Researchers Trump: “Well, I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half. I just left a meeting on that subject. So, pretty serious stuff.”
Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy pressed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on the 10 U.S. scientists and contractors who are either missing or dead over the last two years.
These scientists and defense‑linked experts have ties to NASA, Los Alamos in New Mexico, fusion research, or nuclear weapons work. However, as of now, there is no confirmed official finding that these cases are connected.
But there are investigations on individual cases, as well as growing political and media pressure to look at them together, as Trump faced a question about the matter today:
DOOCY TIME: “There are these ten missing scientists with access to classified stuff, nuclear material, aerospace, they’ve all gone missing or turned up dead in the last couple months. Based on what you’ve been briefed, what do you think is happening here? And do you think that this is connected or totally random?”
President Trump: “Well, I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half. I just left a meeting on that subject. So, pretty serious stuff. But we’re going to be hopefully, I don’t know, coincidence if you want whatever you want to call it, but some of them were very important people and we’re going to look at it over the next short period.”
DOOCY TIME: “There are these ten missing scientists with access to classified stuff, nuclear material, aerospace, they’ve all gone missing or turned up dead in the last couple months. Based on what you’ve been briefed, what do you think is happening here? And do you think that… pic.twitter.com/bVSUzC00Rv
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 16, 2026
Karoline Leavitt was asked about it yesterday:
PETER DOOCY: “There are now 10 American scientists who have either gone missing or died since mid 2024. They all reportedly had access to classified nuclear or aerospace material. Is anybody investigating this to see if these things are connected?”
KAROLINE LEAVITT: “I’ve seen the report, Peter. I haven’t spoken to our relevant agencies about it. I will certainly do that, and we’ll get you an answer. If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government administration would deem work worth looking into. So let me do that for you.”
PETER DOOCY: “There are now 10 American scientists who have either gone missing or died since mid 2024. They all reportedly had access to classified nuclear or aerospace material. Is anybody investigating this to see if these things are connected?”
KAROLINE LEAVITT: “I’ve seen… pic.twitter.com/CCqhmwQx7D
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 15, 2026
Let’s review the individual cases:
- Frank Maiwald (NASA JPL): Senior researcher and “Principal” at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was involved in high‑level mission design and systems engineering. He was reported dead on July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles; obituaries did not list a cause of death and there was reportedly no public autopsy result.
- Monica Jacinto Reza: NASA/JPL materials or engineering leader who vanished during a hike in Angeles National Forest on June 22, 2025; she was with friends when she reportedly disappeared only yards away, and search efforts have not found her.
- Anthony Chavez: Los Alamos National Laboratory employee reported missing in May 2025.
- Melissa Casias: Employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory reported missing in 2025; local coverage has described ongoing concern and a lack of breakthroughs.
- Michael David Hicks: NASA scientist (linked in coverage to asteroid‑deflection research) who died in 2023; his case has been retroactively added to some lists as attention grew, with no detailed public cause of death released.
- Nuno Loureiro: MIT fusion‑energy or plasma‑science researcher killed at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts in December 2025 in what is described as a homicide.
- Carl Grillmaier: Astrophysicist shot and killed on his porch in rural Llano County, with a suspect charged following an apparent carjacking or related incident.
- Jason Thomas: Novartis scientist/chemical biologist working on cancer research, reported missing in December 2025; his body was later found in a Massachusetts lake in March 2026, and authorities have said no foul play is suspected while cause of death remains pending or undisclosed.
- William Neil (Neil) McCasland: Retired U.S. Air Force major general who oversaw Air Force science and technology programs; he left his New Mexico home on February 27, 2026, without his phone or glasses and has not been seen since, drawing intense media attention because of his past work and tangential appearance in UFO‑related emails.
- Steven Garcia: Government contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus in Albuquerque, a site that produces non‑nuclear components for U.S. nuclear weapons, who left his home on foot on August 28, 2025, and disappeared.
Members of the administration and Congress have taken note of these troubling developments.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker recently told the Daily Mail: ‘You can say these are all suspicious, and these are scientists who have worked in critical technology.’
Swecker claimed that multiple foreign intelligence services, including enemies and allies of the US, have been targeting Americans possessing secrets of the nation’s technology for decades.
’China, Russia, even some of our friends – Pakistan, India, Iran, North Korea – they target this type of technology,’ Swecker revealed.
Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett told the Daily Mail in March: ‘There have been several others throughout the country that have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. I think we ought to be paying attention to it.’
LINKSS BETWEEN 10 MISSING SPACE SCIENTISTS: via @Daily_MailUShttps://t.co/or5wguDHAk pic.twitter.com/FQJvJZSmGc
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) April 15, 2026
While the circumstances surrounding these disappearances and deaths remain unclear, it is the shared hope of many that the missing scientists are found safe and healthy, and that their families soon find answers. As investigations continue, Americans also look for reassurance that the nation’s space, defense, and scientific programs remain secure, resilient, and uncompromised.
