Human remains discovered by a hiker last week in a New Mexico national forest have been identified as those of a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who had been missing for nearly a year, authorities confirmed.
The remains were found on Thursday in the McGaffrey Ridge area of Carson National Forest, and the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office identified them as Melissa Casias, according to officials. New Mexico State Police stated on Saturday that a handgun was also located alongside the remains.
The Medical Investigator’s Office is expected to determine the cause and manner of death, police added. A representative of Casias’s family said they would not comment until after meeting with investigators.
Casias, 53, was reported missing on June 26, 2025, after her supervisor alerted authorities that she had not reported for work. Her husband, Mark Casias, said she had dropped him off at the Los Alamos National Laboratory earlier that day and told him she was going to another area of the lab for a work task but never returned.
Their daughter, Sierra, later discovered her mother’s keys and a phone that had been reset to factory settings at their home in Ranchos de Taos. That same afternoon, a family acquaintance reported seeing Casias walking eastbound on State Road 518, according to Police Sgt. Ricardo Breceda.
Mark Casias said he found documents indicating his wife was under significant stress at the time, though he declined to provide further details. Police have not ruled out foul play, including the possibility that she entered another vehicle that day, but Breceda previously suggested she may have disappeared by choice.
McGaffrey Ridge is approximately six miles from Casias’s home and accessible via the state highway where she was last seen. Los Alamos National Laboratory did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State Police expressed their “deepest condolences” to Casias’s loved ones and confirmed the investigation remains ongoing.
