At least ten people linked to sensitive U.S. nuclear and aerospace research have died or disappeared in recent years, which has raised questions and fueled online speculation about possible links between the cases. One of these cases is Melissa Casias, an employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory who disappeared nearly a year ago and whose remains were discovered in the last week of May by a hiker in a national forest in northern New Mexico.
The location of her remains comes almost 11 months after her disappearance in the McGaffey Ridge area, within the Carson National Forest, about 15 miles from her home in Taos. Alongside the remains a handgun was found, according to a press release from the New Mexico State Police.
Meanwhile, the state’s Office of the Medical Examiner positively identified Casias; however, the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, police said. The remains will be subjected to additional anthropological examination by the coroner.
CNN reported that several New Mexico state agencies opted not to comment on the matter.
In Casias’s case, a 54-year-old, she was reported last seen walking along a road near Talpa, New Mexico, in June 2025. She had left her belongings, including her purse, her identification, and her cell phones at her home in Taos, about eight miles away.
One of her phones had been reset to factory settings, according to NBC News at the time.
She was reported missing on June 26, 2025, after not showing up for work and not returning home after having visited her daughter’s workplace, police said. During that period authorities did not release further information.
Among the missing people that the public links to the topic of missing scientists is Anthony Chávez, a Los Alamos National Laboratory worker, the 78-year-old retiree who also disappeared in May 2025, and police have stated there are no signs of foul play.
According to CNN, among other cases is a retired major general of the Air Force who remains missing since February, when he left his home in New Mexico without his phone, his prescription glasses, or his portable devices. That same month, nearly 800 miles away, in Los Angeles County, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was shot dead outside his home.
The House Oversight Committee, led by Republicans, announced in April that it would investigate the deaths and disappearances of people who, according to them, had access to sensitive scientific information. At the same time, the FBI has stated that it is also collaborating with the Department of Energy and other federal, state, and local partners to identify any possible connection.
