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

[bessie]

I think the numbers towards the bottom depict the date and time?

99= year
84= month & day? somehow ?
the 5 time maybe?
the 2 ='s 2 men?

the 1/2 ='s location?
if he met the killers friday the day number would be 6
sat = 7
if he was using the calendar format maybe?

but the 99 just seems to be the year in my mind....the other numbers may be the day?time?month ?
I will re read the actual article on here again any thoughts so far group?

That was my first thought, too. Would make sense since the year was 1999. I couldn't make sense of the 84, though. Woke up with it on my mind this morning and rushed to look again to make sure it really reads "84", and it does. Next thing I did was open this thread and immediately saw your post. Looks like we're on the same wavelength. I'm just not sure it's the right one.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Anyone with photoshop here?

Make all letters BLOCk letters

line up as if it were a WORD FIND puzzle

then do as you would a WORD FIND PUZZLE

there are letters not being used in the notes.
so after lining all the BLOCK letters up eliminate them.
Also like in a WORD FIND PUZZLE
words can be from any direction.
He does have an abreviation for NUMBERS the one with the < next to it.

so try this.....
it just may be a complicated WORD FIND version of a note?

what surprises me is he did not use any kind of SYMBOLS or little scribble pics like most people.
like smilies and such?
He used only letters .

I also considered his numbers
would they add up to something?

and sept is in there someplace sept
and
I do hope PHOTOSHOPPING and making all letter block and lining them up in rows will help some...:loser:

I do!!! I have the latest and greatest - CS5. If someone can tell me what tweaking they want, I'll do my best - still learning. I'll try to start.

PS - It's free to try the ENTIRE CS5 for 30 days....you can download it and have full accessibility =D

 

[bessie]

EDIT: I FIND THE ABOVE QUOTED STORY POSTED BY SheerLuckHolmes TO BE SUSPECT GIVEN THE LACK OF A LINK OR OTHER PROOF THAT IT IS GENUINE.


Roughly ten years later...




And where does our journalist Mr. Whitworth work?

The Telegraph
111 E. Broadway
P.O. Box 278
Alton, IL 62002


Hello Mr. Whitworth.

Here's a link to a story about Chad Bell whose body was found in the cemetery last year.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=198099&catid=3

 

[Reannan]

The text at the bottom of page 1 that is in the middle and in parenthesis looks like it is formatted with some spacing so that a two letter words stands out:

[FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE ON DE 71 NCBE)
(CDNSE PQSE ON SDE 74 NCBE)
(PRTSE PQSE ON REDE 75 NCBE)

It looks like he is listing something paraphrased by me as:
"someone" "doing something" _ _ "something" 71"NCBE"

The "ON" would probably need to be "at", "in", "on", "to, "or" "of". If we can figure out what Ricky's "ON" word means it should help, right? Let's say the "ON" means "to", where O=T and N=O. That would mean "NCBE" would start with "O". Just for craps and smiles, "NCBE" could then mean "Once", "Open", "Over". Example:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE ON DE 71 NCBE) would then be [/FONT][FONT=&quot]one of the following:
(FLRSE PQSE TO DE 71 ONCE)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE TO DE 71 OPEN)
[/FONT][FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE TO DE 71 OVER)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

 

[Me3]

First Post&#8230;this board seemed to have the most logical posts:
To me it is hard to look at the notes, for all the other questions that pop in my mind&#8230;.

Full name of guy&#8230;so far, all I can figure out is&#8230;Ricky C. McCormick (verified on places lived, and age at death using veromi.net) was that short for Richard C________ (Charles, Conner, and etc.) McCormick?

Jail time (served 11 months for 3 years sentence) &#8211; Is that normal or did he turn informant for cops, did he use code in prison (don&#8217;t they copy mail and correspondence&#8230;or is that only in books/tv?)

Why is FBI involved? Relation to other murders in area and maybe possibly witnessing something is an interesting theory, especially if an informant.

Are both pieces of notes in same handwriting? Read on another site where P&#8217;s and 4&#8217;s look different to another person. Good comment someone made about folds/creases missing.

Did the guy take any foreign language classes in school or have any acquaintances that were foreign? Spanish (maybe)&#8230;Latin (possibly&#8230;but not likely)

Three residences? Seems odd&#8230;but might say&#8230;lived at home, moved to girlfriend&#8217;s, got mad&#8230;moved to another friend&#8217;s&#8230;.then started cycle over again (seems to be common behavior of unstable folks, which begs the question be asked&#8230;what was his disability?)

