NASA nuclear engineer found dead in burned Tesla after vanishing from his Alabama home last year | 23 April 2026 | A NASA nuclear scientist died after a fiery crash in a rural Alabama town last year, which at the time caused suspicion among family members. Joshua LeBlanc, 29, died in a fiery crash in his Tesla on July 22, 2025. The crash happened in Huntsville, Alabama where his Tesla was found burned beyond recognition at about 2:45 in the afternoon, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency told Fox News Digital. At 4:32 a.m. on the same day, LeBlanc’s family reported him missing, according to KLFY. He uncharacteristically failed to show up to his job as an aerospace technologies electrical engineer at NASA, where he worked on nuclear propulsion projects.