Melissa Casias, a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee missing since June 2025, was found dead in Carson National Forest in New Mexico, police said.
New Mexico State Police said a hiker found human remains and a handgun on May 28 in the McGaffey Ridge area. Investigators later identified the remains as Casias through the Office of the Medical Investigator.
Casias, 53, disappeared after she failed to arrive at work and did not return home after visiting her daughter, according to police. Local reports said she had earlier dropped her husband off at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a major U.S. nuclear research facility.
Police said the Office of the Medical Investigator will determine the cause and manner of death. Authorities have not confirmed when Casias died or whether the handgun was connected to her death.
Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer joins @EVargasTV to discuss the remains of Los Alamos National Laboratory staffer Melissa Casias being found in New Mexico. MORE: https://t.co/QsUomNddV0 pic.twitter.com/13RPjH6hgF
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) June 2, 2026The case drew wider attention because Casias worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which has historic links to U.S. nuclear weapons research. Some media reports have also linked her case to other deaths and disappearances involving people connected to nuclear, defence or scientific work.
However, police have not confirmed a broader link between those cases. The investigation into Casias’s death remains active.
