Missing scientist linked to nuclear research lab found dead a year later - Who was Melissa Casias?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Missing scientist linked to nuclear research lab found dead a year later - Who was Melissa Casias?")
Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Melissa Casias found dead. Photograph: (Facebook)
Melissa Casias, who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where nuclear research is carried out, was found dead in the Carson National Forest. A handgun was present next to her body, and an investigation is on to find out since when she had been dead.
One of the scientists who went missing has been found dead. The remains of Melissa Casias, 54, who worked at the nuclear lab, have been found by the New Mexico State Police 11 months after she vanished. Her body was found in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest, with a handgun present next to her. A hiker made the discovery six miles from her last known location. The area is part of a large US Forest Service restoration project. The New Mexico State Police are investigating the scene where she was found and trying to trace the gun's origin and whether it belonged to her or someone else. The cause and since when she had been dead are yet to be ascertained by the Office of the Medical Investigator in New Mexico. She was an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), known for nuclear research. Casias is part of a long list of scientists who have either died or gone missing in the past few years. Most of them were working on space and nuclear research.
Casias walked out of her home in Ranchos de Taos in June 2025 after clearing all data from her mobile phones and leaving them behind. The laboratory she worked at is a high-security federal facility that helps maintain the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile. Reports suggest that she had access to internal laboratory information, employee schedules, and campus logistics. Her husband, Mark Casias, was also employed at the facility, and had dropped him off at the facility the morning she vanished. Other reports claim that she had lost her security clearance just before she disappeared due to personal financial issues. Since she handled sensitive nuclear and defence technology, she became part of a list of at least 11 scientists flagged to have died or gone missing in the United States.
The day Melissa Casias went missing
Mark said she returned home after dropping him off, saying that she had forgotten the badge needed to access the nuclear lab. However, he stated that she had it with her since it was required to clear the checkpoints. Casias was last seen walking alone eastward on State Road 518, around three miles from her home, at 2:20 pm local time. Anthony Chavez, 79, another one of his colleagues who worked at the lab, also vanished without a trace. He also walked out of his home on May 4, 2025. Another scientist who went missing was Steven Garcia, who disappeared on August 28, 2025.
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The missing scientists
The mysterious disappearances came to light after retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland vanished from his New Mexico home in February. He walked out of his home with only a handgun and left behind his mobile phone and wallet. He reportedly worked on the secret UFO programs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. NASA aerospace engineer Monica Jacinto Reza later also went missing and is said to have been professionally linked to McCasland through "Mondaloy," a high-performance nickel-based futuristic superalloy metal for rocket engines. However, no confirmation of ties between the two has yet been made.
