11 scientists have gone missing from 2022 to 2026. Speculation and conspiracies have grown online as until recently, the FBI and National Security Agency has opened an investigation into these disappearances/murders.
Four consecutive years of eleven missing/dead scientists has sparked an investigation to see if these cases are linked. Here is a timeline to breakdown the order of events.
Timeline
(1) Amy Eskridge (June 11th, 2022)
On June 11, 2022 in Alabama, Eskridge, 34, was found dead in her home. Reports ruled her death by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She co-founded and worked as the Chairwomen and President of The Institute for Exotic Science in Huntsville, Alabama. She was researching anti-gravity technology at the time of her death. Eskridge graduated from the University of Alabama as a double major in biology and chemistry. She went on to master chemistry, physics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology.
Leading up to her death, reports of Eskridge messages with a close friend, Sam Reid (CEO of Geometric Energy Corporation) was shared. In these messages, there were mentions of her claiming she is not suicidal. She also shared her suspicions of her phone being hacked. Other videos have platformed online of her discussing a feeling of being watched, while reporting people have broken into her home when no one is home. There was also mentions of harassment and threats made against her.
People believe her death is suspicious but Amy Eskridge’s family does not believe her death has a link to the other missing/dead scientists.
(2) Michael David-Hicks (July 30th, 2023)
On July 30, 2023 in Sunland, California, Michael David Hicks, 59, died with no official cause of death being publicly released. There was no mention of suicide or murder, yet signs show alcoholism could’ve been involved due to donations being asked to be sent to Alcoholic Anonymous. Hicks worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, specializing in comets and asteroids for over 24 years. He notably worked on the Dart Project, a program that researched on how to intercept and divert asteroids heading towards Earth, the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) Project, and NASA Deep Space 1 Mission. He got his PHD in Lunar and Planetary Science from University of Arizona and published over 8 scientific papers.
His daughter, Julia Hicks, believes there is no link between her father’s death and the investigation.
(3) Frank Werner Maiwald (July 4th, 2024)
On July 4th 2024 in Los Angeles, California, Maiwald, 61, was announced dead with no cause of death made public. He also worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. He worked as a principal researcher and worked on space instrumentation systems like telescopes, and observation of deep space. Maiwald contributed to projects like COWVR, Jason 3, and HIFI. He has received numerous awards for his research from JPL and NASA.
(4) Anthony Chavez (May 4th, 2025)
On May 4, 2025 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Chavez, 78, went missing after he vanished from his home on foot. He left behind his wallet, keys, car, and cigarettes at home. There were no signs of foul play.
Chavez was a research and developed engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was involved in highly secretive and classified research. He worked at the radiographic hydrodynamic test facility, which involves nuclear weapon research. He was retired for 13 years at the time of his disappearance.
Chavez’s friend, Carl Buckland, is optomist about the case of Chavez being relooked at.
(5) Monica Reza (June 22nd, 2025)
On June 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California, Reza, 60, was on a hike at the Angeles National Forest with a friend. Her friend looked behind to look for Reza after she was about 30 feet away from them for only a few minutes, but Reza was no where to be seen. Despite a large and lengthy search with helicopters and scent dogs, there has been no trace of Reza found, except the hat she was wearing that day. There, the scent of her stopped abruptly. The odd thing is she was familiar with this hiking trial as she has done it numerous times with friends.
Reza co-invented Mondaloy, a nickel-based alloy, which is used in rocket engines at Rocketdyne. This ended the United States dependence on Russian rockets. This project was overseen by William McCasland (a scientist that also went missing), at the Kirtland Air Force Base. Reza went onto to work in the NASA’s JPL, same one as Maiwalds and Hicks. There, she worked as the Director of Materials Processing.
(6) Melissa Casias (June 26th 2025)
Four days after Monica Reza went missing, Casias, 53, was also reported missing in Taos, New Mexico. She dropped off her husband at work, Los Alamos National Laboratory, like she normally did. She returned home and told her daughter she was back because she forgot her badge. After she left the house, she never returned with the car for her husband and never showed up to work (Los Alamos National Laboratory). No one was able to get into touch with her and was last sighted walking eastbound on NM 518 from Talpa, New Mexico towards Pot Creek. At the time of her disappearance, all of her belongings were found at home. This included her purse, full-factory reset phones, and keys. Despite a huge search for Casias, she has never been found.
Casias was an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where Anthony Chavez worked. Her work phone was wiped clean at the time of her disappearance, adding further confusion. The information on her phone would’ve contained classified information.
Monica’s husband believes she left at her own free will but her parents and siblings believe something way worse caused her to disappear.
(7) Steven Garcia (August 28th, 2025)
On August 28, 2025, Garcia, 48, disappeared after leaving his home on foot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was two days before his birthday. He left his phone, keys, and wallet at home. He only had a handgun (.38-caliber revolver) on his person, having authorities declare he was a “danger to himself”. Garcia has not been found since then nor have any traces of life.
