MUS-2026-0474
Archive card
MUS-2026-0474
Homicide
- Incident
- 1999
- Indexed
- Oct 26, 2026, by MuseUnsolved
- Agency
- See coverage below
- Location
- West Alton MO
Public record. Index entry.
Index entry. Case details compiled from public reporting; our researchers have not verified this file yet.
Summary
What happened, as the record shows.
Ricky McCormick, 41, was found dead in a cornfield near West Alton, Missouri, in 1999 with two handwritten coded notes in his pockets. He had last been seen alive days earlier at a St. Louis hospital checkup, and no one had reported him missing. Authorities could not determine a cause of death. In 2011 the FBI published the notes in a public appeal describing his death as a murder, but the codes remain undeciphered and no killer has ever been identified.
Timeline
What the record establishes.
- 1999
McCormick, 41, is last seen alive at a Forest Park Hospital checkup in St. Louis on June 25, 1999.
- 1999
His body is found in a cornfield near West Alton on June 30, 1999, and identified by fingerprints, though no one had reported him missing.
- 1999
Authorities cannot determine a cause of death.
- 2011
On March 29, 2011, the FBI publishes a public appeal describing McCormick as murdered and releases the two encrypted notes.
- 2011
The notes remain undeciphered and no killer has been identified.
Key people
The people in the file.
41, of St. Louis, Missouri. Found dead in a cornfield near West Alton in 1999 with two undeciphered coded notes in his pockets.
Contact details change over time; confirm the current assignee before publishing.
Investigating agency
Where tips go.
Coverage names St. Charles County investigators and the FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit, which published a 2011 public appeal. Start with the coverage links below to find the right contact.
Coverage
Coverage and further reading.
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