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Missing US scientist’s body found ‘skeletonized’ with gunshot wound
Posted on 6/4/26 at 11:58 am
Posted on 6/4/26 at 11:58 am
LINK
quote:
The body of a missing nuclear lab worker who vanished last year was reportedly found “skeletonized” with a gunshot to her skull in a national forest in New Mexico.
Melissa Casias’ decaying body was found in a remote part of the Carson National Forest on Monday, according to local authorities. Casias, 54, was last seen on June 26, 2025.
The investigator firmly believes that foul play was involved in Casias’ death — and hinted that her devastated family will file a civil lawsuit against the New Mexico State Police for purportedly botching the case.
Casias worked as an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was created during World War II for the groundbreaking Manhattan Project and has been closely tied to US nuclear weapons research ever since.
On the day she disappeared, the married mother wiped all records from her phones before leaving them and her identification behind and walking out of her home in Ranchos de Taos, a remote community some 70 miles northeast of Santa Fe.
Casias is just one of several people with links to US defense and nuclear programs who have gone missing — or died suddenly — in recent years.
Former Los Alamos employee Anthony Chavez, 79, vanished without a trace after leaving his home on foot on May 4, 2025, just seven weeks before Casias.
Monica Reza, 60, an aerospace engineer who served as the director of the NASA Lab’s Materials Processing Group, disappeared while hiking in a Los Angeles forest in June 2025.
Steven Garcia, a government contractor working for a major facility in Albuquerque, also disappeared after walking out of his home on Aug. 28, 2025, carrying only a handgun and no identification.
And retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, 68, hasn’t been seen since leaving his home in Albuquerque on Feb. 27. The FBI is now involved in the search for McCasland, who had deep knowledge on UFOs and was involved in some of the Pentagon’s most advanced aerospace research.
He also once headed up the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
11
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:05 pm to LSUDVM1999
quote:
skeletonized
So they found some bones?
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:08 pm to LSUDVM1999
Casias left behind her purse, ID, and phone, with her phone being completely wiped and walked away on foot is behavior often associated with individuals who intend to disappear by choice or end their own life. If the recovered handgun is legally registered to her or her family, it heavily leans toward this theory.
Her background at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and her access to sensitive information, is an issue that she may have been murdered. Her family specified that her body was found in an area of the forest that had already been searched during the initial wave of rescue efforts in 2025, raising questions about whether her body was moved there later after being shot.
Her background at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and her access to sensitive information, is an issue that she may have been murdered. Her family specified that her body was found in an area of the forest that had already been searched during the initial wave of rescue efforts in 2025, raising questions about whether her body was moved there later after being shot.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:10 pm to Breauxsif
That is pretty crazy
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:13 pm to LSUDVM1999
quote:
Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, 68, hasn’t been seen since leaving his home in Albuquerque on Feb. 27
Wasn't this the guy who had dementia or something similar and wandered away?
Sad story.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:16 pm to LSUDVM1999
What exactly does it mean for a corpse to be skeletonized?
The flesh is gone, like normal body decay?
The flesh is gone, like normal body decay?
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:17 pm to Breauxsif
quote:
Her family specified that her body was found in an area of the forest that had already been searched during the initial wave of rescue efforts in 2025, raising questions about whether her body was moved there later after being shot.
Aside from the fact that that area was already searched, this bit makes me really question if her body has been there for a year:
quote:
Thomas McNally, a former homicide detective who was investigating Casias’ disappearance for her family, told the Daily Mail that the mom of one’s “skeletonized” corpse was propped up against a tree — with a gun lying nearby.
McNally said Casias’ body didn’t show any signs of animal activity or disturbance, despite being left to rot in the forest.
That alone is almost impossible.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:22 pm to LSUDVM1999
quote:
Casias is just one of several people with links to US defense and nuclear programs who have gone missing — or died suddenly — in recent years.
Uhh- this ain't it. This chick set out to end her own life and did so. The amount of conspiracy people out there is a little insane.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:22 pm to Sl0thstronautEsq
So it's a "suicide" with 2 shots or something like that
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:23 pm to LSUDVM1999
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:25 pm to LSUDVM1999
Thread title calls her scientist, article says she is an administrative assistant.
She’s a fricking secretary and no one is killing her for nefarious reasons related to her job lol
She’s a fricking secretary and no one is killing her for nefarious reasons related to her job lol
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:25 pm to Sl0thstronautEsq
quote:
That alone is almost impossible.
I would think that depends on the area. The German tourists were found nearly undisturbed because there were no large animals in the area.
Desert area or scrubland may not have significant scavenger animal activity.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:26 pm to LSUDVM1999
Isn't she like the 3rd scientist to just walk away from their house with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and a pistol?
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:26 pm to Everclear2000
If it was just her, sure. The pattern is really fricking weird.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:31 pm to junkfunky
quote:
Isn't she like the 3rd scientist to just walk away from their house with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and a pistol?
Third person in a three state area loosely associated with government work.
I don't know a lot about suicides but I don't think people pack a lunch and bring their belongings when they decide to go off themselves.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:36 pm to fightin tigers
quote:
I would think that depends on the area.
Right, but in Carson National Forest, it'd be almost impossible.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:40 pm to VinegarStrokes
quote:
Thread title calls her scientist, article says she is an administrative assistant.
She’s a fricking secretary and no one is killing her for nefarious reasons related to her job
Secretaries know everything that goes on in a workplace. Those physicists aren't typing up their own reports.
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:42 pm to LSUDVM1999
Sold secrets and then got "paid" so she didn't talk
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:45 pm to forkedintheroad
Forest animals will eat what they can find
Posted on 6/4/26 at 12:45 pm to LSUDVM1999
Your government killed every one of these people.
BOOK IT.
BOOK IT.
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