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

[url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110329/ts_yblog_thelookout/fbi-asks-public-for-help-breaking-encrypted-notes-tied-to-1999-murder]Source[/url] [quote]Tue Mar 29, 4:22 pm ET FBI asks public for help breaking encrypted notes tied to 1999 murder By Brett Michael [b]Dykes[/b] In what seems like a throwback to the still-unsolved Zodiac killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s, the FBI has sent out a [b]public appeal for amateur sleuths[/b]:eng101: to help solve a key cryptographic clue in a 1999 murder case. On June 30, 1999, police officers in St. Louis, Missouri found the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick, who'd been murdered and dumped in a field. The only clues investigators recovered from the scene were two encrypted notes stuffed into the victim's pockets. "Despite extensive work by our Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU), as well as help from the American Cryptogram Association, the meanings of those two coded notes remain a mystery to this day, and Ricky McCormick's murderer has yet to face justice," the FBI said in a press release today. CRRU chief Dan Olson added, "We are really good at what we do, but we could use some help with this one ... Maybe someone with a fresh set of eyes might come up with a brilliant new idea." The FBI has reached out to the public with code breaking brain teasers in the past--but they were games, not actual cases. This is the chance for want-to-be FBI sleuths to break their brains on code that is part of a current investigation. The notes are after the jump. Channel your favorite CSI character, folks. [b]The bureau isn't offering any reward for assistance in solving the case at this time[/b] :eng99:, but the FBI is asking people who believe they may have some insight into the notes write to the address below: FBI Laboratory Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit 2501 Investigation Parkway Quantico, VA 22135 Attn: Ricky McCormick Case[/quote] them notes are insane, here goes one (if yahoo lets me hotlink) [media]http://mit.zenfs.com/102/2011/03/image_large.jpg[/media] [url=http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march/cryptanalysis_032911][b]FBI.gov Article![/b][/url]

It reads... [IMG]http://gyazo.com/4329c5efeab9f652b2b1d07f900da2a6.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=DesolateGrun;28882396]It reads... "ur a faget" [img_thumb]http://gyazo.com/4329c5efeab9f652b2b1d07f900da2a6.png[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] if you check the link, there's like 5 more pages. [b]Edit[/b]: dumb me, there's like one more. [b]Edit 2[/b]: actually don't, but yeah i was saying stuff :arghfist::frown:

FBI is now crowdsourcing. Behold, FBI 2.0

I know what it says, but no reward? Pff

I want to help, but I don't know how to do shit like this.

[QUOTE=Bautista;28882548]I know what it says, but no reward? Pff[/QUOTE] Don't ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. [img]http://implementimprovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/JFK.jpg[/img]

Be sure to drink your ovaltine!

The parentheses make it look like either Lisp code or Lisp lists -- It's homoiconic so there's no way to tell the difference :downs: If it's code, then the first item in the parentheses would be a function, the rest being its arguments. I'd assume each function is a different decryption algorithm. The last function has no arguments so it just terminates.

[QUOTE=Errorproxy;28882647]Don't ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. [img_thumb]http://implementimprovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/JFK.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] Look where that got him.

Blue= E Green= S to the left of E Red= WLD Orange= NCB Yellow= numbers (Don't think I got all of them) [IMG]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/l33tkill101/patterns.jpg[/IMG] I'm seeing a lot of patterns here. Tell me if I missed any... [editline].[/editline] *From page 3* [IMG]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/l33tkill101/fthis.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=l33tkill;28883026]Blue= E Green= S to the left of E Red= WLD Orange= NCB Yellow= numbers (Don't think I got all of them) [img_thumb]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/l33tkill101/patterns.jpg[/img_thumb] I'm seeing a lot of patterns here. Tell me if I missed any...[/QUOTE] You've had like half of an hour to do this. Go apply to CIA/FBI

[QUOTE=l33tkill;28883026]Blue= E Green= S to the left of E Red= WLD Orange= NCB Yellow= numbers (Don't think I got all of them) [img_thumb]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/l33tkill101/patterns.jpg[/img_thumb] I'm seeing a lot of patterns here. Tell me if I missed any...[/QUOTE]Thanks, brb sending this to the fbi.

[QUOTE=Hole;28883091]Thanks, brb sending this to the fbi.[/QUOTE] Have fun!

reminds me of how the old owner of starrs mill got killed in the 70s

[QUOTE=l33tkill;28883026]Blue= E Green= S to the left of E Red= WLD Orange= NCB Yellow= numbers (Don't think I got all of them) [img_thumb]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/l33tkill101/patterns.jpg[/img_thumb] I'm seeing a lot of patterns here. Tell me if I missed any...[/QUOTE] Also TF,XL,NP,AL Man, there's loads of em

"one of americas great unsolved murders"

[QUOTE=ionuttzu;28883136]Also TF[/QUOTE] TF's and TR's Thanks [editline].[/editline] and PR's

Maybe it doesn't say anything at all. Just a thought.

It's making me wonder why the murderer left a coded note on the victims body. If he wanted to leave a message he wouldn't make it coded. So him leaving a message in a code is very mysterious.

I found out what it says! It says that this note is just here to sidetrack you from finding real evidence.

Fuck this, it's basically almost impossible to decypher this without knowing what each word/s mean, I mean how the hell can you guess? You have to make thousands upon thousands of guesses till you'll somehow manage to get to something that makes sense

Wrote backwards?

FBI's got nothing on the CIA: [url]http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_kryptos?currentPage=1[/url]

[QUOTE=ionuttzu;28883251]Actually wait the patterns seem kinda odd, the little patterns just mentioned combine to make bigger ones. For example I just spotted 2 TFRNE[/QUOTE] The patterns that keep popping up more often tend to lead to more commonly found letters. Kind of like wheel of fortune (R,S,T,L,N,E). Like SE could actually be just the letter "S".

the notes are probably intended to waste a bunch of time

It might not be in English. [editline]29th March 2011[/editline] I wish we were given more background. It might help.

[QUOTE=Mingebox;28883312]FBI's got nothing on the CIA: [url]http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_kryptos?currentPage=1[/url][/QUOTE] On the right, reapeated letters (words?)all along to the top in a diagonal line

Note to self, When murdering someone, leave a note that has nothing but random letters, sometimes repeating, adding ()s and other crap to make it look like it needs to be decoded, should at least give me 12 years to hide.

[QUOTE=Roo-kie;28883348]the notes are probably intended to waste a bunch of time[/QUOTE] Anyone that took the time to write a letter has a good reason too. If it was a time-waster, there would be very little patterns and this seems like there's something behind it.