A pattern has emerged following the deaths and disappearances of scientists in the U.S., prompting further theories about the nature of the cases
Anthony Chavez was one of the scientists that went missing last year (Image: Facebook)
A new pattern has been identified in a case involving a series of deaths and disappearances of around a dozen scientists in connection with U.S. research facilities.
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Anthony Chavez, a former Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) employee, was just one of the victims who disappeared without a trace last May. He had worked at the nuclear research facilities right up until he retired in 2017.
According to a new report from the Daily Mail, just before his disappearance, Chavez bought a 9mm pistol for self-defense, police records show. Despite being “in good spirits” at the time, he disappeared before he could pick up his purchase from a Santa Fe sporting goods store. It comes after the White House broke its silence on the 10 missing scientists who were privy to the nation's biggest secrets.
The records also showed that Chavez was allegedly being mentored by an “unknown scientist” while working at the lab. The mentoring was allegedly on AI and quantum physics projects that were researching the idea of being in “two places at once.”
Chavez’s case is the fourth of its kind that is connected to the top-secret U.S. facility, which involved a handgun in the last year, either because the person went missing after buying one, left home carrying one, or was found dead with one next to them.
Air Force General William Neil McCasland and government contractor Steven Garcia both disappeared with a handgun connected to their story, while the death of lab worker Melissa Casias also involved a firearm.
Casias was found dead on May 28 and was an active administrative assistant at LANL. Her body was discovered in New Mexico's Carson National Forest with a handgun next to it; however, authorities have not said who owned the weapon, and her cause of death has not been released.
Former FBI agent Ben Hansen called Casias’s case “highly, highly suspicious” after her body was found. He said, “I don't know if I give a percentage, but it's kind of more like an 80 percent foul play versus someone who's depressed, is the way I see it.”
New Mexico scientist Melissa Casias was found dead in May (Image: Facebook)
“I think either there was an influence from the outside, and I'm not saying that it's energy-directed anything, but foreign adversary influence of some sort.”
Additionally, McCasland and Garcia were both reported to have left their homes carrying handguns before they disappeared. According to Garcia's wife, Valerie, her weapon, which was registered in her name, had been taken from her.
The intriguing and disturbing cases of missing scientists since 2022 have prompted the White House to announce the FBI would review the cases, after more than 10 individuals were named as having ties to an alleged plot against the U.S. scientific community.
Despite President Trump calling the cases “pretty serious stuff” and promising to provide an update by mid-May, there have been no public updates from the government since then.
William Neil McCasland, an astronautical engineer, has been missing since February 2026 (Image: wikipedia)
Four of the people connected to the conspiracy, McCasland, Garcia, Casias, and Chavez, were previously working at top-secret government research labs, where scientists researched nuclear weapons. However, not all families of the people in the suspected cases believe in the conspiracies.
In a BBC interview in April, some of the scientists' relatives labeled the theories as "disgusting," and others said they simply did not believe them.
Renowned California scientist Carl Grillmair was shot dead at his home in February. His alleged killer, 29-year-old local man Freddy Snyder, has been charged with his murder, and yet Grillmair still features as one of the 10 people linked to the conspiracy.
"I think it's absolute nonsense. I mean, there are the facts, and they're out there," his wife Louise Grillmair told the BBC.