FBI asks public for help breaking encrypted notes tied to 1999 murder

www.kplr11.com...

Watching the video on the link. The show a dirt road with telephone poles. and they show a small cannal. Then you see some huge power lines over head with metal towers. I can't seem to find these metal towers on google earth. The location of the body was said to be Highway 367, near West Alton, Missouri.

reply to post by shannongoogle


lol maybe they just suffered with dyslexia in a major way, i keep seeing words but nothing that makes sense or has any sort of pattern whatsoever, but when i look at it, words jump out even though they are all muddled up, maybe it is just my mind seeing things.

for example: flrse prseonde 71 ncbe

i keep seeing "first person" but it's not and there are letters left over and they are not in order or there are letters missing, its very weird.

cdnse prseonsdt 74 ncbe

i keep seeing "second person"

but then you get prtse prseonrede 75 ncbe and i do not see "third" everytime you see something it does not match or follow the same lines as the rest of it, it is complete mumbo jumbo. i can see why people are looking more towards initials of bus routes/directions. i do not think it is code, i think it is just random things that meant something to the person who wrote it, but was not designed to be a code as such which can be cracked, it was maybe just some form of abbreation that only the writer knew.

like this: edptbghpngns cnslegeycnrede

just random letters that only i know what it says or what the sentance is suppose to say and is a abbreavtion off and which letters i need to take away. or it just simply in another language and not meant to be decoded into english.

the reason why we cant find where the body was found is because it would found back in 99'. I'm sure a lot has been built up since.

***thanks to anyone who contributed to the bus theory***

there is a metro bus line that runs through the town where he had been living when he was killed. (1400 Chouteau Ave, St Louis, MO 63103)

bus rt 36(Spanish lake) is where the body was suspected to be found according to this source...hubpages.com...

bus rt 70, 74, 75 are also close to west alton with around 45 mins tops


i think he was on his way from his house, to Spanish lake bus stop and maybe a conformation happened on the bus and someone accidentally hit him or what not
the 99.84.52 maybe these are years not stops or anything like that.

in the notes page at the bottom there is a DWM then what looks like to be a 14. according to the source the person he raped was 14 or younger.

reply to post by onedrkflame


If you watch the video you will see some very large metal powerlines. There not something you would just move some where else without knocking out power to a few cities.

I put in 71 74 75 99.84.52 as this is all the numbers in the code???? I did this on Goolge Earth and it takes you to 52 Poniente Cancun QROO Mexico.

Prob nothing but maybe these are grid refrences

reply to post by JBA2848


JBA, the media is either not allowed or has no exact footage of the crime scene from 1999 or else would have added that information.
To sustain their reporting they'll show some random images of a crime scene (maybe related or not) but as this seems to be an open case and they do not have any official commenting on the case either; that's all they can do.
Media is doing that world wide.

Watch and stop your video and it looks like 2 different locations. You also know you can't film inside the FBI, or see any investigator in person - that's normal procedure.

So if one of the 2 locations actually is "correct" than it'll be the first and third = same location one from far away....where you see a guy with a red t-shirt..(no heavy metal lines or gravel on the street)

Yet, strange a woman randomly passed on that dirtroad.....(so basically Fox TV hasn't got much more or may not say much more than what is on the FBI site)

here another article supposedly from 1999:

www.stltoday.com...

Originally posted by onedrkflame
here is the original news article...the guy was originally from IL

www.stltoday.com...

The Yahoo solution of it being about his medication sounds incredibly plausible.
From that link...

He was last seen alive late in the afternoon of June 25 at Forest Park Hospital in St. Louis, the former Deaconess Hospital, where he was receiving medication from his doctor, O'Connor said. No one had reported him missing, he said.

It also said he was getting Disability and had chronic heart and lung problems.
Wonder if the medication he received made him disorientated and that's how he ended up in the cornfield. He could also have fallen and smashed his head on a rock or something.

There are parts of that story that don't add up to me and it's got nothing to do with coded letters.

How can an autopsy not show cause of death? And how come they needed his fingerprints to identify him as they say he had badly decomposed when he was only dead for 3 DAYS??
If his medication had played a part in his death, surely that would've come out in the autopsy too?
Even if the guy had've had a heart attack/stroke or whatever they would've found out.
Something is very wrong with this.

