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For the first time ever the FBI has asked the public for help in breaking encrypted code. In 1999 the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick was found in a field, the only available clues were two encrypted notes stuffed into his pockets, it is believed the victim himself wrote the notes three days before the murder.
The victim had been writing secret encrypted notes to himself since he was a boy. Deciphering these notes could lead to the location of the crime.
Here's the first note:
![[image loading]](http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/cryptanalysis_032911/image/gallery/encyphered-note/image_large)
Here's the second note:
![[image loading]](http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/cryptanalysis_032911/image/gallery/help-us-solve-this-encyphered-note/image_large)
At the moment there's no reward being offered by the FBI, but if you want to help out either post the solution here or send it directly to the FBI at:
FBI Laboratory
Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit
2501 Investigation Parkway
Quantico, VA 22135
Attn: Ricky McCormick Case
source:
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/cryptanalysis_032911
Feel free to discuss these two encrypted notes here, and if you think you've managed to decipher part of it that could be helpful too.
update: transcription of first note thx to kore:
Characters in red are the ones I'm not 100% sure of.
The "?" marks in red are the ones I have no idea what they are.
L01: (MNDMXNEMRSE.N.S.M.KNARE) (ALSM)
L02: TFRNENPtNSENPBSERCBRNSENPRSEINC
L03: PRSENMRSEDPREHLDWLDNCBE(TFXLFTCXLNCBE)
L04: AL-PRPPITXLYPRIYNCBEMGKSEWCDRCBRNSEPRSE
L05: WLDRCBRNSENTSBNENTXE.CRSLE.CLTRSEWLDNCBE
L06: ALWCDNCBETSMELRSERLSEURGLSNEASNWLDNCBE
L07: (NOPFSENLSRENCBE)NTEGDDMNSENCURERCBRNE
L08: (TENETFRNENCBPTSENCBElNQ)
L09: (FLRSEPQSEONDE71NCBE)
L10: (CDNSEPQSEONSDE74NCBE)
L11: (PQtSEPRSEONREDE7SNCBE)
L12: (TFNQCMSPSOLEMRDELUSETOTEWCDNWLDNCBE)
L13: (194WLD'SNCBE)(TRFXL)
Transcription of second note thx to double122:
ALPNTE GLSE-SE ER+E
VLSEMTSE-CTSE-WSE-FRTSE
PNTRTRSEONPRSEWLDNCBE
NWLDXLRCMSPNEWLDSTSMEXL
DVLMT6TUNSE NCBEC
(MUNSAISTENMUNARSE)
KLSE-LRSTE-TRSE-TRSE-MKSEN-MRSE
(SAE6NSESENMBSE)
NMNRCBRNSEP+E2PTEWSRCBRNSE
26MLSE74SPRKSE29KENOSOLE173R7RSE
356LECLGSEUUNUTREDKRSEPSESHLE
6S1MTCSEHTLSENCUTCTRSNMRE
99.84.B2UNEPLSENCRSEAOLTSENSKSENRSE
NSREOUSEPUTSEWLDUCBE(3XORL)
DNMSENRSEIN2NTRLERCBRNSENTSRCRBNE
LSPNSENGSPSEMKSERBSENCBEAVXLR
HMCRENMRESCBE 1/2MUNDDLSE
D-W-M-YHIL XDRLX
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Seems like a fun time killer, I'll see what I can do, but you know it could always just be a bunch of random letters to confuse anyone investigating lol
EDIT: I actually can't even make out what half the letters are because of the sloppy writing, anyone care to take some guesses?
+ Show Spoiler +
Characters in red are the ones I'm not 100% sure of.
The "?" marks in red are the ones I have no idea what they are.
L01: (MNDMXNEMRSE.N.S.M.KNARE) (ALSM)
L02: TFRNENPtNSENPBSERCBRNSENPRSEINC
L03: PRSENMRSEDPREHLDWLDNCBE(TFXLFTCXLNCBE)
L04: AL-PRPPITXLYPRIYNCBEMGKSEWCDRCBRNSEPRSE
L05: WLDRCBRNSENTSBNENTXE.CRSLE.CLTRSEWLDNCBE
L06: ALWCDNCBETSMELRSERLSEURGLSNEASNWLDNCBE
L07: (NOPFSENLSRENCBE)NTEGDDMNSENCURERCBRNE
L08: (TENETFRNENCBPTSENCBElNQ)
L09: (FLRSEPQSEONDE71NCBE)
L10: (CDNSEPQSEONSDE74NCBE)
L11: (PQtSEPRSEONREDE7SNCBE)
L12: (TFNQCMSPSOLEMRDELUSETOTEWCDNWLDNCBE)
L13: (194WLD'SNCBE)(TRFXL)
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this seems to be written in Latin characters only. So is anybody up for typing this and posting it here. That would make trying out algorithms easier. Like trying to find out the most common letter but I guess simple rotations are out of the question if the FBI has problems with it.
edit: and lest I forget Arabic numbers but I meant the Latin keyboard-layout, so whatever
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It took 12 years for them to admit they needed help
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I wonder if it's just nonsensical and has no meaning. It would be a good way for the murderer to throw off the investigation and make them spend time on something pointless.
