Mystery deepens as one of 11 missing US scientists found dead in National Forest

LANL was founded during World War II by the Manhattan Project

Geo News Digital Desk

Published June 03, 2026

Mystery deepens as one of 11 missing US scientists found dead in National Forest

One of the 11 nuclear and UFO-linked missing U.S. scientists has been found dead almost one year after she went missing under bizarre circumstances.

Melissa Casias, 54, was a nuclear lab employee when she vanished without a trace in June 2025; however, her body has now been recovered in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest by New Mexico State Police.

According to police a hiker discovered her body alongside a handgun. Casias’s cause and time of death has yet to be determined by the City’s office of medical investigator.

Her disappearance under mysterious circumstances raised widespread alarms as she was serving in the famed Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

For context, LANL was founded during World War II by the Manhattan Project and it was linked to nuclear weapons research.

Her body’s presence in the Ridge area also marks an interesting turn in the case as it is part of the U.S. Forest Service restoration projects and crews have been working there non-stop since December 2025.

Police say that the matter is under investigation, adding that it could take days to determine the origin of the handgun found near Casias’s body.

Reports suggest that the late-administrative assistant dropped her husband to work at LANL and visited daughter to deliver a sandwich before going missing.

Casias told her husband that she forgot the badge and needed to return home; however, when her husband, Mark, returned home they found the badge and personal phone wiped clean with no traces of Casias.

Three other individuals in New Mexico with a connection to U.S. nuclear facilities disappeared under identical circumstances over the last year.

Following are the ten high-profile deaths and disappearances that have raised concerns: