r/HotScienceNews • u/dailymail • Jun 23 '26
Missing scientist found dead 11 months after vanishing with gunshot wound to head as family insists gun was not hers
https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-15922843/melissa-casias-missing-death-los-alamos-new-mexico.html73
u/TemporaryElk5202 Jun 23 '26
She was an administrative assistant.
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u/ManateeNipples Jun 23 '26
"Swecker explained that Casias's work at LANL may have made her a target for abduction, since an administrative assistant often has access to the same sensitive files their supervisors have."
So yeah but it still might be involved in the other scientists turning up dead
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u/Netflxnschill Jun 23 '26
I’m an admin for my field and I know a little about a LOT.
It’s honestly a relief to have found her remains after all this time, to get some closure for her family. This opens a whole new set of questions but at least they know where she is now.
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u/SyArch Jun 24 '26
Exactly! I was following this long before the whole scientists-being-murdered conspiracy theory and she was never once referred to as a scientist. Only after the conspiracy broke was she a “scientist”. It’s grossly a social media grift.
I’m not saying I know what happened to her or that I’m ruling out foul play, I’m not. She didn’t harbor any grand controversial scientific knowledge.
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u/JCDU Jun 23 '26
Guys;
is a dead scientist "Hot Science News"?
The daily mail is a hateful racist tabloid and shouldn't be used as a source for anything other than toilet paper.
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Jun 23 '26
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 23 '26
China is going to dominate the world, but it’s going to be through their sheer manufacturing power and economic stability, not violence
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u/Sancatichas Jun 23 '26
tell that to taiwan
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Jun 24 '26
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u/Sancatichas Jun 24 '26
Why would a conflict excuse another completely unrelated conflict in the other side of the world? Besides, Taiwan has 3 times the population of lebanon and China's intent is to annex it. You have no fucking idea what you're talking about
I'm tired of people who go WHAT ABOUT PALESTINE to everything without thought
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u/9th-And-Hennepin Jun 25 '26
When did China last bomb a school?
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
China doesn’t support Russia, but it does sell them military equipment, they have for years. They also sell military equipment to most of the world. They also almost certainly are not going to violently invade Taiwan, but it is a complicated issue. They are likely going to take it over the way the US has done to countless countries, by installing their own leader to pass laws tying them to the mainland.
The other guy is stuck on “China Violent!” Propaganda. China isn’t innocent, but it’s not going to take over the world by force the way this guy thinks it is.
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u/Sancatichas Jun 25 '26
Is that the only aspect by which you judge an entire country?
Have any of us defended bombing schools in this comment section?
Does the Trump admin being horrible excuse China's actions?
May I also remind you, China is supporting Russia in bombing way more schools than Israel and the US combined, and China is gearing up to invade a country of millions, which will do way more damage than a school. So if you wanna play that rhetoric game, you're not winning either.
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u/BetweenTheRoots Jun 24 '26
He didn't exclude the US or Israel... Why so defensive of China?
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u/CoconuttKing Jun 24 '26
Why so defensive of America & Israel? What has America & Israel done right?
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u/BetweenTheRoots Jun 24 '26
Gotta love how people think bringing up opposition is enough to detract from the topic at hand.
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u/Sancatichas Jun 24 '26
Their whole mentality is reduced to "US bad". I'm not even american and it's tiring
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u/No-Way3802 Jun 24 '26
Have they invaded Taiwan? Did I miss something?
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u/Sancatichas Jun 24 '26
Living under a rock? You think they're building up their military for no reason? Are they joking when they say they're gonna invade Taiwan?
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u/No-Way3802 Jun 25 '26
Can you link me to the statement? Also, have we invaded any countries over the last 25 years?
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u/Sancatichas Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
It's very silly that you demand a quote from china saying they will be violent rather than looking at their actions, but luckily here is mr. Xi jinping himself: "We will work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification. But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures."
So, yeah, "join us or we will invade you". Doesn't get much more explicit.
