Missing scientist found dead after 11 months took two shocking items with her that cast doubt on suicide theory | 23 June 2026 | The case of a missing nuclear lab employee who was found dead nearly a year after vanishing has taken a troubling turn, with new details raising questions about the suicide theory. Melissa Casias, 53, a former administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), disappeared from her home in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, on June 26, 2025. Her skeletal remains, along with a reported gunshot wound to the head, were discovered in New Mexico’s Carson National Forest on May 28, lying next to a handgun that her family insists did not belong to the wife and mother. Now, new details about her final moments have been released, revealing Casias took her toothbrush and thyroid medication before walking out the door of her Ranchos de Taos home for the last time. Los Angeles Magazine contributor Lauren Conlin, who has been following Casias’s case closely and first reported on the items, told NewsNation that they are “things that might indicate you’re planning to stay alive.” Morgan Wright, founder and CEO of the National Center for Open and Unsolved Cases, also said that there are key aspects of Casias’s disappearance and the discovery of her remains that do not add up.