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President Trump hinted this week that thing sinister whitethorn lurk down the disappearance oregon decease of 10 authorities workers tied to delicate atomic oregon abstraction technology, but those adjacent to the assorted investigations into the disparate cases accidental they spot nary links.
"I conscionable near a gathering connected that subject, truthful beauteous superior stuff," Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday. "Hopefully, coincidence... but immoderate of them were precise important people, and we are going to look astatine it."
Social media has precocious lit up with theories astir the disappearances and deaths, which occurred implicit 3 years and progressive respective researchers and different unit with ties to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Speculation has swirled astir whether there's immoderate benignant of crippled to harm U.S. atomic oregon abstraction programs.
But those progressive successful the assorted cases person said that what underlies these deaths and disappearances is not a spy-thriller plot, but thing much idiosyncratic and tragic.
Retired Major General William Neil McCasland, 68, was last seen astatine his home successful Albuquerque, New Mexico, successful precocious February. His wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, said successful a Facebook station that it "seems rather improbable that helium was taken to extract precise dated secrets from him." Her hubby retired from the Air Force much than 12 years ago.
William Neil McCasland, 68, a retired Air Force large general, has been missing since February. He was past seen astatine his location successful the Albuquerque area.
Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office
McCasland's disappearance has sparked important online speculation astir imaginable connections to classified subject programs and UFOs due to the fact that of his past relation arsenic the commandant of the Air Force Research Laboratory connected the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He's 1 of 4 existent oregon erstwhile employees astatine delicate sites who've gone missing successful New Mexico implicit astir the past year.
As of Thursday evening, a well-placed authorities root told CBS News the FBI was not investigating the disappearances and deaths arsenic portion of a suspicious pattern. Rather, the Department of Energy, which oversees NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, is looking into it.
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson described the contented arsenic a "developing situation."
"The FBI is alert and providing each assistance requested," helium said. "Usually what happens is we are not the pb successful cases similar this unless section authorities request."
In a connection to CBS News, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said the bureau is paying attraction to fears the cases whitethorn beryllium linked.
"NNSA is alert of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter," a spokesperson for NNSA told CBS News.
Current and erstwhile Energy Department officials acknowledged the signifier is "eyebrow raising" and that section unit and its contractors astatine the National Laboratories do so hazard becoming the targets of overseas espionage. But 1 erstwhile staffer said they person seen nary grounds of immoderate nexus successful these cases.
"People bash conscionable die. Strokes, heard disease, suicide, mugging, it happens," the erstwhile DOE authoritative said.
The facilities successful question combined employment much than 20,000 people, galore of whom enactment successful administrative and enactment roles and bash not person entree to concealed information.
"If you connect 'nuclear weapons facility' and immoderate sketchy sounding occupation title, it could conceal however mundane someone's occupation whitethorn be," the erstwhile DOE authoritative said.
File photograph shows the Los Alamos National Laboratory successful Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Jae C. Hong / AP
CBS News interviewed respective vigor information and instrumentality enforcement experts. None saw an evident nexus betwixt the cases.
Joseph Rodgers, the lawman manager of the Project connected Nuclear Issues astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the rumors connecting the cases dependable conspiratorial.
"The deaths and missing persons cases are scattered crossed respective years astatine antithetic and lone loosely affiliated organizations," said Rodgers. "If each of the scientists were moving connected 1 task oregon weapons system, past I'd beryllium much suspicious."
Scott Roecker, vice president for atomic materials information astatine the Nuclear Threat Initiative, who worked connected atomic information issues for the U.S. authorities for much than 15 years, said the existent warfare successful Iran whitethorn origin into people's thinking.
"If you were looking astatine a overseas adversary, Iran mightiness travel to caput due to the fact that of the Iranian atomic scientists who person been assassinated," Roecker said.
"But we're not similar Iran. We person thousands of scientists. We person a robust infrastructure. So determination would beryllium thing strategical Iran could execute by taking retired 10 oregon 20 of our atomic scientists, arsenic tragic arsenic the idiosyncratic deaths mightiness be," Roecker said.
Of the 10 that person garnered speculation online, 1 idiosyncratic disappeared portion hiking successful California, 5 died, and 4 radical ranging from a wide to an administrative staffer went missing successful New Mexico implicit the past year. One of the 5 was an MIT prof killed astatine his doorstep by a erstwhile Portuguese classmate who was aboriginal determined to beryllium the Brown University mass shooter.
