Breaking the Code: The Mysterious Death of Ricky McCormick and the Unsolved Cipher

Serial Napper | True Crime Stories

The date is June 30, 1999. A body is discovered in a cornfield, about 20 miles outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The man, 41-year-old Ricky McCormick, is found dressed in nothing but dirty blue jeans and a stained white T-shirt. His body is badly decomposed, so much so that his cause of death is impossible to determine. At first glance, it seems like another tragic and forgotten death — a man with few means and, likely, mental health struggles. But then, investigators find something that would turn this case on its head.

Two pages of handwritten notes. These aren’t ordinary scribbles, though. The notes are written in an intricate, unbreakable code, something that has baffled both elite codebreakers and amateur sleuths for years. Over 30 lines of cryptic letters, numbers, and symbols, carefully arranged in a pattern that no one can decipher.

It’s believed that the victim, Ricky, had written these notes shortly before his death, but what did they mean? Could these strange symbols hold the key to understanding how Ricky McCormick died — or even why?

Despite his struggles with mental health, run-ins with the law and criminal activities, many believe these notes could be the missing piece to solving his mysterious death.

Sources:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/93674/code-dead-mans-pocket-thats-stumped-fbi-over-15-years

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/help-solve-an-open-murder-case-part-2

https://allthatsinteresting.com/ricky-mccormick

https://morbidology.com/ricky-mccormick-the-cryptic-notes/

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/code-dead-do-the-encrypted-writings-of-ricky-mccormick-hold-the-key-to-his-mysterious-death-2498959

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