The FBI has confirmed it will lead an investigation into whether the mysterious deaths and disappearances of 11 space-related scientists are connected.
The federal probe follows speculation from online investigators suggesting a possible link among the cases, many of which involve individuals tied to secretive government research facilities.
In a statement released Tuesday, the FBI said it will collaborate with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and state and local agencies to examine any potential connections.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, President Donald Trump described the individuals involved as “very important people” and called the situation “pretty serious stuff.”
“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half,” Trump said.
“Pretty serious stuff, hopefully a coincidence, or whatever you want to call it.”
Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee has been among those demanding answers regarding the string of deaths and disappearances.
“The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research,” Burchett told the Daily Mail.
“I think we’d better be paying attention, and I don’t think we should trust our government.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer also raised concerns, warning that “something sinister could be happening.”
“We know there are many countries around the world that would love to have our knowledge and nuclear capabilities,” Comer said on Fox & Friends Weekend.
“And these are the people that were at the forefront of it, and they’re either dead or missing.”
Among the cases under review is Amy Eskridge, who died by suicide in Huntsville, Alabama, on June 11, 2022. She co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science with her father, a retired NASA engineer, and worked on anti-gravity technology.
Her father, Richard, told NewsNation he did not view her death as suspicious. “Scientists die also, just like other people,” he said.
The disappearance of retired Air Force Major General William “Neil” McCasland, 68, in February drew increased attention online. He left his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on February 27 carrying a handgun, backpack, and wallet, according to his wife, Susan Wilkerson.
Wilkerson told a 911 dispatcher she believed her husband “had planned not to be found” after discovering key items, including his cell phone, left behind.
McCasland previously led the Phillips Research Site at Kirtland Air Force Base and worked at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio.
His disappearance followed that of Monica Reza, 60, who vanished during a hiking trip in California’s Angeles National Forest in June 2025. Reza had worked on a rocket project at the same Ohio laboratory overseen by McCasland.
Other cases included in the probe involve the deaths of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists Michael Hicks (July 2023) and Frank Maiwald (July 2024). Authorities have not publicly disclosed causes of death, and no autopsies have been reported.
The investigation also covers the killing of MIT scientist Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was shot inside his Brookline, Massachusetts home last December, and the death of galactic astronomy researcher Carl Grillmair, who was fatally shot outside his California home in February.
Chemical biologist Jason Thomas was found dead in a Massachusetts lake in December 2025, months after he had been reported missing.
Authorities are also examining the disappearances of former Los Alamos National Laboratory employees Anthony Chavez, 78, and Melissa Casias, 53.
Casias was last seen on June 25, 2025, after delivering food to her daughter at work. Chavez was reported missing from his Los Alamos, New Mexico home on May 8, 2025.
Another missing person, Steven Garcia, 48, disappeared on August 28, 2025, after leaving his home in Albuquerque. He previously worked as a government contractor with reported ties to the Kansas City National Security Campus, which produces non-nuclear components for national defense systems.
Investigators continue working to determine whether any connection exists among the cases.
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