READ: First Missing Lab Worker Found Dead After Vanishing in String of Scientist Disappearances
Authorities in New Mexico have identified human remains found in Carson National Forest as those of Melissa Casias, a 54-year-old Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who disappeared in June 2025.
New Mexico State Police said Casias was found in the McGaffey Ridge area, roughly six miles from where she was last seen walking alone near State Road 518. A hiker discovered the remains, and investigators reported that a handgun was located nearby. Officials have not yet determined Casias’s cause or time of death, which remains under review by the state Office of the Medical Investigator.
Casias worked as an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the historic nuclear research facility tied to the Manhattan Project and ongoing national security work. Her disappearance attracted attention because of its unusual circumstances and because several other people connected to sensitive government or scientific facilities have also gone missing in New Mexico.
On the morning she vanished, Casias reportedly drove her husband, Mark, also a Los Alamos employee, to work. She later told family members she had forgotten her work badge and planned to return home. According to relatives, however, she left behind both her personal and work phones, which had apparently been factory reset, along with her identification. Surveillance footage later showed her walking alone east of her home in Ranchos de Taos.
The area where Casias was discovered is part of a large forest restoration project approved in 2023, with crews reportedly active in the broader region since late 2025. Investigators are still examining the scene and attempting to trace the handgun found near the body.
Casias’s case has been discussed alongside other disappearances involving people with alleged ties to nuclear or national security work, including retired Los Alamos employee Anthony Chavez, contractor Steven Garcia, retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland, and NASA scientist Monica Reza. Federal authorities have reportedly been asked to review the broader pattern, though no public findings have established that the cases are connected.
For now, officials have confirmed only Casias’s identity and the location of her remains. The central questions surrounding her final movements, the wiped phones, the gun, and whether foul play was involved remain unanswered.
