one recovered from that set.

We should also take a step back and examine the context. Why would someone such as RM be carrying these specific pages with him? What value could they possibly be to him? While we do know where the body was found, we have no idea where he disappeared from. Someone looking to hide a body might well just have thrown him in the trunk and driven to the nearest remote area to dispose of him. I don't think it had anything to do with gambling, or the riverboats. This would suggest to me that he was killed in the northeast quadrant of St. Louis and then intentionally dumped in a remote area which is probably along the route that the killer would be traveling anyway. It's likely the killer had some familiarity with the area and possibly traveled it often. After all, people are creatures of habit.

I think one of the most important questions to ask ourselves is one I listed previously, yet I want to reiterate and stress it. What purpose or value would these have been to him that he would be carrying them on his PERSON? That indicates considerable value. We should brainstorm on how these writings could have an effect on his day to day life. A prime example of this is the transit theory that has been presented.

Being a Libra, I'm constantly evaluating both sides of any argument. I could argue that a homeless man, or possibly a voluntary vagrant, might want to keep notes regarding transit times, bus stations, subway rails, etc... On the other hand, I can also see that someone who has probably relied on those systems for quite some time and is highly familiar with the city would have no need to write such things down. It would be committed memory. Especially for someone with "street smarts". I rode the rail system in Germany for years, back and forth to beer gardens and festivals, sometimes so lit that I could barely recall the trip, but I didn't need to rely on written notes to get between major cities and stops, even in a near comatose-drunken state.

Why was he killed? What was he doing at the time the murder happened? Where was he initially killed? Have the notes anything to do with the murder? Do these questions matter? In all actuality, they don't and they are completely irrelevant. Intriguing, to be sure, but a distraction because there would be no need to consider the code if we could answer those questions.

Allow me to pose the following to spur conversation:

If you were a vagrant with minimal resources and medical conditions, what information would you consider important enough to carry on you at all times? What information would require being recorded? Let's put apart the fact that it was coded to begin with and focus on the intent. People record those things which are just unfamiliar enough to not be easily memorized; those things that are not so intimate in our daily lives that they are easily recalled.[/quote

I always thought the killer or killers put the notes on him, after the murder. Maybe the PI stands for Private 1 as in military.We know so little about the victim. I also found 651 and I don't know if anyone else has, is the area code for St. Paul Minneapolis, which is found in letter two. I can see why people are intrigued by this. Even if it is scam it is fun like playing clue.

 

[bessie]

Has anyone tried converting the letters to numeric values?

First I assigned numbers to letters based on their position in the alphabet. Then I determined the difference in their positions on a number line. From the resulting string of numbers, I deleted 1's and 0's. What's left is each line is a combination of numeric palindromes and repetitive sequences. I don't know what it all means, and I don't think RM did, either. I think he was devising a code but had not perfected it. What's interesting is that the palindromes and patterned sequences result from words that don't resember each other or use similar letters. I've likely made some errors in the calculations, especially since some characters are so hard to make identify.

Note on the last line the numbers 48 and 69 on either side of the long string. RM's name converts to 9684. I think he reversed it inside the code.

ETA: The SE's used so frequently convert to 14. According to the DOB we've presumed is RM's based on court records. he was born om the 14th. Also, some of us noted that the letter N is sometimes used alone. Some thought it miight be shorthand for "and". I don't know, but it happens to be the 14th letter of the alphabet.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

What is the purpose of that site?

From what I can tell so far is that it has been defunct since 1999. I am still looking into it.

 

[Adrian Harbinger]

Ok, the plot thickens. I am in the process transcribing the (P1) page of RM's code and I have noticed something. I recognized it somewhat on the NOTES page, but it jumps out at me even more on this page. I am by no means a handwriting expert, but I still have eyes and I think that there's some serious weirdness in the discrepancies in how RM formed his characters.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

I have color circled letters that, until now, I and many of you have considered to be the same. While the E is probably the most plausible of the bunch, it too has what I consider noticeable variations in construction. The others? Well, you can judge for yourself. In the case of the U (or what many considered to be a U), I would submit that the "U" from NOTES (see Exhibit B) hardly resembles the "U" on (P1). I would suggest again that the NOTES character shown in a U and the U's elsewhere on NOTES, as well as the (P1) page is a V.

Further, the amount of overwritten characters on the (P1) page is striking to me. So much so that I am beginning to suspect that this may be key to solving this code. I will elaborate in a later post.

In closing, I must say that (P1) will take me longer to transcribe. I would suggest that any other members following this case, who have access to a zoom feature, take a closer look at this pages as well. The key to this code might just require a good magnifying glass.

 

[V1Jet]

Thank you, for explaining this. I also noticed P1 page line nine appears to start with .(FL, the F and L have &#8220;.&#8221; above them.

 

[bessie]

P1Jet mentioned the U's and V's yesterday, and I agreed with him. The U's have a little tail to the right. Your Exhibit B, [CLGSE <?> u n v TKE], is a good example because u, n, and v, are lined up side by side making it easy to compare and identify the differences.



Working with the inverted P1, (thank you again, Photographerbyday, wherever you are) I zoomed in on places where it appears he used an eraser. You can see what looks like ghost shadows from the letters he removed, especially in the fifth line. Perhaps the eraser on his pencil was worn down. Don't know, but the many erased/scratched out/changed characters is one reason I believe he was still developing this "code" and didn't have it down pat. It would also be very easy to get fouled up if he was calculating numeric values, as I'm convinced he did.

ETA: I'm starting to think this "code" writing was just something RM did for fun or to pass the time.

 

[bessie]

Thank you, for explaining this. I also noticed P1 page line nine appears to start with .(FL, the F and L have “.” above them.

V1Jet, here's a link to an inverted copy Photographerbyday shared with us. If you take a look you'll see those little stray marks are all over the page. (See my post below about erasures.)

 

[dotr]

I see lots of number 1's "disguised" throughout, within letters and other numbers, such as in the u, E and s's.. even in the letters that have been "overwritten".