New Mexico disappearances
McCasland, the retired general, near location successful February without his phone, immoderate wearable devices oregon his medicine glasses. All helium had with him were a brace of hiking boots, his wallet, and a 38-caliber revolver.
Search and rescue teams led by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and aided by authorities and national agencies deployed drones and K9s successful their efforts to find him. A grey U.S. Air Force sweatshirt recovered a mile and a 4th eastbound of his location was picked up by investigators connected March 7, but different there's seemingly been nary hint of him.
His disappearance sparked swirling speculation online that McCasland was taken against his volition successful portion due to the fact that of his enactment consulting for a non-government radical that was probing the government's UFO files. His woman acknowledged successful the Facebook station that helium had a little relation with a assemblage of radical pushing for the authorities to merchandise files astir UFOs, but she dismissed immoderate conception that his disappearance was connected to that.
"Neil does not person immoderate peculiar cognition astir the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell clang stored astatine Wright-Patt," she wrote successful jest successful the Facebook post, referring to conspiracy theories astir aliens being recovered successful the desert.
"Though astatine this constituent with perfectly nary motion of him, possibly the champion proposal is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership. However, nary sightings of a mothership hovering supra the Sandia Mountains person been reported," she wrote.
The FBI has been assisting section instrumentality enforcement successful the hunt for McCasland, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office.
"Investigators person truthful acold uncovered nary grounds of foul play," according to an authoritative successful Bernalillo County, which includes the Albuquerque metro area. The authoritative added that the probe is ongoing.
A photograph of Steven Abel Garcia from a missing-person poster.
New Mexico Department of Public Safety
Albuquerque country officials are besides searching for 48-year-old Steven Garcia, who disappeared past August. Garcia reportedly worked arsenic a spot custodian for the National Nuclear Security Administration's Kansas City National Security Campus successful Albuquerque.
A mates of hours' thrust northbound of Albuquerque, section constabulary person been investigating the disappearances of 2 employees astatine Los Alamos.
Melissa Casias, 53, worked astatine Los Alamos for years and was past seen walking unsocial connected a road wearing a backpack, according to a household subordinate who has reviewed the surveillance footage.
"Melissa was an administrative adjunct and did not person high-level clearance," said her niece, Jazmin McMillen.
"I'm blessed to spot Melissa's lawsuit getting attraction but I haven't seen immoderate grounds linking her to immoderate of the different cases," said McMillen, who organized household hunt parties and has reviewed aggregate pages of constabulary documents related to the case.
In May of past year, Anthony Chavez, 78, who had besides held a occupation astatine Los Alamos, went missing. Los Alamos constabulary are asking for the public's assistance successful uncovering him.
A California hiker
The disappearance of an accomplished idiosyncratic successful California has garnered astir arsenic overmuch speculation successful media reports arsenic McCasland's successful New Mexico.
Monica Jacinton Reza, a 60-year-old aerospace technologist who worked connected rocket engines, disappeared connected June 22, 2025, portion hiking successful Los Angeles County.
A Facebook page devoted to the hunt for her includes pictures of her and asks for experienced hikers to assistance scour the unsmooth terrain.
Murders and different deaths
Investigators accidental MIT Professor Nuno Lureiro, an adept successful fusion and plasma physics, was changeable and killed astatine his location successful the Boston country past December by Claudio Neves Valente, a jealous erstwhile engineering classmate who had studied successful the aforesaid programme with Lureiro 2 decades ago. Valente, who had spent clip astatine Brown University's engineering programme besides carried retired a wide shooting connected field that killed 2 students and wounded 9 others conscionable 1 time earlier helium changeable and killed Lureiro.
Carl Grillmair, a Caltech astrophysicist, was shot to death connected his beforehand structure successful Los Angeles County successful February. An obituary for Grillmair said helium was the recipient of the 2011 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal and galore NASA Group Achievement Awards. A 29 twelvemonth aged antheral charged with his execution was released from situation past December by a justice utilizing an "unnecessary prosecutions" law.
The assemblage of Novartis researcher Jason Thomas was recovered from a Massachusetts water past month, 3 months aft Thomas was reported missing. His woman told NBC News helium was distraught pursuing the decease of some of his parents past year.
NASA's Frank Maiwald died July 4, 2024, astatine 61 successful Los Angeles.
Michael David Hicks, a physicist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, died successful July 2023 astatine the property of 59.
CBS News reviewed obituaries, statements from household members and instrumentality enforcement findings and recovered nary links betwixt immoderate of the deaths.
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