OAN Staff Jenna Lee
1:20 PM – Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Authorities recently announced that a missing Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) employee was found dead by a hiker in the Carson National Forest near Taos, New Mexico, about 130 miles northeast of Albuquerque.
Notably, officials also later discovered a firearm nearby.
The hiker discovered the remains of Melissa Casias, a Los Alamos National Laboratory worker who had been missing since June 26, 2025, after failing to show up to work. On the morning of her disappearance, she visited her daughter and returned home to retrieve her work ID badge. She was last seen walking alone along State Road 518 later that day, having left her purse and factory-reset cellphones at her house.
“We confirm that the remains found in Rio Chiquito are Melissa. There will be more information to come but what we can tell you now is she was located in an area previously searched. This is a lot to process, our hearts are heavy and we fully intend to continue to pursue answers for justice,” read a statement from Casias’ family.
Casias, who worked as an administrative assistant at LANL, became part of a bigger swirl of speculation over scientists and lab-linked employees who vanished or died under “unclear” circumstances — a trend that eventually triggered President Donald Trump’s attention and a House Oversight Committee investigation.
The House Oversight committee sent a letter dated to April 20th to FBI Director Kash Patel, stating it was investigating unconfirmed public reporting that individuals connected to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology had died or vanished in recent years.
“Public reports raise questions about a possible sinister connection between a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances which began in 2023,” wrote House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Representative Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) in a release seeking information from federal agencies.
The committee’s release cited the reported cases of two LANL workers, two individuals affiliated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, an MIT scientist working in nuclear fusion and a pharmaceutical researcher and a government contractor working at a nuclear weapons component production facility.
At least 10 scientists or staff members working in U.S. nuclear or space technology have also died or gone missing over the past 33 months. Missing persons include government contractor Steven Garcia, retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland and LANL employee Anthony Chavez.
According to the New Mexico State Police (NMSP), the investigation into Casias’ cause of death is still ongoing. In a public release, the agency wrote, “The New Mexico State Police extend their deepest condolences to the Casias and Mondragon families during this difficult time.”
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