The Trump administration ordered a probe into the “missing” case of at least 10 top NASA and nuclear research scientists with access to information related to aerospace, defence and extra-terrestrial life.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X to reveal that the White House was “actively working” with the (FBI) and “all relevant agencies” to “identify any potential commonalities that may exist” between cases involving a number of government scientists and officials who’ve either vanished or died in recent months.
Her announcement came in response to a question posed to her by a reporter during a press briefing on Wednesday, which referenced as many as 10 people linked to space programs or nuclear research who have either disappeared or died under varying circumstances.
“There are 10 American scientists who have either gone missing or have died since mid 2024. They reportedly had access to nuclear or aerospace material. Is anybody investigating that?” the report had asked.
Leavitt posted her response on X, saying, “In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist.”
“No stone will be unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates when we have them,” her post read.
Earlier this week, was briefed on the deaths and disappearances of key scientists, and more details will be available over the next week and a half.
According to PTI, Trump described the disappearances as “pretty serious stuff” and said that some of the scientists who have reportedly gone missing or died were “very important people.”
The president said he would know more about the cases and whether there could be any connection between them in the coming days.
“I hope it’s random,” Trump responded Thursday when asked if he thought there was any link between the cases.
Who are these 10 American scientists?
According to reports in the American media, the earliest of the deaths dates back to July 2023.
1. Michael David Hicks, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory physicist who specialised in comets and asteroids, passed away on July 30, 2023. The cause of his death was not disclosed.
2. A Novartis researcher, Jason Thomas, disappeared on December 12, 2025. His wife reported him missing when he didn’t return home. His body was recovered from a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026.
3. Nuclear physicist and MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was shot dead at his home near Boston on Dec 15, 2025.
4. Former Los Alamos employee Anthony Chavez disappeared on May 4, 2025. He was last seen leaving his home on foot. Los Alamos houses America’s earliest nuclear facilities.
5. Melissa Casias disappeared from her home on June 26, 2025. Casias was an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
6. A researcher with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Frank Maiwald, died on July 4, 2024, at 61, in Los Angeles.
7. Monica Jacinto Reza was a JPL employee who disappeared on June 22, 2025, while on a hike.
8. On February 16, 2026, Carl Grillmair was shot to death on his front porch. He was an astrophysicist at Caltech who collaborated with NASA and found water around exoplanets.
9. Steven Garcia, a 48-year-old government contractor, was last seen leaving his home in Albuquerque on August 28, 2025. He was on foot and carrying a handgun, with police reportedly warning he may have been a danger to himself. Garcia worked as a property custodian at the Kansas City National Security Campus, which manufactures non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons.
10. Retired Air Force General William McCasland was reported missing by his wife in early March. The 68-year-old was last seen in Albuquerque, where his wife told investigators that he’d left home sans his watch or mobile phone, the Independent reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
