The family of a worker at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico found dead next to a handgun over the weekend has rejected the idea that she would have killed herself, and some relatives believe foul play may have been involved.Melissa Casias, 54, vanished on June 26, 2025, from Taos, New Mexico, according to authorities.Relatives on her parents' side of the family wrote on Facebook that the area where she’d be found, in the McGaffey Ridge area of Carson National Forest, had been searched previously.A hiker found her body over the weekend, according to New Mexico State Police.They publicly identified her remains Saturday.
They said there was also a handgun nearby.SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTERMelissa Casias, 53, an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, was reported missing on June 26, 2025, and her whereabouts remain unknown.(Mondragon family)An official cause and manner of death had not been made public as of Thursday morning.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the county medical examiner’s office and police for more information.Although the post mentioned a "mound of evidence," it was not immediately clear what the family had collected in connection with the case.SEND US A TIP HERE"You don’t need to be a hunter, a scientist or a cop to know that a human body is not going to be left out in the elements and be undisturbed a year later," said Thomas McNally, an Arizona private investigator who has been working with her family.New Mexico State Police Chief Matt Broom, center, provides updates during a news conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday, May 22, 2026.(AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)REP BURLISON DEMANDS FBI PROBE AFTER TOP US SCIENTISTS VANISH OR TURN UP DEADHe said Casias was known to conceal carry a pistol, but he couldn't speak to the caliber or condition of the one found near her remains.LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCASTHowever, he distanced Casias from repor...