Tool to try to understand the McCormick cipher, still unresolved. This code is associated with a case of murder in the United States and investigators believe that its resolution could advance the investigation.
McCormick Cipher - dCode
Tag(s) : Cryptography, Raw Data
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McCormick Cipher
Ricky McCormick Notes
dCode does not propose a tool to decipher the code or its variants because this code remains unresolved today. Nobody has yet found a perfect translation or explained the entire message without ambiguity. On this page are listed the original notes and their transcriptions.
Answers to Questions (FAQ)
What are Ricky McCormick Notes?
Ricky McCormick is a 41 year old man found dead by the side of a road in Missouri, USA, in June 1999. He had 2 handwritten sheets on him in his pockets. These notes are made up of letters and numbers, probably ciphered and written by himself or by his murderer.
What is the content/transcript of page 1?
The unencrypted content of page 1 remains unknown, but here is a transcript (potentially, the original writing being handwritten, some characters may be different):
// Page 1
(MNDMKNEARSE-N-S-M-KNARE) (ACSM?)
TFRNE NPtNSE NPBSER CBRNSE NPRSE INC
PRSE NMRSE OPRE HLDNLDNCBE(TFXLE TCXL N CBE)
AL-PRPPIT XLYPPIY NCBE MGKSE W CD RCBR NSE PRSE
WLDRCBRNSE NT SGNENTXSE-CRSLE-CLTRSE WLDNCBE
ALWLD NCBE TSME LRSE RLSE VRGLSNE AS N WLD NCBE
(NOPFSE NLSRE NCBE)NTE GDDMNSENCURERCBRNE
(TENE TFRNE NCBRTSENCBE INC)
(FLRSE PRSE ONDE 71 NCBE)
(CDNSE PRSE ONSDE 74 NCBE)
(PRTSE PRSE ONREDE 75 NCBE)
(TF NRCMSP SOLE MRDE LUSE TO TE WLD N WLD NCBE)
(194 WLD'S NCBE) (TRFXL)
(Source: FBI)
What is the content/transcript of page 2?
The unencrypted content of page 2 remains unknown, but here is a transcript of the notes
// Page 2
ALPNTE GLSE - SE ERtE
VLSE MTSE-CTSE-WSE-FRTSE
PNRTRSE ONDRSE WLD NCBE
NWLDXLRCMSP NEWLD S TS MEXL
DVLMT 6TUNSE NCBEXL
(MUNSARSTENMUNARSE)
KLSE-LRSTE-TR SE-TRSE-MKSE?-MRSE
(SAEGNSE SE NMRSE)
NMNRCBRNSE PTE ZPTE WSRCBRMSE
36MLSE 74SPRKSE 29KENOSOLE 173RTRSE
35 GLE CLGSE VUNVTRE DKRSE PSESHLE
651MTCSE HTLSE NCVTCTRS NMRE
99.84.S ZUNE PLSE NCRSE AOLTSE NSRSE NBSE
NSREONSE PVTSE WLD NCBE (3XORL)
BNMSE NRSE INZ NTRLE RCBRNSE NTSRCRSNE
LSPNSE NGSPSE MKSERBSE NCBEAVXLR
HM CRE NMRE NCBE 1/2 MUND PLSE
D-W-M-4 MIL XDRLX
(Source: FBI)
Which clues are in the text?
Some letter suites appear several times in the Ricky Mccormick text.
Example: RCBRNSENTS, RSEWLDNCB
The n-grams SE, PR, RSE, NCBE are the most common.
Source code
dCode retains ownership of the "McCormick Cipher" source code. Except explicit open source licence (indicated Creative Commons / free), the "McCormick Cipher" algorithm, the applet or snippet (converter, solver, encryption / decryption, encoding / decoding, ciphering / deciphering, breaker, translator), or the "McCormick Cipher" functions (calculate, convert, solve, decrypt / encrypt, decipher / cipher, decode / encode, translate) written in any informatic language (Python, Java, PHP, C#, Javascript, Matlab, etc.) and all data download, script, or API access for "McCormick Cipher" are not public, same for offline use on PC, mobile, tablet, iPhone or Android app!
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Cite as source (bibliography):
McCormick Cipher on dCode.fr [online website], retrieved on 2024-12-21,
