US Rep. calls for investigation into missing retired WPAFB general

General William Neil McCasland one of 10 missing, deceased US scientists since 2023

ALBUQUERQUE, NM- The disappearance of retired U.S. Air Force General William Neil McCasland, a former Commander of the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), has gained congressional attention recently, with Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) demanding an investigation into the disappearance of McCasland and a list of nine other U.S. scientists and officials who he said have disappeared or passed away under mysterious circumstances since 2023.

“This is not normal,” Burlison said during an episode of the Fox & Friends program on Friday, April 17. “These are some of the most advanced scientists and researchers in our nation, some of the most important people for our nation’s national security efforts, and they all just mysteriously disappeared.”

McCasland, 68, was last seen in the area of his home in Albuquerque, NM, on Friday, Feb. 27, according to information from the Bernalillo County, NM, Sheriff’s Department. McCasland’s phone, prescription glasses, and wearable device were located at his residence, a statement from the BCSO said, while McCasland’s wallet, hiking boots, and a .38 caliber revolver and holster are considered to be missing.

“While there is currently no evidence indicating foul play, investigators are examining all available information as the case remains active,” the statement said. “Investigators have expanded a neighborhood canvass to more than 700 homes, requesting security video and information. Additional search efforts have included drone operations, helicopter support, ground searches with search and rescue teams, and K 9 searches.”

McCasland served as Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at WPAFB from 2011 to 2013 and previously served in several highly classified positions during his career with the U.S. Air Force. He also holds a doctorate in astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and worked as a consultant for Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge’s “To the Stars” organization after his retirement.

McCasland’s wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, has disputed any connection between McCasland’s disappearance and his classified work for the U.S. government.

“It is true that when Neil was in the Air Force, he had access to some highly classified programs and information,” she said in a Facebook posting dated March 6, 2026. “He retired from the AF almost 13 years ago and has had only very commonly held clearances since. It seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him.”

The BCSO has asked for anyone with information related to McCasland’s disappearance to text BCSO to 847411 or call their Missing Persons Unit at (505) 468-7070.

Burlison discussed McCasland’s case during his appearance on Fox & Friends, along with the cases of other prominent U.S. scientists and officials who have also gone missing, including aerospace researcher Monica Jacinto Reza, contractor Steven Garcia, astrophysicists Carl Grillmair, physicist Nuno Loureiro, NASA engineer Frank Maiwald, Los Alamos National Laboratory administrative employee Melissa Casias, retired Los Alamos employee Anthony Chavez and chemical biologist Jason Thomas.

“This is not the first that we’ve heard of this,” Burlison said. “My office found out about it last year. We sent a letter to the FBI about a gentleman named Matthew Sullivan; he was scheduled to come in for an interview; within two weeks he had suspiciously committed suicide.”

“That report was referred to the office of the Inspector General; they deemed it credible and urgent, they then referred it to the FBI.”

“General McCasland, for example, is someone that we had reached out to twice to try to get some answers from,” Burlison said. “He is someone who was in a critical role working for the Air Force, particularly when it came to research. He was the one who oversaw a lot of this advanced research.”

“He was someone who was very difficult to get a hold of,” he said. “But we reached out to him twice, and then he just mysteriously disappeared.”

Burlison said his office is leading a bipartisan effort to be sure the disappearances are fully investigated.

“This is a bipartisan issue,” he said. “We’re sending a letter to the FBI to make sure that they address this issue and properly investigate this.”

“This is a rattling call, to pay attention to this issue, and make sure our nation’s top scientists are safe and secure,” Burlison said. “This is too coincidental, and so we have to be investigating this. We need to have our nation’s top investigators, the FBI, and every agency looking into this matter.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has also publicly called for an investigation into the disappearances, discussing the issue with reporters after a briefing on the cases at the White House on Thursday, April 16.

“I don’t know,” Trump said. “Hopefully it’s coincidence or whatever you want to call it, but some of them were very important people, and we’re going to look at it.”

Among 11 scientists, six individuals are dead, including:

• Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher at Novartis working on cancer treatments (died March 17, 2026; body found in Lake Quannapowitt, Massachusetts)

• Carl Grillmair, a Caltech astrophysicist who worked on NASA’s NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor missions (shot outside his home on February 16, 2026)

• Nuno Loureiro, Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Centre (fatally shot outside his home on December 16, 2025)

• Frank Maiwald, Principal researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (died July 4, 2024; cause unknown)

• Michael David Hicks, Research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, worked on the DART Project and the Deep Space 1 mission (died July 30, 2023; cause unknown)

• Amy Eskridge, Researcher of anti-gravity technology, UFO, and extraterrestrial life (died June 11, 2022; self-inflicted gunshot wound)

Five individuals are reportedly missing, including:

• William “Neil” McCasland, Former U.S. Air Force Major General (missing as of February 27, 2026, last known to be hiking in Sandia Mountains, New Mexico)

• Steven Garcia, a government contractor working at Kansas City National Security Campus, Albuquerque, New Mexico (missing as of August 28, 2025)

• Anthony Chavez, a former employee of Los Alamos National Laboratory (missing as of May 8, 2025)

• Melissa Casias, Administrative officer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (missing as of June 26, 2025)

• Monica Reza, Materials processing director at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, missing as of June 22, 2025.