FBI Investigates Deaths and Disappearances of 10 Scientists with Access to Sensitive Research

The FBI has launched an investigation into the deaths and disappearances of 10 American scientists who had access to sensitive government research programs. Director Kash Patel confirmed the bureau would examine potential links between the cases. He stated that investigators would review the researchers' access to classified information and possible involvement of foreign actors.

The scientists' areas of expertise included nuclear research, astrophysics, and aeronautics. Four of the researchers were employed by NASA, with three working on the same team at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

David Hicks, aged 59, died in the summer of 2023 from an undisclosed cause. He had worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for nearly 25 years, focusing on comets and asteroids, and participated in the Deep Space 1 mission in 1998. A year later, Frank Maiwald, a 61-year-old colleague born in Germany, was found dead at his residence in Los Angeles.

Monica Reza, another scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, disappeared during a hiking trip in California in June 2025, with searches yielding no trace of her. Some of Reza's earlier work received funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory, which was later commanded by William Neil McCasland.

The retired general disappeared on February 27 after leaving his home with hiking boots, a wallet, and a holstered firearm, but without his mobile phone or prescription glasses. After retiring in 2013, McCasland served as an unpaid consultant on military and scientific matters for Tom DeLonge, the frontman of Blink-182, who has an interest in UFOs.

Steven Garcia, a 48-year-old government contractor with top-level security clearance, disappeared from Albuquerque in August 2025, leaving on foot and carrying only a handgun.

A congressional committee sent letters to the departments of energy and defense, NASA, and the FBI, requesting information about possible connections between the deaths and disappearances. Republican congressman Eric Burlison raised questions about Matthew James Sullivan, a former Air Force intelligence officer who died by suicide in 2024.