President Donald Trump has been updated on an unsettling series of incidents involving scientists who have either gone missing or been found dead, with the count now reaching ten.
Upon his arrival at the White House on Thursday, the president addressed the concerning matter. Reporters, including those from FOX News, pressed him on whether these cases were isolated incidents or perhaps linked in some way.
“I hope it’s random, but we should have more clarity in about a week and a half,” Trump remarked. “I just attended a briefing on the issue, and it’s quite serious. Hopefully, it’s just a coincidence… but some of those involved were key figures, and we’ll be investigating further.”
The scientists in question, associated with NASA, nuclear research, aerospace, and classified initiatives, have drawn scrutiny since 2023.
Among them were researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, who had access to sensitive data concerning space exploration, nuclear advancements, and sophisticated defense systems, fueling theories about potential ties between the incidents.
The president’s statements follow a Wednesday briefing at the White House, where Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was also asked about the ten people linked to space or nuclear secrets who have mysteriously died or vanished without a trace.
‘I haven’t spoken to our relevant agencies about it. I will certainly do that and will get you an answer,’ said Leavitt.
‘If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into. So let me do that for you,’ Leavitt continued.
William Neil McCasland, 68, and Monica Reza, 60, were connected through the Air Force Research Laboratory and projects involving advanced missile and rocket technology
This disturbing pattern started when retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland vanished on February 27.
He was last seen leaving his New Mexico home without his phone, wearable devices or glasses less than two months ago. He was only carrying a pistol and his wife told 911 dispatchers that it appeared he was trying ‘not to be found.’
The strange circumstances surrounding the general’s disappearance were almost identical to four other missing person cases taking place between May and August 2025 in the Southwest.
Concerningly, all four have been tied to McCasland through his work overseeing the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which has been rumored to study extraterrestrial technology since the 1947 Roswell UFO crash.
While at Wright-Patterson, McCasland oversaw and reportedly approved the funding for scientist Monica Jacinto Reza’s work on a space-age metal for rocket engines called Mondaloy.
Reza, 60, disappeared while hiking with friends in California on June 22, 2025. She had just become the director of the Materials Processing Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The three other disappearances all involved workers at some of America’s most important nuclear facilities, and all three were last seen walking out of their homes without their phones or keys, just like McCasland.
Steven Garcia, 48, vanished without a trace on August 28, 2025. He was last seen leaving his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on foot, carrying only a handgun.
The president addressed the alarming situation after landing at the White House on Thursday, where he was met by reporters and questioned by FOX News about whether the disappearances and deaths were random or potentially connected
Steven Garcia (Pictured) was last seen on August 28, 2025. A source has revealed to the Daily Mail that Garcia worked as a government contractor at a key nuclear weapons facility
Monica Jacinto Reza, 60, was last seen hiking in the rugged San Gabriel Wilderness area within the Angeles National Forest on the trail to Waterman Mountain summit on June 22 last year
An anonymous source told the Daily Mail that Garcia was a government contractor working for the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), a major facility in Albuquerque that manufactures more than 80 percent of all the non-nuclear components that go into building the military’s nuclear weapons.
Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casias both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one of the nation’s most important nuclear research sites.
Chavez, 79, worked at the lab until his retirement in 2017, although his role there has not been made clear. Casias, 54, was an active administrative assistant at the facility and is believed to have had top security clearance.
Anthony Chavez (Left) and Melissa Casias (Right) were both employees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both disappeared within weeks of each other in 2025
All three were last seen leaving their homes in New Mexico on foot, leaving behind their cars, keys, wallets and phones before disappearing without a trace. Police have not had any updates in the cases since last year.
In addition to the string of disappearances, five scientists in key areas of research have died over the last three years, including two who were murdered in their own homes.
Nuclear physicist Nuno Loureiro and Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair were both shot to death in their homes in recent months.
Independent investigators have noted that Loureiro’s revolutionary work in nuclear fusion may have made him a target of a greater conspiracy against US scientists, as his work may one day upend the energy industry.
Scientists Nuno Loureiro (left) and Carl Grillmair (right) were both murdered in their own homes after making significant progress in the fields of nuclear fusion and astrophysics
Jason Thomas was found dead after being pulled from a Massachusetts lake on March 17. He had been missing since December 12
Grillmair’s work with NASA’s NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor has also been linked to the Air Force, as the telescopes used the same systems the military relies on to track satellites and missiles.
Meanwhile, NASA scientists Michael David Hicks and Frank Maiwald, who also worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab, died from unknown circumstances at an early age.
Maiwald, 61, was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds just 13 months before he died in 2024.
Hicks, who passed away just a year after leaving JPL at age 59, had been involved with the DART Project, NASA’s test to see if humans could deflect dangerous asteroids away from Earth.
NASA’s JPL has not commented on the deaths of Maiwald or Hicks, and did not reply to the Daily Mail’s inquiries into the nature of the scientists’ work before their deaths.
In another mysterious incident, Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, was found dead in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026, after disappearing without a trace in December 2025. Local police have claimed there was no foul play suspected.
