Published: 16:00 BST, 15 August 2026 | Updated: 16:00 BST, 15 August 2026
Shocking new details have emerged concerning the mysterious disappearance and death of a New Mexico woman who worked at a secretive US nuclear lab.
Authorities have revealed that Melissa Casias, whose body was discovered on May 28, was shot in the head at or around the time of her death, but it remains unclear if this was murder or a suicide. Her body was found well after her death.
Casias, an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, vanished without a trace on June 26, 2025 after strangely walking out of her home without any identification, keys or way of contacting her.
Her skeletal remains were discovered 11 months later in Carson National Forest, propped up against a tree with a handgun near the body.
The official autopsy noted that Casias had been shot through the base of the skull, with the bullet exiting through the left side of her head. However, the Office of the Medical Investigator could not say if this wound was what killed the 53-year-old.
Due to the amount of decomposition of Casias's remains when she was found, the medical examiner could only say that the gunshot occurred 'perimortem,' meaning it took place around the time she died but may not have been the actual cause.
The medical examiner's report added that the woman's left hand and left leg were both found about 20 feet away from the body and showed signs of being attacked by wildlife who likely scavenged through the remains after death.
While the medical examiner could not tell if Casias's death was a suicide or involved foul play, an anonymous law enforcement source told the Daily Mail the new details in the case point to murder.
Melissa Casias worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a long-running nuclear research facility, before disappearing on June 26 last year. Her remains were found on May 28
The autopsy of Melissa Casias has been released and authorities have determined that the nuclear lab worker had been shot in the head
The newly released autopsy noted that the bullet was fired into the right side of Casias's cranial base, hitting the bottom of the skull near the large hole where the spinal cord connects to the brain.
It also damaged the topmost neck bone, known as the C1 vertebra, before exiting through the left side of the head, through the flat, thin part of the temple.
'There's no way this was suicide, not from that angle,' the law enforcement source claimed, noting the reported position of the bullet when it entered Casias's skull.
The source believed that, if Casias was really holding the handgun at that angle, the gun would have recoiled, causing the bullet to change direction instead of passing straight through her skull.