# Ricky McCormick's notes > Two handwritten pages of letter groups were found in the pockets of Ricky McCormick, whose body was found in a field in St. Charles County, Missouri, on… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:08+00:00 --- **MYS** 0D07Y71G2XAF·Mystery · document # Ricky McCormick's notes **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=ricky-mccormick-notes) Ricky McCormick's notes ![One of two coded notes found of the body of Ricky McCormick on June 30, 1999.](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/ricky-mccormick-notes-lead) Federal Bureau of Investigation · Public domain Found 30 June 1999, cornfield off Route 367 near West Alton, St. Charles County, Missouri⁠[[1]] Victim Ricky C. McCormick, 41, of St. Louis; last seen 25 June 1999⁠[[1]] The notes Two pages, more than 30 lines of capital letters, digits, dashes and parentheses⁠[[5]] Tried by FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit; American Cryptogram Association⁠[[5]] Public appeal 29 March 2011⁠[[4]] Cause of death Not determined; treated as a possible homicide⁠[[1]] Status Unexplained Questions 0 of 3 answered People [**Ricky C. McCormick** The dead man; presumed writer of the notes](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/people/FIG0D07Y80R302V/ricky-c-mccormick)[**Dan Olson** Chief of the FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit in 2011](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/people/FIG0D07Y88J6QJK/dan-olson) Catalog key**MYS** 0D07Y71G2XAF On 30 June 1999 a woman driving along a field road found a partly decomposed body in a cornfield near West Alton, Missouri, about fifteen miles from the dead man's home. Fingerprints identified Ricky McCormick, 41, an unemployed St. Louis man who had last been seen five days earlier at a hospital checkup; he did not own a car and nobody had reported him missing. The cause of death could not be determined; investigators came to believe he had been killed elsewhere and left in the field⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. In his pockets were two sheets covered in capital letters, numbers, dashes and parentheses. The FBI's Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit and the American Cryptogram Association failed to read them. On 29 March 2011 the FBI published images of both and asked the public for ideas, saying that breaking the code might show where McCormick had been before he died⁠[[4]]⁠[[5]]. It was swamped with replies and opened a web page for them⁠[[6]]. Fifteen years later there is no accepted reading. Of the 3 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “How did McCormick die?”, not yet confirmed: he was killed elsewhere and left in the field. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Are the notes a cipher, a private shorthand, or not a message at all?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YA7265BG/are-the-notes-a-cipher-a-private-shorthand-or-not-a-message)No answer ahead yet [**Did McCormick write the notes?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YAEW2B60/did-mccormick-write-the-notes)No answer ahead yet [**How did McCormick die?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YAPP7ZKX/how-did-mccormick-die)Most likely: he was killed elsewhere and left in the field [All 3 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=ricky-mccormick-notes) ## The object The first note is a plain sheet marked "P1" in a circle at the top right, with thirteen lines. The second is written on a printed page headed "NOTES", with eighteen lines enclosed in hand-drawn loops⁠[[7]]. The FBI described the notes as more than 30 lines in all, written up to three days before his death⁠[[5]]. The letters are capitals drawn in a consistent personal style, with some characters (a small reversed-looking n, a looped l-shape, an angle bracket) whose identity is a matter of interpretation⁠[[7]]. [![McCormick note 1 (sheet marked P1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/bfeabf3b4d046be69175c072aeaadc33deff1c78adbc113c55f12a7bf1875231/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts/ART0D07YGJ676CK/mccormick-note-1-sheet-marked-p1) McCormick note 1 (sheet marked P1)Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts/ART0D07YGJ676CK/mccormick-note-1-sheet-marked-p1) [![McCormick note 2 (page headed NOTES)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/712a841b05633d2ddbdf7fd7c44cdea42897184246466878d68a9f6f4b45b9da/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts/ART0D07YH1T1SZN/mccormick-note-2-page-headed-notes) McCormick note 2 (page headed NOTES)Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts/ART0D07YH1T1SZN/mccormick-note-2-page-headed-notes) Short groups recur. In this project's transcription the group NCBE occurs about 18 times, WLD about 13 