Garcia worked as a property custodian for the Kansas City National Security Campus, which plays a role in national defense for the United States. This position had top clearance to areas that produced a large majority of non-nuclear components that get sent to be built into nuclear military weapons. This facility (KSNSC) also works often with the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
(8) Nuno Loureiro (December 16th, 2025)
On December 16, 2025, Loureiro, 47, was shot in the front of his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. A man rung the doorbell of Loureiro’s residence at 8:30 pm. When he went to answer the door, a man was holding a package. His daughter reported hearing 3 to 4 gunshots and finding her father shot in the chest, abdomen, and both legs. He died the next morning from his injuries. It was discovered to be a targeted shooting by Claudio Manuel Neves Valente (also was the identified suspect of the Brown University shooting). He was connected to Loureiro as they attended the same university program in Portugal. He has planned both attacks for around six months.
Loureiro was a professor of nuclear science and enginerring, physics, and Director of Plasma Science and Fusion Center at MIT. He also was a co-editor of the Journal of Plasma Physics.
(9) Carl Grillmair (February 16th, 2026)
On February 16, 2026, Grillmair, 67, was shot outside of his home in New Mexico Two days after his death, a 29 year-old was arrested for his murder. The two men did not know each other, but the suspect had previously entered Grillmair’s property with a rifle. Th
Grillmair was a Caltech astrophysicist with more than four decades of research about galactic astronomy. He was worked in Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, which works close with NASA and the United States National Science Foundation. His works focused on the Milky-Way structure and trying to figure out how galaxies form. At his time of death, he was focusing on comets and asteroids that would oppose a threat to hitting Earth.
(10) William Neil McCasland (Feb 27th, 2026)
On February 27, 2026, McCasland, 68, left his home in home on foot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He left with only his wallet and hand gun on him. He left behind his glasses, phone, and keys behind. He was never seen again after heading towards the desert terrain of the Sandia Mountains foothills.
McCasland was a retired air force general that attended the U.S Air Force Academy with a degree in astronautical engineering. He worked in the Payload Systems Division (work on satellite defense) with the Secretary of the Air Forces) Special Projects (responsible for top secret space mission, deep black program territory), a highly classified division of the Air Force in Los Angeles. He was pulled out of his aerospace data facility and trained at an elite military schools to become a senior leader in classified information. He then took command over satellite spy systems.
When he went missing, McCasland was still involved in his works connected to the United States and government military. He became the director of technology at Applied Technology Associates in New Mexico, defense contractors for depart of defense/military. He was actively working on technology and research with the military and U.S. government, from a private sector.
McCasland’s name popped up in discussion of UFOs after wikileak documents mentioned his role in sensitive programs. McCasland went missing days after Trump unclassiffied UFO documents.
(11) Jason Thomas (March 17th, 2026)
On March 17, 2026, Thomas, 45, was found dead in Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He went missing on December 12th, 2025 after walking away from his home at night in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He left his phone and wallet at home, while finding his Apple watch in the mailbox of their house. He was found three months later after the lake thawed. No foul play is suspected.
Thomas was an assistant director of chemical biology at Novartis. Novartis has ties to NASA in researching muscle atrophy and bone loss in microgravity. He also had connections to DOD contracts, agreements between the U.S. Department of Defense and private entities to purchase goods or research.
Connections Between Scientists
- Michael David Hicks, Frank Maiwald, and Monica Reza all worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). They were involved in space research with Hicks and Maiwald working on asteroid-related projects and space observations.
- Anthony Chavez, Melissa Casias, and Steven Garcia are connected to Los Alamos National Laboratory and nuclear weapons. Chavez and Casias worked at Los Alamos while Garcia worked at a facility (Kansas City National Security Campus) that worked close with Los Alamos.
- Anthony Chavez, Melissa Casias, Steven Garcia, Carl Grillmair, and William McCasland are tied to New Mexico. Many tied to Los Alamos, defense/classified research, and space/nuclear weapon research.
- Anthony Chavez, Steven Garcia, William McCasland, and Jason Thomas are connected to U.S. defense systems, military technology, and classified information.
- Micheal David Hicks, Frank Maiwald, Monica Reza, Carl Grillmair, William McCasland, and Nuno Loureiro are all tied to focusing on space, aerospace, and astrophysics.
- Monica Reza’s alloy project (Monaloy) was overseen by William McCasland at Kirktland Air Force Base.
- Kirktland Air Force Base has ties to Los Alamos National Labratory and NASA, which most of the scientists have connects to.
- Anthony Chavez, Steven Garcia, William McCasland, and Jason Thomas left home on foot and left behind important personal objects, like their phone, wallet, keys.
The Answer?
While there are individuals that have connections to institutions like Los Alamos National Laboratory, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Kirktland Air Force Base, there are no official confirmed linked between the cases yet. The connection between aerospace and national defense has also not been confirmed. NASA has agreed to comply in the investigation set up by the FBI and Nation Security Agency. Investigators are focusing on the evidence and will determine if any of these 11 cases are connected.