I agree with posters who said that FBI just want to solve the code riddle.

I think this is a keyword Cipher.... I think if we can find the Cipher we will crack the code..

I'm almost 100% sure there is one..

For example (this is just an example.)

go here Keyword Cipher Coding

Type in..

SCYQY CMR BKS SK OY M NDLCYQ

The Cipher is Money... You will see what I mean

reply to post by toolstarr


Toolstarr,

Very good post. Right now I am wondering if this could be perhaps the same person or persons that is our neck of the woods right now?

Would be a bit unnerving to say the least.

Ainge

Originally posted by thePharaoh

Originally posted by Frankenchrist
This is just a question.

Was he black?

no...he was an albino...the Mc in his name indicates a scot....pratt

Sorry to burst your bubble, but, indeed, Ricky McCormick was a black male. Why don't you check his mugshot and eat humble pie.

hubpages.com...

reply to post by Ainge


Hello Ainge,

I'm not sure I understand your post quite well ? Are you talking about the bodies found on that beach in NY ?

(www.nytimes.com...)

or are you maybe referring to a person or persons that are having multiple profiles and always push into a certain direction about a certain theory with the intention to mislead or justify own actions? (Lol...this might be a bit far fetched though...yet someone seems to know more than anybody else.....)

Anyways : what did you mean with your post ?

It may help to look at it in numbers.

(14)(15)(20)(5) 1 (20)(5)(24)(20):
((13)(14)(4) (14)(24)(14)(5) (1) (18)(19)(5)-(14)-(19)(16)(1) (21)(14) (1)(18)(5)) ((1)(12)(6)(13)(14))
(20)(6)(18)(14)(5) (14)8(20)(14)(19)(5) (14)(16)(2)(19)(5) (18)(3)(2)(2)(14)(19)(5) (14)(16)(18)(19)(5) (9)(14)(3)
(16)(18)(19)(5) (14)(13)(18)(19)(5) 8(16)(18)(5)-(23)(12)(4) (5)(14)(12)(4)(21)(3)(2)(5) ((20)(6)(24)(12)(6) (20)(3)(24)(12)(14) (3)(2)(5))
(1)(12)-(16)(18)(16)(16)(9)(20) (24)(12)(25) (16)(16)(9)(25) (14)(3)(2)(5) (13)(7)(11)(19)(5) (23)(12)(4) (18)(3)(2)(5) (14)(19)(5) (16)(18)(19)(5)
(23)(12)(4) (18)(3)(2) (18)(14)(19)(5) (14) (20) (19)(7)(14)(5)(14)(20)(18)(19)(5) - (3)(18)(19)(12)(5) - (3)(20)(20)(18)(19)(5) (23)(12)(4) (14)(3)(2)(5)
(1)(12) (23)(12)(4) (14)(3)(18)(5)(20)(5)(13)(5) (12)(18)(19)(5) (18)(12)(19)(5)-(18) (7)(12)(19)(14)(5) (1)(19) (14) (23)(12)(4) (14)(3)(2)(5)
((14)(4)(16)(6)(19)(5) (14)(12)(19)(18)(5) (14)(3)(4)(7)) (14)(20)(5) (7)(4)(4)(13)(14)(19)(5)(14) (3)(21)(18)(5)(18)(5)(2)(18)(14)(5)
((20)(5)(14)(5) (20)(6)(18)(14)(5) (14)(3)(18)(17) (20)(19)(5) (14)(3)(2)(5) (9)(14)(7))
((6)(9)(18)(19)(5) (16)(1)(19)(5) (15)(14)(4)(5) 71 (14)(3)(2)(5))
((3)(4)(14)(19)(5) (16)(18)(19)(5) (15)(14)(19)(5) 74 (14)(3)(2)(5))
((16)(18)(20)(19)(7) (20)(18)(19)(5) (15)(14) (18)(5)(4)(5) 75 (14)(3)(2)(5))
((20)(6) (14)(1)(3)(13)(19)(16) (19)(15)(12)(5) (13)(18)(4)(5) (12)(21)(19)(5) (20)(15)(20)(5) (23)(12)(4). (23)(12)(4) (14)(3)(2)(5))
(194 (23)(12)(4)'(19) (14)(3)(2)(5)) ((20)(18)(6)(24)(12))
(14)(15)(20)(5) 2 (20)(5)(24)(20):
(1)(12)(16)(14)(20)(5) (7)(12)(19)(5)-(19)(5) (5)(18)(20)(5)
(25)(12)(19)(5) (13)(20)(19)(5)-(3)(19)(20)(5)-(23)(19)(5)-(6)(18)(20)(19)(5)
(16)(21)(18)(20)(18)(19)(5) (15)(14)(4)(18)(19)(5) (23)(12)(4) (14)(3)(2)(5)
(14) (23)(12)(4) (24)(12)(18) (3)(13)(19)? (14)(5) (23)(12)(4) (19)(20)(19) (13)(5) (24)(12)

