NEWS
Lawmakers seek probe into missing nuclear experts, including missing former Kirtland commander
House Oversight members want federal agencies to investigate a series of deaths and disappearances, including a former Kirtland commander from Albuquerque, amid concerns over national security risks
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At least 10 scientists and researchers involved in nuclear technology have mysteriously disappeared or died in recent years.
One of those disappearances includes retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, a 68-year-old from Albuquerque who was reported missing on Feb. 27.
McCasland is a former commander of Kirtland's Phillips Research Site and Air Force Research Laboratory, as well as a Kirtland Partnership Committee board member.
Now, U.S. House Republican lawmakers are demanding that the FBI, Department of Energy, NASA and other federal agencies open an investigation into what they believe is a 鈥減ossible sinister connection鈥� in the disappearances.
鈥淭hese reports allege that at least ten individuals who 鈥榟ad a connection to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology鈥� have 鈥榙ied or mysteriously vanished in recent years,鈥欌�� wrote James Comer, R-Kentucky, and Eric Burlison, R-Missouri, in a Monday news release. 鈥淚f the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets.鈥�
Lawmakers in the release state that they have growing concerns over the disappearances, which began in 2023 after Michael David Hicks 鈥� a scientist who worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1998 to 2022 鈥� died from unknown causes at the age of 59. Hicks studied near-Earth asteroids and comets.
Another scientist, Monica Reza, disappeared in June 2025 while hiking in California. She served as director of the NASA Lab鈥檚 Materials Processing Group.
In McCasland鈥檚 case, the search took investigators and the FBI from his primary home in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains to southern Colorado, where clothing was found inside his Pagosa Springs home. McCasland took his wallet and a gun with him, but left behind his bio-tracking wearables.
No further information has been released to the public and McCasland remains missing.
In a letter sent to Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, lawmakers allege that Reza and McCasland may have had a 鈥渃lose professional connection鈥� through an Air Force-funded research program in the 2000s, adding to the security concerns that connect the missing researchers.
Additionally, the letter states that two individuals affiliated with the Los Alamos National Laboratory were dead or missing, though no further details were stated.
On April 16, the DOD said there were no 鈥渁ctive national security investigations鈥� into any missing people who have or had a former DOD clearance. However, the Oversight Committee said that the department鈥檚 response was unsatisfactory and left the committee with 鈥渕any unanswered questions.鈥�
President Donald Trump on Thursday told reporters that he had held a meeting on the reported missing scientists and said that it was 鈥減retty serious stuff,鈥� according to
鈥淲e request a briefing on any information regarding these deaths and disappearances, as well as the processes and procedures in place to protect American scientific secrets and ensure personnel safety,鈥� Republican lawmakers wrote.
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