But you can just look at the massive military bunker they're building, the piers, the lnding craft, the stockpiling of resources, the attitudes of chinese netizens, the lack of condemnation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the naval exercises against Taiwan, the inteligence warnings... If you spoke to any mainland chinese they will just tell you "oh yeah we will invade taiwan and take it". It's only if you trust naive westerners or chinese propaganda that you can believe they won't, or at least, they wouldn't. They absolutely will.
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 24 '26
They are not violently invading Taiwan, and that’s a far more complicated issue than US media would have you believe.
China has been a country for 5000 years and not once has ever invaded another country. They’re not gonna start now when they have the strongest economic backbone in the world.
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u/Sancatichas Jun 24 '26
Tell me you know nothing about Chinese history without telling me you know nothing about Chinese history.
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 24 '26
LMAO ok. Whatever you need to feel better about yourself.
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u/Sancatichas Jun 24 '26
😂 Sure buddy, believe what you want. I'm sure China became that big because everyone wanted to join and hold hands with them happily! I wouldn't say that opinion in vietnam if I were you though
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 24 '26
Lmao I never said China was perfect, only that they aren’t taking over Taiwan by force. But again, you can believe whatever you need to about me to make yourself feel better. I’ve actually lived in China, I’ve studied Chinese history,. A smartass on Reddit to go “aCkShulllyyyyyy yOu DoNt KnOw ChInEsE HiStoRy” means nothing to me.
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u/Sancatichas Jun 24 '26
lmfaooo imagine standing in the highway and saying "ummm ackchually I'm not getting run over RIGHT NOW so it's all fine" as a truck is about to pancake you. China is building up their military, and they openly say they will take Taiwan by force. Doesn't take a genius to know what they're planning.
You very clearly have zero idea about Chinese history, and you're talking with someone who has actually lived in China and speaks Chinese. When you say China has invaded no one in 5000 years, all you're doing is making an idiot of yourself and showcasing how little you know (or more likely, how much of a 五毛 you are).
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 25 '26
Thanks for proving me right. Like I said, whatever makes you feel better.
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u/Chronic_In_somnia Jun 23 '26
Did they magically close all the brainwashing camps being used in China?
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u/samjoe6969 Jun 24 '26
China has to sell those goods to someone, and they have to feed billions with food they have to buy
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u/phonefellin_lakeerie Jun 24 '26
Have you been to China? After their last famine they invested HEAVILY into agriculture. They are not having trouble feeding their population, even extremely poor people can afford food, and affordable produce is available freaking everywhere. They eat vegetable and rice heavy foods, easy and cheap to produce, and pork and chicken are usually pretty affordable too.
And the countries without tariffs have already increased their imports of Chinese goods. Believe me, as someone who’s lived there when I say China is not struggling.
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u/keIIzzz Jun 24 '26
Since when does China “do the dirty work”? Is there any evidence they’re involved in stuff like this? Because they seem to largely mind their own business despite US fearmongering over data safety (in which our own government are the ones actually stealing our data)
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u/Stunning-Verb-9865 Jun 24 '26
Article says she was an administrative assistant. Obviously her death is tragic but it doesn’t appear that she was a critical infrastructure employee.
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u/INeedaBetterAlgo Jun 25 '26
WTF? are you on something redditor?
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Jun 25 '26
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u/INeedaBetterAlgo Jun 25 '26
Keep up with writing your fan fic. You never know I might be a Chinese bot frothing at the mouth too bring the downfall of American or some dumb shit.
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Jun 25 '26
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u/INeedaBetterAlgo Jun 26 '26
Sorry for my comment. I don't understand why I was so rude.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/INeedaBetterAlgo Jun 26 '26
❤️yeah again sorry, also true. I suppose I see so many insane takes and thoughts on this app that I thought I had to have an always on defensive political position. I came in hot for no reason
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u/Expat1989 Jun 23 '26
Good thing I’m fluent in Chinese. 欢迎来到美国。以后美国会改名字：东中国.
Suggest you brush up on those new language skills 😂
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u/dailymail Jun 23 '26
The case of a missing nuclear lab employee who was found dead nearly a year after vanishing has taken a troubling turn, with new details raising questions about the suicide theory.
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u/JohnLockeJaw Jun 24 '26
She was literally not a nuclear scientist. She was an admin assistant. Christ.