(4)(21)(12)(13)(20) 6 (20)(21)(14)(19)(5) (14)(3)(2)(5)(24)(3)

((13)(21)(14)(19)(1) (9) (19)(20)(5)(14)(13)(21) (14)(1)(18)(19)(5))
(11)(12)(19)(5)-(12)(18)(19)(20)(5)-(20)(18) (19)(5)-(20)(18)(19)(5)-(13)(11)(19)(5) (14)-(13)(18)(19)(5)
((6)(18)(5)(5)(14)(19)(5) (19)(5) (14) (13)(18)(19)(5))

(14)(13)(14) (18)(3)(2)(24) (14)(19)(5) (16)(20)(5) 2 (16)(20)(5) (23)(19)(18)(3) (2)(18)(5)(24)(5)
36 (13)(12)(19)(5) 74 (19)(16)(18)(11)(19)(5) 29 (11)(5)(14)(15)(19) (15)(12)(5) + 73 (18)(20)(18)(19)(5)
35 (19)(12)(5) (3)(12)(7)(19)(5) (15)(21)(14)(14)(20)(24)(6) (4)(11)(18)(19)(5) (16)(19)(5)(19)(8)(12)(5)
651 (13)(20)(3)(19)(5) (8)(20)(12)(19)(5) (14) (3)(21) (20)(3) (20)(18)(19) (14)(13)(18)(5)
99.84.8 2 (21)(14)(5) (16)(12)(19)(5) (22)(3)(18)(19)(5) (1)(15)(12)(20)(19)(5) (14)(19)(11)(19)(5) (14) (19)(5)

(14)(19)(18)(5) (15)(14)(19)(2) (16)(21)(20) (19)(5) (23)(12)(4) (14)(3)(2)(5) (3 (24)(1)(18)(12))
?(14)(20)(15)(19)(5) (14)(18)(19)(5) (9) (14) 2 (14) (20)(18)(12)(5)(18)(3)(2) (1)(14)(19)(5) (14)(20)(19)(18)(3)(18) (15) (14)(5)
(1)(19)(16)(21)(19)(5) (14) (7)-(19)(16)(19)(5) (13)(19)(11)(5) (18) 8 (19)(5) (14)(5)(2)(5) (1)(21) (24)(12) (18)
(8)(13) (3)(18)(5)(14)(13)(18)(5) (5)(3)(2)(5) 1/2 (13)(21)(14)(4)(4)(12)(19)(5)

(4)-(23)_(13)-(25) (13)(9)(12) (24)(4)(18)(12)(24)

reply to post by Maxisu


Yes, you would be correct. I can not say why I am looking but yes you would be correct with the first one. I do feel there is a connection. I am guessing you might feel the same. Please pm me if you like.

Ainge

reply to post by Ainge


Hi Ainge, I tried to pm you...I don't know if it still matters as I guess it's too late. Let me know if you got it...I only have a limited amounts of posts as I'm new here.

reply to post by Ultimate


You got your first star from me ! As....that's quite a bit of work you did lol !

Yet, I believe that kind of work has most probably been done by the FBI already....and what is it leading to ?
The pattern is most probably ciphers and words....for certain combinations....which is why it seems difficult to put 100 % logic...

reply to post by Maxisu


Maxisu,

Duh, blond moment in the PM. I get "the code" now. I did respond.

Ainge

Ok, here are some thoughts on this:

First, let's stop trying to think of a cypher replace... if the person WRITING it needed a computer to decode it, he would have left it on the computer. At the least, it would have been a computer printout, and not handwritten. Since it was handwritten, we can assume it was something he could "encode" on the fly, and not need a computer to do for him. So, let's look at something FAR more simple.

