On May 28, 2026, a hiker found the body of missing nuclear lab employee Melissa Mondragon Casias, 53, who was last seen alive on June 26, 2025.
New Mexico State Police (NMSP) said that her remains were discovered alongside a firearm in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest, off Rio Chiquito Road in New Mexico.
The Office of the Medical Investigator has yet to reveal the nature and cause of her passing, leaving her family without any answers.