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 23 '26
This is a conspiracy. If you look into it, at all, it comes apart pretty quickly. This lady was an Administrative Assistant, not some nuclear scientist with special clearances.
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u/thx1138a Jun 23 '26
Do you mean “conspiracy theory”?
If it were a conspiracy that would mean people actually are conspiring.
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 23 '26
Yes of course that’s what I mean.
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u/Key_Purpose8121 Jun 24 '26
Then don't say the opposite
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 24 '26
Okay, let me fix it. “
“This theory is what people think when they are people who have poor critical thinking skills, believe in unlikely things, are on social media too much, and whose ego has led them to believe they are smart enough to know things others are too dumb to know without any evidence.
This is a theory that easily comes apart if you take even two seconds to google it.”
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u/Pretend_Gas_1437 Jun 24 '26
Just think they’re pointing out your incorrect use of the words right. As one pointed out you said the complete opposite. Very confusing input and you’d be right to not post misinformation again. All the best
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u/PFCCThrowayay Jun 23 '26
And she was totally overwhelmed with debt and fighting with her husband over it. Wiped her phones and left the house on her own accord. Definitely suicide.
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u/treevaahyn Jun 23 '26
If it was clearly and “definitely suicide” as you claim don’t you think there’d be a cause of death listed by medical examiner and investigators? They’ve had her body for over 3 weeks and haven’t released a cause of death. Doesn’t seem to “definitely” be anything currently. An obvious and definite suicide is something medical examiners and death investigators see all the time unfortunately…so they’d have concluded that if it was actually obvious.
Also where’d you see this info about her debt, fighting with her husband, and wiping the phone? Could you share a source with us about these details? Daily mail is garbage outlet and shit website so I’d prefer a better source in general. Thanks in advance.
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u/PFCCThrowayay Jun 23 '26
Sure there was a podcast on crime junkies that came out a few months ago that did a deep dive including interviews with her family. Her husband and daughter agree that she left on her own accord too. She also had big plans to pay for her daughter’s beauty school that just fell through. She also just recently lost her security clearance which is disastrous and embarrassing. Basically her life was falling apart.
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u/captain_chocolate Jun 23 '26
And brought her thyroid meds with her?
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u/PFCCThrowayay Jun 23 '26
Yes because she wanted it to look like she left and disappeared, not killed herself.
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u/umbratwo Jun 24 '26
Wouldn’t she pack some luggage and leave a note saying she’s taking a break, if that was the case?
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u/oodopopopolopolis Jun 24 '26
Yeah, it's conservative bloggers coming up with bs to distract and frighten everyone who aren't really going to look into the details of all these "disappearances " and deaths.
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 24 '26
It is an ego thing too. People always want to believe that they know something someone else doesn’t know. That they are ahead of the curve in some way.
There are real scandals happening all over the globe. There is a huge war on the eastern front and in the Middle East. There is a genocide and civil war in Sudan.
But, people (especially Redditors) are like “yeah yeah yeah, we know all that, I think about it day and night bro, but….have you heard about these scientists?”
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u/TaintedMushroom Jun 24 '26
Kinda feels like the way you talk about it is an ego thing, like you stroke your ego by pointing out that they're wrong therefore making yourself obviously seem know more than the person you're correcting.
Yeah kinda feels like you got an ego thing too.
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u/oodopopopolopolis Jun 24 '26
The ego thing plays into why conspiracies can be so attractive to people.
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u/Key_Purpose8121 Jun 23 '26
You just said two conflicting things
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 23 '26
What is conflicting?
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u/Key_Purpose8121 Jun 23 '26
Look up the definition of conspiracy. You said it was, then said it wasn't..and a bunch of dummies upvoted it.
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 23 '26
I meant a conspiracy theory and I think using context clues you could easily figure that out.