Second, he was writing it for a reason. These are notes of some type. These were not notes that were meant for anyone else to ever see, these were notes for his own personal usage. They would be in a format that he could use them on, and that means that whatever the cypher, it would be legible on sight with no effort to decode to the writer.

Now that we have addressed the intent of the message, so it can be taken in context with some idea as to WHAT we are decyphering, let's look at the message itself.

I think there are some fundamental errors in the text, as far as the way people are looking at it. For instance, there are no lower case letters in the thing, with a few minor exceptions. The first line of the "notes" page has the listing: "ALPNTE GLSE - SE ERtE" As a capitol "T" is used elsewhere, I would not take the lower case "t" here to be casual, or a "type" where he meant to put "T". Rather, I would suggest one of two things: Either this refers to a specific instance (like "Rt" being an abbreviation for "Route"), or (more likely) it is a plus (+) and not a lower case t. ER+E

There is also a fair amount of repetitiveness in this (and other places in the notes) GLSE - SE ERtE could be directional (Go Left, South East - South East - East Route East) The "S" could also be a 5, and not an S, denoting distance (Go Left 5 ?) I would be hesitant to say that it IS a 5, as the prevalence of SE and NE appear too often, I would take them to be North East and South East. The 7th line of "Notes" is "KLSE-LKSTE-TR SE-TRSE-M?SE N-???SE". "TRSE" is repeated, and we cannot (again) chalk this up to be a "type". The whole thing could be something along the lines of "?? South East, ?? South Turn East-Turn Right-South East-Turn Right South East" or "?? 5 ?-?? 5 Turn East-Turn Right 5 ?-Turn Right 5 ?-Make Turn Right 5 ?" (I used "turn right" as the second character in M?SE looks like both a lower t and an r combined. It could just be a sloppy R, but this is doubtful as most of the "R"s in the document are well formed, and the top loop is well rounded and positioned.

There has been mention that the "SE" could be some form of pig-latin-esque writing, and therefore irrelevant. While SE is prevalent, it is not universal. There are also numerous examples of "NE" or other combinations, as well as "SE" appearing on it's own, leading me to believe that these DO have meaning.

With the first document, there is also some repetitiveness, again with "SE" or "5E" appearing throughout. In this one, however, the most significant elements are at the end, with the repetitiveness of "NCBE". The numbers, "71 NCBE", "74 NCBE" and "75 NCBE" appearing in sequence, then after a line, "194 WLD'S NCBE" These are all set off by brackets () from the rest of the note. We again have but to assume that bracketing here would mean much the same as bracketing in any normal document, which is to say that these are probably "notes" pertaining to the main part of the note. This is further supported by the fact that these lines all begin more in the center column, signifying that they are supportive lines.

Now... let's look at the case, and see what can be learned from that. The note (allegedly) were found in the pocket of a murder victim, Ricky McCormick, who was found in a field in St. Charles County, Missouri on June 30, 1999. As he was the VICTIM of the murder, we can't really say that the notes are significant to the murder at all. To say that they were would mean that the victim knew he was going to be murdered (in which case he would likely NOT make it so hard to find his killers) or that the notes were left on the body by the murderer(s). The only thing I can find to be significant about the placement of the body was that it was in the South East corner of the field. Since the family verified that Mr. McCormick wrote in code since a child, although no one knew how to decypher them, we can assume that these are his and not the killers.

If Mr. McCormick had written like this since a child, it is likely that there are more samples somewhere of his writing in this code. If so, and if the FBI is truly interested in solving this case, they should release them. Even if the other messages are totally trivial, the whole together may be a little more easy to decypher.

Also, if Mr. McCormick had been writing in this manner since a child, then the notes could be totally meaningless. They could be a shopping list, a "to do" list. Most of the attempts at decyphering that I have seen on the message boards have attempted to assign nefarious intent, as if these notes were the workings of a pedophile trying to snatch young children up off the streets. This was the VICTIM of a crime, not the aggressor, and while the notes COULD be related to his involvement in criminal activity that led to his demise, they could equally be totally unrelated, as this was (again) a totally normal method of writing for this individual.

