First missing scientist is found dead a year after vanishing as bizarre circumstances of her death are revealed | 1 June 2026 | The body of a missing nuclear lab employee has been discovered, 11 months after she mysteriously walked out of her home and vanished without a trace. New Mexico State Police announced that they positively identified the remains of Melissa Casias, 54, who was last seen alive on June 26, 2025. Her body was found in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest, approximately six miles from the last place Casias was seen walking before being declared missing. Police said a hiker in the forest made the discovery and that a handgun was found alongside the body. Casias was an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Her disappearance has been linked to a string of deaths and missing person cases involving U.S. scientists and government employees who worked at highly secretive facilities and allegedly had knowledge of sensitive topics tied to national security. The circumstances surrounding Casias’s case were even more disturbing, as the wife and mother wiped all records from her phones before leaving them and her identification behind and walking out of her home in Ranchos de Taos last June.