Employees at top secret government labs have suddenly disappeared without a trace across the US, leaving many questioning how and why it has happened.
The circumstances in certain cases have been eerily similar, with three people who all worked in New Mexico suddenly leaving their houses on foot without taking wallets, IDs or essentials with them. A fourth person, an aerospace engineer in California, disappeared on a hiking trail, feet away from her friends.
One common thread links their work — a retired US Air Force Major General who also left his home on foot on the morning of Feb. 27 with little more than a handgun, and has not been seen again.
Unfounded theories have linked up to 11 disappearances of those working on sensitive government projects together. However, The Post has found that while there are truly eerie and bizarre circumstances in each, the cases are not alike.
Here is the evidence we have gathered:
The General
Retired US Air Force Major General William “Neil” McCasland served in senior Pentagon roles involving nuclear science, space research and defense initiatives.
He had commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at New Mexico’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — where wreckage from the 1947 Roswell crash was purportedly shipped.
Described as an experienced hiker and outdoorsman, on Feb. 27 McCasland, 68, interacted with a repairman at his Albuquerque home around 10 a.m. His wife, Susan Wilkerson, left for a doctor’s appointment at 11:10 a.m. and when she returned at 12:04 p.m. he was gone.
In a chilling 911 call made three hours after her McCasland vanished, Wilkerson told dispatchers she feared her husband “planned not to be found.”
“My husband is missing … I have some indication that he must have planned not to be found,” she said in released audio of the call. “I think he’s on foot. All of our cars and bicycles are in the garage.”
McCasland left his phone, electronics and prescription glasses behind and is believed to have taken his wallet, hiking boots, and a .38-caliber revolver.
A gray US Air Force sweatshirt was found a mile east of McCasland’s home, but authorities have not confirmed if it belonged to the general.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) of the House Oversight Committee revealed he had contacted McCasland twice about research into UFOs before the general’s disappearance.
McCasland also appears in the Wikileaks dump of Hillary Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s emails. Former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge was in frequent contact with Podesta regarding UFOs and identified McCasland as his insider source on alien intel.
Leaked calendar notifications showed a meeting scheduled between Podesta, DeLonge and McCasland on Jan. 24, 2016.
In a shock move, a member of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) in New Mexico told The Post the FBI has joined the investigation without being first invited by local cops — a stark break from federal law enforcement protocol.
In March, FBI agents “chose to jump in on” the McCasland disappearance, the BCSO official told The Post.
“I’m not sure why [the FBI] chose to come in on this one, but that was their request,” the source said.
Employees with top security clearance
McCasland oversaw some nuclear research at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where Anthony Chavez, 78, a retired research and development engineer was one of the site’s 15,000 employees.
Chavez was also last seen leaving his home near Los Alamos on foot and was reported missing on May 8, 2025. Chavez also left behind his wallet, keys, and cigarettes with his car parked in the driveway. Cops said there were no signs of foul play or forced entry into his home and he remains missing, despite an extensive search by Los Alamos police, including the use of cadaver dogs.
For the majority of his career, Chavez worked at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility — a critical site for nuclear weapons research. Chavez’s family and associates did not respond to multiple requests from The Post.
Three months after Chavez’s disappearance, government contractor Steven Garcia, 48, also left on foot and disappeared without a trace. Garcia was last seen on Aug. 28 leaving his Albuquerque home around 9 a.m. carrying only a handgun, leaving behind his wallet, phone, keys, and car.
Garcia worked as a property custodian — described in reports as a high-level oversight role with top security clearance — at the Kansas City National Security Campus’s Albuquerque facility, which manufactures over 80% of non-nuclear components for US nuclear weapons and builds nuclear parts for AFRL.
“We do not have any developments or new information to report. The case is still active,” Albuquerque police told The Post.
Missing mother
Los Alamos National Laboratory employee Melissa Casias went missing on June 26, 2025 after she dropped off lunch for her daughter at work earlier that day and told family she would be working from home.
Casias, 53, was last seen on June 26, 2025 around 2:18 p.m. on surveillance footage walking briskly eastbound alone on State Road 518 toward Pot Creek. Her mother said she liked to take early morning walks, but was not known to do so on such a hot summer afternoon.
Casias’ car was left parked outside her home and she also left behind her keys, work cell phone, personal cell phone, wallet and purse. Both phones had been factory-reset.
“The way things happened it does make any sense that someone would have taken her. None of it makes any sense. Melissa would not leave her daughter. They were very close,” Casias’s mother, Joann Mondragon, 78, told The Post from her home in New Mexico.
“We’ve heard nothing for months. They just stopped communicating,” she added of the New Mexico State Police who are handling Casias’ case.
The family stressed Casias had no connection to McCasland and that she was not a scientist.
The family hired retired homicide detective and private investigator Thomas McNally to get to the bottom of the disappearance.
McNally told The Post cops recently recovered a pair of shoes in New Mexico’s Carlson National Forest that match those Casias was last seen wearing. The shoes are currently pending DNA analysis.
After his extensive investigation, McNally and the family members believe someone close to Casias murdered her — and that it had nothing to do with her job.
They told The Post they’re angered by all the media intrigue surrounding the disappearances — but they hope the attention will at least move the case forward.
“She was an administrative assistant who was responsible for purchasing routine office supplies,” McNally, who is currently lobbying New Mexico politicians to have the case changed to a homicide told The Post, dispelling rumors Casias had a top-secret, high-level job.
Aerospace engineer
McCasland also oversaw and funded aerospace engineer Monica Jacinto Reza’s development of a specialized nickel-based “super-alloy” known as Mondaloy for rockets, during his tenure at the AFRL, according to reports.
On a sunny Saturday in June 2025 she was hiking along a paved road wearing a bright red jumper in a well-traveled area of the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles when she disappeared without a trace.
Reza, 60, vanished while walking just steps behind her two hiking companions, a male and a female who have not been identified publicly. Reza works as a high-ranking tech fellow at Aerojet Rocketdyne with connections to projects at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), according to reports.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told The Post a massive hi-tech search effort immediately commenced — but Reza has never been located.
“A command post was established at the time of her disappearance, and assistance was requested from neighboring counties. Search operations included aerial support, scent canines, and ground personnel. Investigators also utilized advanced technology, including thermal imaging and wave-based locating systems, and unmanned aerial systems,” they said.
The LACSD also told The Post they have spoken to law enforcement in “out-of-state jurisdictions” to compare case facts with “other cases similar in nature.”
“The case remains an active missing person investigation. At this time, there are no clear indications of foul play,” the agency added.