and PRSE 8, and most groups end in SE. Many lines are bracketed as if they were separate entries, and several contain numbers: (FLRSE PRSE ONDE 71 NCBE), (CDNSE PRSE ONSBE 74 NCBE), (PRTSE PRSE ONREDE 75 NCBE), (194 WLD'S NCBE), and on the second page 99.84.5 and 1/2⁠[[7]]. **Map of the country** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/map) [+][−] 1 **FBI Laboratory, Quantico, Virginia** Laboratory Within 1 km 2 **St. Louis, Missouri** City Within 10 km 3 **Field off Route 367 near West Alton, St. Charles County, Missouri** Field Within 10 km Within 1 kmA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What is known McCormick was a high-school dropout with chronic heart and lung problems who lived intermittently with his mother and received disability payments. He had a criminal record⁠[[1]]⁠[[8]]. In 2011 the FBI said he could read and write and that relatives had said he used such notes from boyhood, though it was not known whether anyone else could read his "secret language"⁠[[5]]. A year later his family told the Riverfront Times the opposite: his mother said "the only thing he could write was his name", a cousin said he "couldn't spell anything, just scribble", and the family said they learned of the notes only from the 2011 news coverage⁠[[9]]. The FBI's Dan Olson called it "a cipher system we know nothing about" and said the Bureau wanted to see how it was solved even if the notes proved to be a grocery list or a love letter⁠[[5]]. ## What has been tested The CRRU and the American Cryptogram Association examined the notes before 2011 and failed to decipher them; their working has not been published⁠[[5]]⁠[[4]]. The 2011 appeal drew a large public response, and the FBI asked people to stop phoning and emailing and to use its web form⁠[[6]]. No proposed decipherment has been endorsed by the FBI, published in a peer-reviewed venue, or tied to a checkable fact about McCormick's last days. Nothing systematic has been published on the notes' statistics either. The recurring groups and endings visible in a transcription are what any test would start from: a monoalphabetic substitution of English would not produce SE at the end of most groups, while a personal abbreviation system, in which NCBE or WLD stands for a word, would⁠[[7]]. ## The readings A cipher. The FBI's working assumption in 2011 was that the notes encrypt information, perhaps about his movements, that could identify a killer⁠[[4]]⁠[[5]]. It predicts a consistent system that, once found, yields names, places or amounts. Personal shorthand. The notes may be a private abbreviation system: lists, directions, figures or reminders in a code of the writer's own, with recurring words abbreviated. This fits the recurring groups and the bracketed entries with numbers, and the FBI's 2011 report that he had used such notes since boyhood⁠[[5]]⁠[[7]]. It predicts that the meaning is recoverable only with knowledge of his life. Not writing in the ordinary sense. The family's 2012 account, that he could barely write, raises two other possibilities: that the notes imitate writing without carrying a message, or that someone else wrote them⁠[[9]]. The first predicts statistics closer to drawn patterns than to language; the second predicts that the handwriting does not match McCormick's. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2011 | FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit⁠[4] | The notes are an encrypted message that, once broken, could reveal McCormick's movements before his death and help solve his murder. | Still possible | The CRRU and the American Cryptogram Association could not identify the system, and no proposed solution has been endorsed⁠[5]⁠[9]. | | 2011 | FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit⁠[4] | McCormick was murdered and his body dumped in the field where it was found. | Still possible | Investigators suspected foul play, but the medical examiner ruled the cause of death undetermined⁠[9]. | | 2011 | FBI (Dan Olson)⁠[5] | McCormick could read and write, and relatives said he had used such encrypted notes since he was a boy. | Disputed | His mother and a cousin told the press a year later that he could write only his name⁠[9]. | | 2012 | McCormick's family (Frankie Sparks and Charles McCormick)⁠[9] | McCormick could write only his name and never wrote in code. | Disputed | It contradicts what the FBI said relatives had told investigators⁠[5], and no handwriting comparison has been published. | | 2012 | Elonka Dunin⁠[9] | McCormick did not write the notes himself; he may have been carrying them as a courier. | Still possible | Untested: it rests on the family's account of what he could write, and no handwriting comparison has been published⁠[9]. | ## What would settle it The FBI's own case material (handwriting exemplars from McCormick, the original sheets, any notes found among his belongings) is the decisive evidence: a handwriting comparison would settle who wrote them, and other samples of the same system would allow it to be read as a code with known context. Without that, an independent transcription by several readers, published with the ambiguities marked, and a statistical comparison with language, shorthand and pseudo-writing would at least decide what kind of object the notes are. ## Questions 0 of 3 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 3](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=ricky-mccormick-notes) **0** [Are the notes a cipher, a private shorthand, or not a message at all?