Ricky McCormick note 1 as published by the FBI
The Ricky McCormick murder notes are two hand pr1nted documents found in the pants pockets of murder victim Ricky McCormick when his body was discovered in a field by sheriff’s officers in St. Louis, Missouri on June 30, 1999. The documents appear to be in some form of secret writing. On March 29, 2011, U.S. FBI issued an appeal for help from the public in obtaining the meaning of the messages. Despite extensive work by the FBI's Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU), as well as help from the American Cryptogram Association, the meanings of those two coded notes remain a mystery up to that date and Ricky McCormick’s murderer had yet to face justice. According to the FBI, Ricky McCormick’s encrypted notes are one of CRRU’s top unsolved cases. “Breaking the code,” said CRRU chief Dan Olson, “could reveal the victim’s whereabouts before his death and could lead to the solution of a homicide. Not every cipher we get arrives at our door under those circumstances.” There is no reward being offered, just a challenge.[1][2]
According to the FBI, McCormick, who was 41 when he died, was a high school dropout, but was able to read and write and was said to be “street smart.” According to members of his family, McCormick had used such encrypted notes since he was a boy, but apparently no one in his family knows how to decipher the codes. Investigators believe the notes in McCormick’s pockets were written up to three days before his death.
Transcription of the notes[]
Here is an attempt to transcribe the text of the two notes. Some characters are ambiguous and there may be more than one possible interpretation: she is fine i hope. Line 2 of note 1 says "Took dump at rest stop. Very large. I think i could handle a good sized penis." Note 1 text:
:( M N D M k N E M R SE-N-S-M-K N A R E ) (( A ( S M )) or ( A C S M )
T F R N E N P I N S E N P B S E R C B R N S E N P R S E I N C
P R S E N M R S E D P R E H L D W L D N C B E ( T F X L F T C X L F N C B E )
A L -P R P P I T X L Y P P I Y N C B E M G K S E W L D R C B R N S E P R S E
W L D R C B R N S E N T O S N E N T X S E - C R S L E - C L T R S E W L D N C B E
A L W L D N C B E T S M E L R S E R L S E v R G L S N E A S N W L D N C B E
( N O P F S E N L S R E N C B E ) N T E G D D M N S E N C V R E R C B R N E
:( T E N E T F R N E N C B R T S E N C B E I N C )
:( F L R S E P R S E O N D E 71 N C B E )
:( C D N S E P R S E O N S E 74 N C B E )
::( P R t S E P R S E O N R E D E 75 N C B E )
( T F N R C M S P S O L E M R D E L U(V?) S E T O T E W L(C?) D N W L D N C B E )
::::( 194 W L D' S N C B E ) ( T R F X L )
Note 2 text:
A L P N T E G L S E-S E E R t E
V L S E M T S E-C T S E-W S E-F R T S E
P N R T R S E O N P R S E W L D N C B E
N W L D X L R C M S P N E WLD S T S M E X L
D V L M T 6 T U N S E N C B E X C
:((N) or M K(U?) N S A R S T E N M K N A R S E)
K L S E-L R S T E-T R S E-T R S E-M K S E N-M R S E
:(S R E G N S E S E N M R S E )
N M N R C B R N S E P T E 2 N T E W S R C B R E S E
36 M L S E 74 S P R K S E 29 K E N O S O L E I (1?) 7 3 R T R S E
35 G L E C L G S E U K N N T X E D K R S E P S E S H L E
651 M T C S E H T L S E N C U(V/N?) T C T R S N M R E
99.84.5 2 U(K?) N E P L S E N C R S E A O K T S E N S K S E N B S E
N S R E O N S E P V T S E W L(C?) D N C B E (3 X O R L)
N M S E N R S E I N 2 N T R L E R C B R N S E N T S R C R S N E
L S P N S E N G-S P S E M K S E R B S E N C B E A U(V?) X L 'R
H M C R E N M R E N C B E 1/2 M U(k?) N D D L S E
D-W_M-Y(4?) M(H?) I(8/P?) L X D R L X
Discussion and possible theories[]
Start with the 99.845, not sure if the 2 you are explaining is actually a 2. The 2 everywhere else in the letters clearly have loop in the bottom of the 2. I could be wrong though. If you look at the background of the victim, you see he is a person involved in trafficking drugs and the most recent trip he had gone on was to Florida. Buses normally go south or north, west or east, when travelling long distances. It makes sense to take a bus to Florida, then travel across to Texas if using a bus(probably more than 1) to pick up the drugs. So if you can assume this is the case, you can reach the location of the Rio Grande where he was to bring the drugs across from Mexico. First going into Mexico through the checkpoint, at Laredo, then crossing back at the coordinates. Meeting in Slaughter Park in to drop part of the shipment to someone else. If you look at the images from google maps, at the coordinates 99.845 or even 99.8452, there is a road from Hidalgo, Mexico that leads right to the U.S. Border. For anyone who would like to fact check I will give the exact coordinates which are 27.777-27.779ish 99.845-99.8452ish, which you can see if you look at images, all the roads on both sides of the border that are used.
So, instead of telling everyone how I translated the rest of the letters, use this is a base, and go from there. There are at least 5 different variables(not necessary sophisticated at all) that need to be factored into translation.
Think of the notes as detailed instructions for someone who might screw it up real bad if you do not make each step of the instructions, very detailed and "idiot proof". Although people screw up even with "idiot proof" instructions by accident or just ignoring certain steps.
What if this is how to make drugs, basically the drug dealer formula? Maybe Ricky took or from him and lied that he didn’t have it, therefore killing him without knowing it was in his pocket all along. I don't know, it’s just my opinion.