Furthermore, from my understanding, the body was two days decayed at the time it was found, and it was never clearly established that this was, in fact, a murder. Mr. McCormick had a history of health problems, and this could very well be a case where he died of natural causes, baring the fact that no good explanation has ever been given as to why the body was in that location to begin with.

There have been numerous attempts to assign meaning to the (seemingly) random strings of letters, but I feel that they are all suffering from a preconception of what it is they are looking for. As I mentioned, MOST seem to treat Mr. McCormick as the criminal, and not the victim, and make the notes out to be him casing a job or tracking someone. To look at it with this preconception taints any productive decryption of it, as it would seem that the intent is to fit the notes into a pattern, rather than determine what the pattern is.

Stop. Think. Start again with a fresh, uncluttered mind, and be open to what the note has to say rather than trying to get the note to SAY something you want.

Let's look with fresh eyes:

Page 1 - The most relevant thing on this page, to me, is the persistence of the sequence "NCBE", the formatting of the lines near the bottom, and the sequence of the numbers. There have been efforts to relate this to everything from parts for a car to notes on drug transactions.

Disregard these. I am not sure that it was ever established that Mr. McCormick was a mechanic, and if so, I doubt his customers came to him in chronological order. Customers COULD have come in with vehicles from 71, 74 and 75, but I doubt they would have come in with that order...

And while Mr. McCormick did have a criminal record, there is no evidence he was a big time drug lord, either. To the contrary, he seems to have been rather financially shot. He died in '99, so why would he have some listing of transactions from 71, 74 and 75. If anything, those would be VERY old debts... anyone why skipped on debts from then would certainly have skipped out on other debts since, and any debt that old would long since have been collected on.

I would say that those three are years, as they are chronological. I know that Mr. McCormick had 4 children, and he was 41 at the time of death, so those would fit in somewhat to the years potential children could have been born, but there are only 3 listings. The last line is in somewhat the same format, but the number is 194, which blows the year thing if they are taken together. They are NOT together, however, so I would look at the three indented lines together, and only loosely consider the other lines when looking at them.

There are several instances of 5 character strings, TFXLF, TRFXL, etc. The LAST 5 characters of the first document are TRFXL, and the last 5 characters of the "notes" document are "XDRLX"

There is one example of an apostrophe, which if taken to be ownership, reads: "194 WLD'S NCBE" which would mean WLD is a person, and NCBE is something that can be owned by that person.

99.84.3 is NOT a Julian date, as has been asserted. Mr. McCormick was literate, but not highly educated. It is doubtful that he would do Julian date conversions in his head, nor would that be an ideal method for noting dates.

Look for similarities, look for consistencies, look for patterns. Remember that what you are looking at has meaning to the person reading it, but may be totally irrelevant to anything or anybody else. It could be directions to someone's house, a shopping list, or the words to a song he was thinking about. He wrote it because it was important to him at the time, and was not meant for anyone else to ever read.

The cryptic nature of the code is not meant to obfuscate it. He wasn't writing it to hide it from anyone else, no more so than anything else he wrote. He wrote these notes in this cypher because that is how he wrote, and had since a child. The fact that it is encrypted means nothing, other than that he wrote it.

Do some research on Mr. McCormick. Look to the clues that other people have posted, but always keep in mind that each of them has an idea as to what the notes mean BEFORE they decoded them, and most of them are going on the assumption that these notes have some criminal element to them. Remember, these are normal notes a man took of his normal life, even if they were potentially criminal, and he wrote them this way because he wrote that way all the time, not that these notes were anything special.

Take a fresh look... and good luck. Now, my partner is yelling at me to get back to work...so have fun!