Obituary? I do a good bit of genealogy and have yet to find his obituary, which is strange since he has family. (I think SFbayNancyDrew mentioned this, too.)

Be careful not to discount the intelligence of this guy. I have a stepdaughter that is highly intelligent; however, she dropped out of school. Her IQ test baffled me because she scored average; however, I was later informed by a doctor that her street smarts were what compensated for her book smarts&#8230;if she wanted to learn it, she would. She also tried writing in code. The reason why it would be nice to know the guys full name is many times kids first play with code with their names. They will set letters to represent the letters in their name. Then when they write, they simply replace those letters to pre-assigned letters in their name. It also appears the words are abbreviated&#8230;and possibly misspelled (as mentioned in other posts). If this code was used in correspondence, then it would need to be something that others would have the encryption to decode. Did none of his family not know if he communicated with these codes with other folks or were they strictly for him? Maybe the FBI needs to contact some of his school buddies/cell mates to see what they remember about the codes.

I agree with the others that the 74 and such are interstate directions. Example Route 173 is also called Kenosha Street in Richmond, IL (29KENOS OLE 173RT). Also route 173 from wikipedia, &#8220;From 1972 to 1994 the highway (route 173) also assumed a portion of what is now Illinois Route 137 north to the Wisconsin border.&#8221; CLG could be clearing? Perhaps a crossing into Canada? Ontario has a HWY 651 All of these are in the same vacinity&#8230;so I&#8217;m pretty sure it is some place in Canada. Does 99.84.5 mean anything as far as Canadian reference? Maybe it is a radio station?

As far as auto stuff&#8230;nothing jumped out, except SAE is the Society of Automotive Engineers.

And just for a chuckle&#8230;his body was found near/on edge of a cornfield&#8230;could he be a moonshiner? LOL

 

[LaWanda]

:yourock::wagon::welcome5:

Lots of new brain power on this thread!!! Welcome!!!!!

 

[Soulmagent]

The text at the bottom of page 1 that is in the middle and in parenthesis looks like it is formatted with some spacing so that a two letter words stands out:

[FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE ON DE 71 NCBE)
(CDNSE PQSE ON SDE 74 NCBE)
(PRTSE PQSE ON REDE 75 NCBE)

It looks like he is listing something paraphrased by me as:
"someone" "doing something" _ _ "something" 71"NCBE"

The "ON" would probably need to be "at", "in", "on", "to, "or" "of". If we can figure out what Ricky's "ON" word means it should help, right? Let's say the "ON" means "to", where O=T and N=O. That would mean "NCBE" would start with "O". Just for craps and smiles, "NCBE" could then mean "Once", "Open", "Over". Example:

[/FONT][FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE ON DE 71 NCBE) would then be [/FONT][FONT=&quot]one of the following:
(FLRSE PQSE TO DE 71 ONCE)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE TO DE 71 OPEN)
[/FONT][FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE TO DE 71 OVER)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

DE 71

Delaware highway 71??

I know to simple but still.

http://www.aaroads.com/delaware/de-071.htm

 

[concentric]

The FBI is seeking the public's help in breaking the encrypted code found in two notes discovered on the body of a murdered man in 1999.

The FBI says that officers in St. Louis, Missouri discovered the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick on June 30, 1999 in a field and the clues regarding the homicide were two encrypted notes found in the victim's pants pockets.

The FBI says that despite extensive work by its Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU), and the American Cryptogram Association, the meanings of those two coded notes remain a mystery and McCormick's murderer has never been found.​

​

Full article: click here
Ciphers: click here

----------------
I haven't read this thread. On a "cold read," or first impression, scanning down the first note--could it be a simple anagram of pocket notes he was keeping for himself in testifying in a court case? He also could have made some errors in hastily writing out the notes.

first respondent or response
second respondent or response
present respondent or response

?

 

[carbuff]

I don't think that we should assume anything about his knowledge based on his dropping out of high school. By the late 90's, computer knowledge was starting to be widespread and many many people were learning it on their own. PC's were prevalent and while they weren't cheap, they weren't prohibitively expensive, either. This is a guy who apparently was on disability for heart/lung problems all his life. He could have spent several hours a day learning pretty much whatever he wanted.

