A retired U.S. Air Force major general has been missing for two weeks, after vanishing late last month in New Mexico, authorities said.
William “Neil” McCasland, 68, was last seen at his home in Albuquerque on the morning of Feb. 27, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading an investigation into his disappearance. Because of McCasland’s background, the sheriff said multiple agencies are assisting with the probe, including federal agents with the FBI Albuquerque Field Office.
“Our priority is finding Mr. McCasland safely,” said Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen in a statement. “Our investigators and search teams are working continuously, and we’re coordinating closely with our local, state, and federal partners.”
The sheriff’s office has issued a silver alert for McCasland. Under New Mexico law, the notifications are used to locate missing people aged 50 or older, “with a clear indication of irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties,” according to the office. A description included in the alert cited the retired general’s “medical issues” as cause for concerns over his safety, but the sheriff’s office did not provide details about them.
Allen asked residents and businesses to check security camera footage from the area where McCasland went missing and report any relevant information to his office. The office said neighborhood canvassing efforts and interviews have not uncovered evidence of foul play.
Authorities said last week that they had not “given up hope” of locating McCasland despite still not knowing what happened to him.
“It is unlike Neil to be out of touch from his family and friends for this length of time,” the sheriff’s office said on March 6.
McCasland is 5 feet 11 inches tall with white hair and blue eyes, according to the office. Investigators believe he left his home on foot the morning he was last seen, and suggested that he may have been in the Sandia Mountains outside of Albuquerque on Feb. 27 or Feb. 28. They have described him as “an avid outdoorsman” who “is known to often hike, run, and cycle in the Northeast Heights and the Sandia foothills.”
McCasland retired in 2013 after a long career in the Air Force, including serving as the commander for the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and leading the Phillips Research Site at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, CBS affiliate KRQE reported.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy with a degree in astronautical engineering, McCasland was commissioned to serve in 1979, according to his military biography. He also earned a doctorate degree in astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to the biography.