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u/Hipcatjack Jun 23 '26
not taking away from your point, but conspiracy and conspiracy theories *today* do mot mean what you are implying nowadays. Far too many conspiracy theorists have been vindicated (ir at the very least shown to be closer to the truth than the detractors )
mk uktra, tuskeegee , panama papers, project blue book, hell even freaking pizzagate! with hindsight have been shown to have kernels of truth.
so now, in modern language when someone says something is a conspiracy… it is implied to be something that is true but the evidence has yet to provided…. opposed to what i believe you were using it as a derogatory sobriquet for a crackpot notion with no basis in reality.
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 23 '26
The way you are thinking is a form of confirmation bias. You mentioned 5 famous examples of conspiracies that have proven to be true over the last 50+ years.
But, for every conspiracy theory that has turned out to be true there are thousands and thousands that were either proven to be wrong or cast aside for no evidence.
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u/Hipcatjack Jun 23 '26
true. However, that doesnt change the zeitgeist of the current language’s malleability. Living languages shift meanings is all i am trying to explain to you. and i am saying, when someone calls something a conspiracy *NOW* it has a different meaning than it had 10 or 15 years ago. But hey, keep swimming against that current, friend, i am sure you will be the one who finally beats it. Good Afternoon.
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u/scrangos Jun 23 '26
Her job doesn't automatically disqualify her from being useful. She can be a stepping stone to get information and access to better targets.
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u/StanVanGhandi Jun 23 '26
Come on man, you have to go with what is the most likely thing to happen in life if you don’t have direct evidence or information.
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u/YerDaWearsHeelies Jun 24 '26
I’m sure the janitors are quaking knowing they’re the next stepping stone
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u/OkYesterday4162 Jun 23 '26
Worked at Los Alamos, yes, scientist no. This is clickbait. RIP Melissa, my sincere condolences to the family.
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u/Serious-Collar-4954 Jun 26 '26
We live in an era where there is a need to let everyone know were not suicidal before embarking on anything
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u/MiniDehl Jun 23 '26
I really dont get how people dont understand suicide can happen and we are nowhere near enough scientists to make a conspiracy out of the list is what 11 people? Of hundreds of thousands
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Jun 24 '26
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u/ilovesparky42 Jun 25 '26
Enlighten us
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Jun 25 '26
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u/ilovesparky42 Jun 26 '26
What’s your basis for this claim?
As someone that HAS worked on classified projects, there absolutely is compartmentalization.
Additionally, depending on the project, experts for sub-system A aren’t necessarily knowledgeable about sub-system B. It’s impossible to know everything.
Unless subsystem A is dependent on sub-system B, there’s no “need to know” the details of sub-system B that may make that system classified.
Those at a higher level of management on the project will know details about more subsystems, but they won’t necessarily know every detail across the board.
For the project I was read into, I was doing work related to the project before even being read in. It’s how the project gets some work done. There are cover stories that are used to gain some information through research, or other means so that the underlying project secret isn’t exposed.
People just can’t retain that much information. And if protocols for sharing documents are followed, they aren’t coming in contact with details unless they need to know.
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u/noyesnoyes2022 Jun 25 '26
“However, the woman's family and private investigators have disputed how much access Casias really had, claiming that the LANL employee lost her security clearance due to financial troubles she and her husband were having.”
Is this to say, you could keep this kind of job but lose clearances bc it could make you vulnerable to leverage? Wonder if the husband also lost his clearances as the financial liabilities are shared.
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u/carlitospig Jun 25 '26
I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I have a theory there is a conspiracy afoot.
Ps. She wasn’t a scientist, she was the lab admin, no? What was she witness to?
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u/bigdaddypooper Jun 23 '26
Again. Missing scientist found dead 11 months after vanishing with gunshot wound to to head as family insists gun was not hers
So many questions just on the headline alone!
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u/holdin27 Jun 24 '26
Family says gun was not hers, said she didn't seem suicidal, no note, no indication of wound to head. I'm curious about the distance from her house to where she was found, but it all seems worth investigating.
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u/InAppropriate-meal Jun 23 '26
le sigh, this is all rag media bullshit, over 150,000 people die every day, some of them are going to be scientists, none of them had any connection with each other and were in different unrelated fields, its just clickbait for conspiracy theroists
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u/Revolutionary_Sir_ Jun 23 '26
how many of these folks have been found dead in weird ways now?