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if the FBI couldn't break this, I'm pretty sure this is pseudo code and the culprit is trolling us
EDIT: excellent post above mine
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im guessing the FBI is just looking for dumb luck at this point, there is probably tons of misdirection in this "code"
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On March 30 2011 08:43 Bigpet wrote:
this seems to be written in latin characters only. So is anybody up for typing this and posting it here. That would make trying out algorithms easier. Like trying to find out the most common letter but I guess simple rotations are out of the question if the FBI has problems with it.
its not latin only, there's · dots in it. These can be "typed" as well though.
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On March 30 2011 08:47 MisterD wrote:Show nested quote +On March 30 2011 08:43 Bigpet wrote:
this seems to be written in latin characters only. So is anybody up for typing this and posting it here. That would make trying out algorithms easier. Like trying to find out the most common letter but I guess simple rotations are out of the question if the FBI has problems with it. its not latin only, there's · dots in it. These can be "typed" as well though.
I haven't taken Latin, and have no clue what Latin characters look like, but that looks a lot like the English alphabet..
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On March 30 2011 08:45 Jonoman92 wrote:
I wonder if it's just nonsensical and has no meaning. It would be a good way for the murderer to throw off the investigation and make them spend time on something pointless.
this makes sense. If the FBI is asking the public, I'm pretty sure they have asked the "best code-breakers in the world"
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What if the killer actually just legit used a RNG, picked some strings of letters, and called it a day sending everyone on a wild goose chase?
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The first encryption job of actually managing to read those letters in the first would be more than I could motivate myself to. 
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On March 30 2011 08:48 Jaso wrote:Show nested quote +On March 30 2011 08:47 MisterD wrote:On March 30 2011 08:43 Bigpet wrote:
this seems to be written in latin characters only. So is anybody up for typing this and posting it here. That would make trying out algorithms easier. Like trying to find out the most common letter but I guess simple rotations are out of the question if the FBI has problems with it. its not latin only, there's · dots in it. These can be "typed" as well though. I haven't taken Latin, and have no clue what Latin characters look like, but that looks a lot like the English alphabet..
The written English language uses the Latin alphabet and the Arabic numerals. I didn't say American alphabet because you have no guarantee that the note isn't written in another language that uses the Latin alphabet which is pretty much every European language (besides Greek and other exceptions).
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On March 30 2011 08:45 Jonoman92 wrote:
I wonder if it's just nonsensical and has no meaning. It would be a good way for the murderer to throw off the investigation and make them spend time on something pointless.
Haven't read the article yet, but I assume the FBI could check the handwriting of the victim to see if it matched the note.
Edit: Here is the source article, I recommend using this instead of Yahoo version
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/cryptanalysis_032911/cryptanalysis_032911
It says he wrote encrytped notes since he was a kid, so unlikely to be something done by the seriel killer.
The more than 30 lines of coded material use a maddening variety of letters, numbers, dashes, and parentheses. McCormick was a high school dropout, but he 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, and it’s unknown whether anyone besides McCormick could translate his secret language. Investigators believe the notes in McCormick’s pockets were written up to three days before his death.
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Fascinating. Whether it's an attempt at trolling or it holds some value, it will be interesting to see how this pans out now it's public.
It's quite a shame though that the images aren't a higher res, it's going to be a PITA to translate some of those characters.
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On March 30 2011 08:48 Jaso wrote:Show nested quote +On March 30 2011 08:47 MisterD wrote:On March 30 2011 08:43 Bigpet wrote:
this seems to be written in latin characters only. So is anybody up for typing this and posting it here. That would make trying out algorithms easier. Like trying to find out the most common letter but I guess simple rotations are out of the question if the FBI has problems with it. its not latin only, there's · dots in it. These can be "typed" as well though. I haven't taken Latin, and have no clue what Latin characters look like, but that looks a lot like the English alphabet..
Uhh... English is Latin-based.
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Apparently the killer didn't write the notes, the victim did. The victim was a high school dropout but he had been "coding" notes since he was a boy. It is believed these two notes were written three days before his death, and could lead to the location of his death and help solve the crime.
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/cryptanalysis_032911
edit: BlackMagister beat me to it
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Well, if they are really desperate and cannot do it themselves, why not ask the public for help?
Were not talking about some state security issue, but just about the death of one person.
And in the case that it actually means something, there is bound to be one guy who is crazy with this stuff out there who can solve this.
Or just hope that a ton of people try this and someone stumbles onto it by accident.
The only thing that stands out to me is that the combination of the letters "SRE" keeps coming back, combined with one other letter, mostly P or T.
and if I actually keep glancing over it, a lot of it actually seems connected in some way with the letter E.
But that is the furthest i'll probably ever get with this :p
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On March 30 2011 08:49 TOCHMY wrote:Show nested quote +On March 30 2011 08:45 Jonoman92 wrote:
I wonder if it's just nonsensical and has no meaning. It would be a good way for the murderer to throw off the investigation and make them spend time on something pointless. this makes sense. If the FBI is asking the public, I'm pretty sure they have asked the "best code-breakers in the world"
Best code-breakers in the world that they KNOW of.
That's why they are asking the public now.
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I'm suprised someone on TL hasn't given an answer within the first page yet.
o.O
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EPT
