Federal investigators have launched a “holistic review” into the mysterious deaths and disappearances of 11 scientists linked to high-level aerospace, nuclear, and military research.
The probe, confirmed by the White House and the FBI, aims to determine if a pattern exists among the cases, which span from California to Massachusetts and include some of the nation’s top experts in planetary defense and nuclear fusion.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the administration is coordinating with the FBI and the Department of Energy to “identify any potential commonalities.” FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the agency is now centralizing evidence from various local jurisdictions to look for connections involving classified access or foreign interference.
The investigation has put a spotlight on Los Angeles County, where four prominent researchers with ties to Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are among the 11 cases.
The Los Angeles Four
The Southern California cases involve specialists who worked on everything from asteroid redirection to rocket manufacturing:
- Monica Jacinto Reza: An aerospace engineer for JPL and Aerojet Rocketdyne, Reza vanished on June 22, 2025, while hiking in the Angeles National Forest. Despite her friend seeing her just moments before she disappeared, no trace has been found.
- Carl Grillmair: A 67-year-old Caltech astrophysicist known for his work on dark matter, Grillmair was shot and killed on his porch in Llano on February 16, 2026. A suspect, Freddy Snyder, is in custody.
- Michael David Hicks: A 24-year veteran of JPL and an expert on comets and asteroids, Hicks died on July 30, 2023. His cause of death has not been released.
- Frank Maiwald: A principal researcher at JPL who designed instruments to search for life on icy moons, Maiwald died on July 4, 2024. His cause of death also remains undisclosed.
The review extends far beyond California. Among the most high-profile missing persons is retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland, who disappeared from his New Mexico home in February 2026, leaving behind his phone and glasses but taking a revolver.
McCasland previously led the Air Force Research Laboratory and had been linked to UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) research.
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Other cases under review include Amy Eskridge, a propulsion scientist in Alabama who claimed she was being harassed for her work on exotic physics before her 2022 death, and Nuno Loureiro, the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, who was murdered in his home in late 2025.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has issued formal notices to the FBI, NASA, and the Departments of Energy and Defense, demanding briefings by April 27. The committee is seeking to understand if American scientific personnel are being targeted and what measures are being taken to mitigate national security risks.
“I hope it’s random,” President Trump said regarding the cluster of cases, “but we’re going to know in the next week and a half.”
Director Patel emphasized that if the investigation uncovers “nefarious conduct or conspiracy,” the FBI is prepared to make arrests. For now, officials maintain that they have not confirmed a definitive link between the 11 individuals, though the review marks a significant shift toward treating the series of events as a potential coordinated threat.
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