Administration

Who are the missing or dead scientists with connections to government research?

Comments:

by Steph Whiteside - 04/18/26 2:54 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Steph Whiteside - 04/18/26 2:54 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

(NewsNation) — Ten scientists have died or disappeared, all with links to the nation’s nuclear programs, raising questions about possible connections.

On Thursday, President Trump said he was in a meeting about the cases and expects to know more in a week and a half. He expressed hope the links between the cases were just a coincidence.

Here’s what we know about the wave of scientists who have died or disappeared.

Steven Garcia

Steven Garcia, a 48-year-old government contractor, was last seen leaving his home in Albuquerque on Aug. 28, 2025. He was on foot and carrying a handgun, with police reportedly warning he may have been a danger to himself.

Garcia worked as a property custodian at the Kansas City National Security Campus, which manufactures nonnuclear components for nuclear weapons.

He had a top security clearance at the facility, which would allow him wide access.

Frank Maiwald

A researcher with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Frank Maiwald, died on July 4, 2024, at 61, in Los Angeles.

According to Maiwald’s obituary, he specialized in space research.

“Frank managed the development of the SBG-VSWIR instrument and had previously overseen the successful delivery of two instruments for the AMR-C program,” the obituary said. “His roles included serving as a technical group supervisor and contributing to various significant projects such as AMR/SWOT, COWVR, AMR/Jason 3, and HIFI.”

No public cause of death has been provided.

Carl Grillmair

On Feb. 16, Carl Grillmair was shot to death on his front porch. He was an astrophysicist at Caltech who collaborated with NASA and found water around exoplanets.

Grillmair was known for his work on collisions of galaxies and his search for water outside our solar system.

There is no clear motive for his death. Detectives arrested Freddy Snyder later that day for carjacking and connected him to Grillmair’s death.

Although detectives believe the two men didn’t know each other, Snyder had been arrested in December for trespassing on Grillmair’s property while carrying a rifle.

Michael David Hicks

Michael David Hicks died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. Also a physicist with JPL, he specialized in comets and asteroids.

He worked on major space missions, including NASA’s Dart Project, which tested whether asteroids could be deflected.

“Michael’s passion for science was coupled with a deep appreciation of art. He pursued projects in visual media, from woodblock prints to oil painting to metalwork, and he played the ukulele,” his obituary stated.

His cause of death has not been disclosed.

William Neil McCasland

A retired Air Force general, William Neil McCasland, disappeared on Feb. 26, 2026, after leaving his New Mexico home.

Rumors about McCasland’s connections to alleged UFO programs sparked questions about his missing case and his possible connections to other scientists on this list.

During his tenure in the Air Force, McCasland oversaw classified space weapons programs and was head of research at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, Coulthart notes. That facility has long been rumored to house fragments of extraterrestrial debris from Roswell, N.M.

Monica Jacinto Reza

Monica Jacinto Reza, a former colleague of McCasland, was another JPL employee who disappeared on June 22, 2025, while on a hike.

Reza was last seen hiking in the Los Angeles forest with a companion. Police say Reza was about 30 feet behind the person she was with, smiling and waving. When the person turned back around, she was gone. Rescue teams searched for days, but her body was never recovered.

Reza was an aerospace engineer who worked on burn-resistant and high-strength metal alloys. She also had connections to the Wright Patterson Air Force base.

Melissa Casias

Melissa Casias disappeared from her home on June 26, 2025. Casias was an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

She forgot her work badge and decided to work from home that day. She took her daughter to lunch, then disappeared.

Casias was last seen walking alongside a highway without her phone, wallet or keys.

Anthony Chavez

Former Los Alamos employee Anthony Chavez disappeared on May 4, 2025. He was last seen leaving his home on foot.

“Officers have conducted thorough searches of known residences, hiked local trails, distributed flyers to businesses, reviewed hours of surveillance footage, and diligently followed up on every tip received,” the Los Alamos government said in May 2025.

Nuno Loureiro

Nuclear physicist and MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was shot to death at his home on Dec. 15, 2025.

The shootin