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YA7265BG/are-the-notes-a-cipher-a-private-shorthand-or-not-a-message) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Open: 4 answers, none ahead **0** [Did McCormick write the notes?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YAEW2B60/did-mccormick-write-the-notes) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Open: 3 answers, none ahead **0** [How did McCormick die?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YAPP7ZKX/how-did-mccormick-die) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: he was killed elsewhere and left in the field ## Evidence 11 findings [Are the notes a cipher, a private shorthand, or not a message at all?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YA7265BG/are-the-notes-a-cipher-a-private-shorthand-or-not-a-message)6 findings [The notes encrypt a message under a consistent cipher system.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YAYG7PM4/the-notes-encrypt-a-message-under-a-consistent-cipher-system)Still possible −[The FBI CRRU and the American Cryptogram Association could not identify the system.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YB6A7JJY/the-fbi-crru-and-the-american-cryptogram-association-could)Suggestive −[Most letter groups end in SE, which a simple substitution of English would not produce.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YBE42C4W/most-letter-groups-end-in-se-which-a-simple-substitution-of)Suggestive [The notes are a private shorthand, with recurring groups standing for words, written by McCormick for his own…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YBNY3MFW/the-notes-are-a-private-shorthand-with-recurring-groups)Still possible +[Relatives told investigators McCormick had used such notes since boyhood.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YBXR5EY7/relatives-told-investigators-mccormick-had-used-such-notes)Suggestive +[Groups such as NCBE (about 18 times) and WLD (about 13) recur; bracketed entries carry numbers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YC5J3E5A/groups-such-as-ncbe-about-18-times-and-wld-about-13-recur)Suggestive [The marks imitate writing and carry no recoverable message.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YCDC5DQT/the-marks-imitate-writing-and-carry-no-recoverable-message)Still possible +[His mother said 'the only thing he could write was his name'; a cousin said he 'couldn't spell anything, just scribble'.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YCN66N4C/his-mother-said-the-only-thing-he-could-write-was-his-name-a)Suggestive −[The FBI said in 2011 that he could read and write.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YCX0231A/the-fbi-said-in-2011-that-he-could-read-and-write)Suggestive [Did McCormick write the notes?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YAEW2B60/did-mccormick-write-the-notes)2 findings [McCormick wrote both notes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YDCM6992/mccormick-wrote-both-notes)Still possible +[The FBI said relatives reported he had used such notes since boyhood.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YDME435P/the-fbi-said-relatives-reported-he-had-used-such-notes-since)Suggestive [Someone else wrote one or both notes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YDW86QQ7/someone-else-wrote-one-or-both-notes)Still possible +[His family says he could barely write and never wrote in code.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YE425FWN/his-family-says-he-could-barely-write-and-never-wrote-in)Suggestive [How did McCormick die?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/questions/QST0D07YAPP7ZKX/how-did-mccormick-die)3 findings [He was killed elsewhere and left in the field.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YEKP39Z6/he-was-killed-elsewhere-and-left-in-the-field)Most likely +[Investigators believed he was killed elsewhere and dumped; he had no car and the area had no public transport.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YEVG5N1Y/investigators-believed-he-was-killed-elsewhere-and-dumped-he)Suggestive −[The Major Case Squad initially found no evidence of a crime.