The body of a missing nuclear lab worker who vanished last year has been found in a national forest in New Mexico, with grisly new details emerging about the circumstances of her death. Melissa Casias, 54, was discovered in a remote area of Carson National Forest on Monday, local authorities confirmed. Her remains were reportedly skeletonised with a gunshot injury to her skull.
Discovery of the Body
Thomas McNally, a former homicide detective hired by Casias' family to investigate her disappearance, told The Daily Mail that her corpse was propped against a tree with an abandoned gun nearby. He noted that despite being left to decompose in the forest, the body showed no signs of animal activity or disturbance. McNally firmly believes foul play was involved in Casias' death and hinted that her devastated family plans to file a civil lawsuit against the New Mexico State Police for allegedly mishandling the case.
Background of the Victim
Casias worked as an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was established during World War II for the Manhattan Project and has since been closely tied to US nuclear weapons research. She was last seen on June 26, 2025. On the day she disappeared, the married mother wiped all records from her phones, left them and her identification behind, and walked out of her home in Ranchos de Taos, a remote community about 112 kilometers northeast of Santa Fe.
Events on the Day of Disappearance
Casias dropped her husband, Mark, another Los Alamos employee, at the facility before claiming she had forgotten her badge and needed to return home. McNally told the outlet that the couple argued over a vape pen during the commute. The couple's daughter, Sierra, 19, told police that Casias did return home, dropped off a sandwich, and said she planned to work from home. Sierra described her mother as appearing normal and not acting strangely. Casias was last seen walking alone eastward on State Road 518, about 5 kilometers from her home, around 2:20 p.m. local time.
Investigation and Theories
McNally surmised that Casias was fleeing someone when she disappeared. During the investigation, her husband alleged that Casias was running around with a boyfriend, which police reportedly believed. The case is one of several involving individuals linked to US defense and nuclear programs who have gone missing or died suddenly in recent years.
Other Missing Individuals
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 and 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 at a major facility in Albuquerque, disappeared after walking out of his home on August 28, 2025, carrying only a handgun and no identification. Retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, 68, has not been seen since leaving his home in Albuquerque on February 27. The FBI is now involved in the search for McCasland, who had deep knowledge of UFOs and was involved in some of the Pentagon's most advanced aerospace research. He also once headed the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