I'm not saying that he *did,* necessarily. Only that the time and potentially resources were there and he could have. If one of our interpretations seems to lead to molecular biology or advanced securities fraud or some other thing that you wouldn't expect a street guy to know about, that doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't have found it out.

 

[Reannan]

[FONT=&quot](FLRSE PQSE ON DE 71 NCBE)
(CDNSE PQSE ON SDE 74 NCBE)
(PRTSE PQSE ON REDE 75 NCBE)

Those letters sort of remind me of the code I use to unlock my gunsafe.
Turn left past zero, stop at 71
Turn left past zero, stop at 74
etc....
[/FONT]

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

To those doubting the newspaper article I posted--here is your link, but again, unless you have access to the Newspaper Archives, you will be circled back around to pay.

http://access.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=116748646

Almost every library in the US has free access to the NA though, so feel free to go there and look! I used RM's name as a search word, but you will more easily find it if you use both McCormick and Belcher--the officer's name.

You are looking at the Alton Telegraph | Alton, Illinois | Friday, July 02, 1999 | Page 1, with the story continued on page A9.

Please do not discount something just because YOU do not have access to it.

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

Just FYI, I have been looking with all my paid programs, to find anything on his death, since the SSDI does not list him. DO WE KNOW HIS FIRST NAME WAS RICHARD? I was wondering if Ricky was short for Roderick or Frederick or Edrick, etc. I am not finding him that way either. Just wondering if we knew for certain it was RICHARD. Thanks!

 

[carbuff]

were there any keyboards on pagers in 1999?
what does the keypad on a cell phone in 1999 look like?
Were there cell phones in 1999?

I was thinking he must have wanted his code to be from something easy to refer to so?

The 1999 cell phones looked a lot like your basic Nokia today, only a bit larger, and many of them were one-piece, not flip phones. Same keyboard, smaller screen, and cameras were uncommon but not unheard of, at least around here.

 

[carbuff]

Just FYI, I have been looking with all my paid programs, to find anything on his death, since the SSDI does not list him. DO WE KNOW HIS FIRST NAME WAS RICHARD? I was wondering if Ricky was short for Roderick or Frederick or Edrick, etc. I am not finding him that way either. Just wondering if we knew for certain it was RICHARD. Thanks!

No, we don't.

I haven't seen anything that gives his name as anything other than Ricky C. Even the legal charges are against that name. Usually I'd expect to see some kind of aka referring to his full legal name there.

 

[Me3]

I entered just McCormick into the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) with the age of 41 +/- 5 years on age.

The only thing close was a Richard C. death 2 May 1999 SSN issued NY...death preceeds date body was found in newspaper articles. The next closest death for McCormick ~ 41 was 27 Jun 1999 and first and middle name don't match.

The absence of the SSDI info doesn't add up.

 

[Lil'E]

I found a article about this and not sure if it has been posted or not but there is a very graphic image of Ricky's remains. He appears to have either bruising or lividity on his back, if its lividty he was turned on his stomach. It also appears his pants were pulled down but I could be wrong and its just the color of his clothing. To Mods, if this has already been posted or is inapproprate, please remove.
Thanks

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/03/ricky_mccormick_murder_fbi_wan.php

 

[AzureDragon]

@Lil'E
Nice work digging up the image, but I don't think that's actually Ricky. The file name is "dead-body_opt.jpg", which seems very generic. Also, TinEye shows the picture being used on apparently unrelated sites for the past couple years. Link to image search. And it is very hard to see because of the image size, but the skin color and hair (or lack thereof) don't seem to match.

As always, I could be wrong.

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

Lil'E--

I saw that pic when looking at the story there before, but I am not sure that is even supposed to be him. Also, if that IS bare skin and not clothing, the man in the photo is white, not black. Even the name of the jpg is just "dead body," not his name. It looks also like this body is in water and RM was found in a corn field the end of June--probably no water. JMO But thanks for posting the link anyway.

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

@Lil'E
Nice work digging up the image, but I don't think that's actually Ricky. The file name is "dead-body_opt.jpg", which seems very generic. Also, TinEye shows the picture being used on apparently unrelated sites for the past couple years. Link to image search. And it is very hard to see because of the image size, but the skin color and hair (or lack thereof) don't seem to match.

As always, I could be wrong.

Beat me to it, Azure!

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

Here is a link to a video on a Fox station that actually shows footage of the day RM was found and shows the location plainly!

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-cr...t-charles-murder-case-20110330,0,681505.story