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YF3A74C0/the-major-case-squad-initially-found-no-evidence-of-a-crime)Suggestive [He died of natural causes related to his heart and lung conditions, and his presence in the field has another…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/answers/ANS0D07YFB43RJ2/he-died-of-natural-causes-related-to-his-heart-and-lung)Still possible +[He had chronic heart and lung problems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/evidence/EVD0D07YFJY1B1R/he-had-chronic-heart-and-lung-problems)Speculative ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 5](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [McCormick note 1 (sheet marked P1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts/ART0D07YGJ676CK/mccormick-note-1-sheet-marked-p1) Federal Bureau of Investigation · Public domain (US government work) Photo1 step from object [McCormick note 2 (page headed NOTES)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts/ART0D07YH1T1SZN/mccormick-note-2-page-headed-notes) Federal Bureau of Investigation · Public domain (US government work) [See all 5 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ricky-mccormick-notes/artifacts) ## See also [ **Beale ciphers** Three number ciphers in an 1885 Virginia pamphlet said to locate buried gold. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/beale-ciphers) [ **Zodiac ciphers** Four ciphers mailed to Bay Area newspapers in 1969 and 1970 by the Zodiac Killer. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/zodiac-ciphers) [ **Dorabella cipher** An 1897 note of 87 semicircle symbols from Edward Elgar to Dora Penny, still unread. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dorabella-cipher) [ **Voynich Manuscript** A fifteenth-century illustrated codex in an unknown script, never reliably read. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript) ## References 1. 1.[Wikipedia contributors n.d.. Ricky McCormick's encrypted notes. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y6HW42SR/ricky-mccormicks-encrypted-notes)cited 7 times here**SRC** 0D07Y6HW42SR 1. 2.[Anthony, S. 1999. Body found in field puzzles police. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2 July 1999.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y5TE3KA7/body-found-in-field-puzzles-police)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D07Y5TE3KA7 1. 3.[Martinez, E. 2011. FBI seeks public's help cracking cryptic notes in 1999 murder victim's pocket. CBS News Crimesider, 30 March 2011.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y53070VK/fbi-seeks-publics-help-cracking-cryptic-notes-in-1999-murder)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D07Y53070VK 1. 4.[Federal Bureau of Investigation 2011. Cryptanalysts, Part 2: Help Solve an Open Murder Case. FBI News Stories, 29 March 2011.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y4KC48WP/cryptanalysts-part-2-help-solve-an-open-murder-case)cited 10 times here**SRC** 0D07Y4KC48WP 1. 5.[NBC News / KMBC 2011. FBI can't crack the code in this murder case - can you?. NBC News (republished by KMBC), 30 March 2011.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y4V63XFW/fbi-cant-crack-the-code-in-this-murder-case-can-you)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0D07Y4V63XFW 1. 6.[Miller, J. 2011. FBI Flooded With Tips on Encrypted Notes From 1999 Murder Mystery. Fox News, 31 March 2011.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y5AT4B6R/fbi-flooded-with-tips-on-encrypted-notes-from-1999-murder)[doi](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv43vr4w.12)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D07Y5AT4B6R 1. 7.[Mysteries Department 2026. Ricky McCormick's notes: provisional transcription (Mysteries Department). This project, data/mccormick_notes.json, from the FBI images on Wikimedia Commons.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y6A20E1D/ricky-mccormicks-notes-provisional-transcription-mysteries)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D07Y6A20E1D 1. 8.[St. Louis Post-Dispatch staff 1999. Major Case Squad finds no evidence of a crime. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6 July 1999.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y6282918/major-case-squad-finds-no-evidence-of-a-crime)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D07Y6282918 1. 9.[Tritto, C. 2012. Code Dead: Do the encrypted writings of Ricky McCormick hold the key to his mysterious death?. Riverfront Times, 14 June 2012.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D07Y5JM7QFN/code-dead-do-the-encrypted-writings-of-ricky-mccormick-hold)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0D07Y5JM7QFN Last edited 27 Oct 2026