The mystery surrounding missing and deceased scientists linked to U.S. nuclear programs continues as New Mexico State Police identified the remains of Melissa Casias, 54, a former employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Casias was reported missing June 25, 2025, after failing to return home following a visit to her daughter at work. Her family discovered that her purse, identification, and cellphones had been left behind. On Saturday, a hiker found her remains in the Carson National Forest near McGaffey Ridge, with a handgun nearby.

The Office of the Medical Investigator confirmed the remains as those of Casias and is conducting further anthropological examination. The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined by police.

Casias worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which serves as a research institute for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration—the organization responsible for creating the first atomic bomb in history. Her disappearance became part of a broader pattern of unexplained incidents involving scientists and employees connected to U.S. nuclear programs that prompted President Donald Trump’s attention and an investigation by the House Oversight Committee.

The cases include Anthony Chavez, 79, a former Los Alamos employee who vanished on May 4, 2025; Steven Garcia, a government contractor in Albuquerque who disappeared August 28, 2025; Michael David Hicks, a NASA scientist who died July 30, 2023; Frank Maiwald, a space research specialist who died June 2024; Monica Reza, an aerospace engineer who disappeared June 2025; and William Neil McCasland, a retired Air Force major general missing since February 27, 2025.

The FBI has become involved in the search for McCasland, who previously led the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.