Originally posted by jpMocs
(...)
There is also a fair amount of repetitiveness in this (and other places in the notes) GLSE - SE ERtE could be directional (Go Left, South East - South East - East Route East) The "S" could also be a 5, and not an S, denoting distance (Go Left 5 ?) I would be hesitant to say that it IS a 5, as the prevalence of SE and NE appear too often, I would take them to be North East and South East. The 7th line of "Notes" is "KLSE-LKSTE-TR SE-TRSE-M?SE N-???SE". "TRSE" is repeated, and we cannot (again) chalk this up to be a "type". The whole thing could be something along the lines of "?? South East, ?? South Turn East-Turn Right-South East-Turn Right South East" or "?? 5 ?-?? 5 Turn East-Turn Right 5 ?-Turn Right 5 ?-Make Turn Right 5 ?" (I used "turn right" as the second character in M?SE looks like both a lower t and an r combined. It could just be a sloppy R, but this is doubtful as most of the "R"s in the document are well formed, and the top loop is well rounded and positioned.
(...)
With the first document, there is also some repetitiveness, again with "SE" or "5E" appearing throughout. In this one, however, the most significant elements are at the end, with the repetitiveness of "NCBE". The numbers, "71 NCBE", "74 NCBE" and "75 NCBE" appearing in sequence, then after a line, "194 WLD'S NCBE" These are all set off by brackets () from the rest of the note. We again have but to assume that bracketing here would mean much the same as bracketing in any normal document, which is to say that these are probably "notes" pertaining to the main part of the note. This is further supported by the fact that these lines all begin more in the center column, signifying that they are supportive lines.

KLSE could simply mean "Keep left south east" (keep left as driving a car staying on the left lane of the road). That's how I see it at least from a brief preview.

Now... let's look at the case, and see what can be learned from that. The note (allegedly) were found in the pocket of a murder victim, Ricky McCormick, who was found in a field in St. Charles County, Missouri on June 30, 1999. As he was the VICTIM of the murder, we can't really say that the notes are significant to the murder at all. To say that they were would mean that the victim knew he was going to be murdered (in which case he would likely NOT make it so hard to find his killers) or that the notes were left on the body by the murderer(s). The only thing I can find to be significant about the placement of the body was that it was in the South East corner of the field. Since the family verified that Mr. McCormick wrote in code since a child, although no one knew how to decypher them, we can assume that these are his and not the killers.

True. But we could try (google maps is your friend too) to go backwards with those directions to a place where he could come from... Would be interesting to link the place he was found dead with whatever other relevant place.

(...)
There have been numerous attempts to assign meaning to the (seemingly) random strings of letters, but I feel that they are all suffering from a preconception of what it is they are looking for. As I mentioned, MOST seem to treat Mr. McCormick as the criminal, and not the victim, and make the notes out to be him casing a job or tracking someone. To look at it with this preconception taints any productive decryption of it, as it would seem that the intent is to fit the notes into a pattern, rather than determine what the pattern is.

Maybe he was not tracking. Maybe he was just trying to reach some place, some meeting or rendez-vous.

(...)
Page 1 - The most relevant thing on this page, to me, is the persistence of the sequence "NCBE", the formatting of the lines near the bottom, and the sequence of the numbers. There have been efforts to relate this to everything from parts for a car to notes on drug transactions.

Disregard these. I am not sure that it was ever established that Mr. McCormick was a mechanic, and if so, I doubt his customers came to him in chronological order. Customers COULD have come in with vehicles from 71, 74 and 75, but I doubt they would have come in with that order...

And while Mr. McCormick did have a criminal record, there is no evidence he was a big time drug lord, either. To the contrary, he seems to have been rather financially shot. He died in '99, so why would he have some listing of transactions from 71, 74 and 75. If anything, those would be VERY old debts... anyone why skipped on debts from then would certainly have skipped out on other debts since, and any debt that old would long since have been collected on.

No time for that now, but it would be interesting to try and link those numbers to houses street #s, distances, or even road numbers.

I would say that those three are years, as they are chronological. I know that Mr. McCormick had 4 children, and he was 41 at the time of death, so those would fit in somewhat to the years potential children could have been born, but there are only 3 listings. The last line is in somewhat the same format, but the number is 194, which blows the year thing if they are taken together. They are NOT together, however, so I would look at the three indented lines together, and only loosely consider the other lines when looking at them.

Why, if these notes were strictly his, to be used by him only and in no way meant for anyone else, why would he write down his kids dates of birth ? I believe those numbers are not dates, unless they're unrelated to his very own past, family, etc. I, of course, may be wrong here.

There are several instances of 5 character strings, TFXLF, TRFXL, etc. The LAST 5 characters of the first document are TRFXL, and the last 5 characters of the "notes" document are "XDRLX"

X could mean a crossroad ?

There is one example of an apostrophe, which if taken to be ownership, reads: "194 WLD'S NCBE" which would mean WLD is a person, and NCBE is something that can be owned by that person.

