The remains of a national laboratory staffer have been found in New Mexico after the woman’s 2025 disappearance was linked with a larger group of U.S. scientists, government employees and contractors who vanished or died under mysterious circumstances. New Mexico State Police say a hiker found the body of Melissa Casias in Carson National Forest. A handgun was found next to the remains, authorities said. Casias, a 53-year-old administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was last seen June 26, 2025, about 70 miles away in the resort town of Taos, when she met up with her daughter at a mall, family members said previously. Casias reportedly had been working from home that day before heading out by car to take lunch to her daughter. That family member went to the home later and found the woman’s belongings, including her vehicle and her purse, keys, wallet and phones. But Casias was gone. Interest in the woman’s disappearance gained traction earlier this year when observers began noticing what they considered to be a disturbing trend: More than a dozen individuals with ties to national defense or aerospace technologies had either died under violent or mysterious circumstances or vanished altogether. National security is an emphasis at Los Alamos, where Casias worked. In April, President Trump acknowledged the public interest in the cases and said officials were reviewing them.