The Trump administration has ordered an investigation into the “missing” of at least 10 top NASA and nuclear research scientists with access to information related to aerospace, defense and extraterrestrial life.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X to reveal that the White House is “actively working” with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and “all relevant agencies” to “identify any potential commonalities that may exist” among the cases involving a number of government scientists and officials who have either disappeared or died in recent months.
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Her announcement came in response to a question posed by a reporter during a press briefing Wednesday about up to 10 people associated with the space program or nuclear research who have either disappeared or died under various circumstances.
“There are 10 US scientists who have either gone missing or died since mid-2024. They allegedly had access to nuclear or aerospace material. Is anyone investigating this?” the message asked.
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Leavitt posted her response to X, saying, “In light of recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to comprehensively review all cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist.”
“There will be no stone unturned in this effort and the White House will provide updates as we have them,” her post read.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump was informed of the deaths and disappearances of key scientists, and more details will become available over the next week and a half.
According to PTI, Trump described the disappearances as a “quite serious matter” and said some of the scientists who were reported missing or dead were “very important people”.
The president said he would know more about the cases and whether there might be a connection between them in the coming days.
“I hope it’s coincidental,” Trump said Thursday when asked if he thought there was any connection between the cases.
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Who are these 10 American scientists?
US media reports date the first death to July 2023.
1. Michael David Hicks, a physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who specialized in comets and asteroids, died 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 did not return home. His body was found on March 17, 2026 in a lake in Massachusetts.
3. Nuclear physicist and MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was shot dead in his home near Boston on December 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 is home to America’s oldest nuclear facility.
5. Melissa Casias disappeared from her home on June 26, 2025. Casias was an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
6. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory researcher Frank Maiwald died on July 4, 2024 at the age of 61 in Los Angeles.
7. Monica Jacinto Reza was a JPL employee who disappeared on June 22, 2025 while on a field trip.
8. On February 16, 2026, Carl Grillmair was shot to death on his front porch. He was an astrophysicist at Caltech who worked 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 walking and carrying a handgun, with police reportedly warning he could be a danger to himself. Garcia worked as an asset manager at the Kansas City National Security Campus, which produces 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 man was last seen in Albuquerque, where his wife told investigators he left home without a watch or cellphone, the Independent reported.