If, as assumed before, it was a cipher code, then NCBE could be checked as being "HOME" or "ROAD".

(...)
Look for similarities, look for consistencies, look for patterns. Remember that what you are looking at has meaning to the person reading it, but may be totally irrelevant to anything or anybody else. It could be directions to someone's house, a shopping list, or the words to a song he was thinking about. He wrote it because it was important to him at the time, and was not meant for anyone else to ever read.

So true. That's why I lean towards the road directions thingie. Patterns are so common in typical road directions.

The cryptic nature of the code is not meant to obfuscate it. He wasn't writing it to hide it from anyone else, no more so than anything else he wrote. He wrote these notes in this cypher because that is how he wrote, and had since a child. The fact that it is encrypted means nothing, other than that he wrote it.

Do some research on Mr. McCormick. Look to the clues that other people have posted, but always keep in mind that each of them has an idea as to what the notes mean BEFORE they decoded them, and most of them are going on the assumption that these notes have some criminal element to them. Remember, these are normal notes a man took of his normal life, even if they were potentially criminal, and he wrote them this way because he wrote that way all the time, not that these notes were anything special.
(...)

Getting information on himself and his life would certainly lead into different directions, but that may actually lead into too blurry things. People will try to find a pattern that may simply not exist.

This is probably the kind of code that he was using since childhood. I'd say it is probably too simple for an adult's mind... Kids do that!

The code and the notes are maybe or not linked to the crime. One way or another the best is to not assume it, since they may not. They may, however, without being linked to the crime, lead to clues on the crime...

Interesting stuff anyhow. I will definitely have a deeper look...

[Edit:]
Just thought that NCBE could be "Next Crossroad Bear East".

ALPNTE GLSE - SE ER+E
Apartment close say ER + ?
VLSE
Those

The guy went to the hospital on a friday. Friday afternoon or evening the trains trolleies and buses shut down and are limited. Could this be notes of being lost on how to get home?

His last hope is driving him to where they think hes saying.
By the bridge that gos to Alton (West Alton)
He wanted to go to the bridge that gos out of town.By where he lives.
I think his speech could of been bad on top of the bad spelling.

reply to post by SpookyVince


Vince,

Thanks for the thoughts... and you bring up some good points. As long as my post was, I really didn't get the chance to go in depth into a lot of things I wanted to... and, of course, my business partner regrets ever sending the d!#$ link to me, because it has become rather a good focus of time for me.

You ask an important question: Why, if he were writing notes to himself, would he include "kid's birthdays". First, I should add that my partner simply stated, "the man had mental issues. Maybe he was trying to remind himself of important dates. Or maybe he was listing the times he thought the little green men came and talked to him." I do know that Mr. McCormick had SOME mental issues, but I am not sure how severe they were, and I don't mean to imply that he was psychotic or delusional. However, if he were, then he could have been writing about anything for any reason, and it doesn't necessarily have to make sense to us.

Secondly, I don't think I meant to imply that they WERE dates. I was trying to get away from the idea that they were simply (as someone stated) part numbers for car parts, or some such. My point was that they are in progressive order, and that might be relevant. The most obvious progressive order is time, and 71, 74 and 75 COULD be dates. However, as I noted, the line that follows (which begins with 194) would blow that whole theory.

If the numbers ARE numbers (and not some cypher replacement) then we should look for things that go in ordered progression... Again, my partner (who likes to state the obvious, which is sometimes NOT that obvious) said that they could equally be the number of steps from a central location to the three nearby stores where he buys cigarettes.... that one is 71 steps away, that one is 74 steps and THAT one is 75 steps.

I still don't think this is a cypher code. I think it is, more likely, some form of pigeon English, or shorthand. Remember that Mr. McCormick started using the "code" as a child, and while it probably got refined a bit over the next 30 years or so, the base of the code would make sense to a child. You mention this as well, and I think this is important, as most people I have seen trying to "crack" the code are being WAY too complicated in the thinking... the answer, once revealed, will probably be forehead-smacking simple.

Honestly, I think that if this gets solved, it will be by someone in Missouri, someone who can look at a little piece of this and find some relevance that would mean absolutely nothing for the rest of us.

But... good luck to anyone who tries... it is certainly more interesting than some of the garbage that passes for entertainment