Trump administration likely to investigate reports of missing aerospace and nuclear scientists
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms that Trump administration is looking into reports of at least 10 scientists who have disappeared or died since mid-2024.
The White House has confirmed it is looking into reports regarding the mysterious disappearances and deaths of at least 10 American scientists, many of whom held access to classified nuclear or aerospace material.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the growing concern following a query about a potential connection between the cases.
Leavitt stated that while she had not yet conferred with relevant agencies, the administration deems the pattern serious enough to warrant a formal investigation.
The list of impacted individuals includes high-profile researchers and contractors affiliated with the nation's most sensitive scientific institutions.
Among them is Monica Jacinto Reza, a senior aerospace engineer and director of materials processing for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who vanished in June 2025 while hiking in California.
Steven Garcia, a government contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus in Albuquerque, was reported missing on August 28, 2025.
Other cases include Anthony Chavez, a former staffer at Los Alamos National Laboratory who disappeared in May 2025, and retired Air Force Major General William "Neil" McCasland, a former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, who vanished in February 2026.
National Security Concerns
In addition to the disappearances, the deaths of several prominent scientists have stoked further speculation.
Frank Maiwald, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist involved in advanced space instrumentation, died in 2024 without a publicly disclosed cause.
Similarly, Michael David Hicks, a research scientist at the same laboratory who worked on the DART Project and the Deep Space 1 Mission, passed away in July 2023 with no public cause of death released.
These incidents have occurred as the White House issued new orders for NASA and the Pentagon to accelerate the development of nuclear space reactors.
Legislative pressure for a coordinated investigation is mounting.
Representative Eric Burlison has formally requested FBI involvement, citing the concentration of cases among personnel with ties to advanced research as deeply concerning.
While authorities continue to investigate the cases independently, security experts have noted that many of the missing individuals abandoned essential belongings like phones and wallets, leading to increased scrutiny of potential security breaches or targeted threats against individuals working on critical national security programs.