Surveillance image shows retired general before Bernalillo County disappearance
A surveillance photo shows William Neil McCasland at an REI store the day before he vanished, adding a verified point to a timeline still missing his route home.
A surveillance image from a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office file adds a new fixed point to the search for retired Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland: the day before he vanished, he was seen at an REI store near his Santa Fe-area home carrying packages and wearing an Apple Watch. The image sharpens the timeline, but it still does not show where the 68-year-old went after he was last seen at or near his Quail Run Court NE residence in Albuquerque.
Bernalillo County authorities said McCasland was last seen on the morning of Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. His wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, left the home at about 11:10 a.m. for a medical appointment and returned at about 12:04 p.m., finding him gone. She reported him missing at about 3:07 p.m. that day, and a Silver Alert remains in effect.
The sheriff’s office said McCasland’s phone, prescription glasses and wearable devices were left at the residence. Investigators believe he may have been wearing a light green, long-sleeve button-up outdoor shirt. Items thought to be missing from the home included hiking boots, his wallet and a .38-caliber revolver with a leather holster. So far, the department has said there is no evidence indicating foul play.
The search widened after investigators found a gray U.S. Air Force sweatshirt about 1.25 miles east of the residence on March 7, 2026. No blood was detected during initial processing, and family or friends have not confirmed that the sweatshirt belonged to McCasland. That discovery prompted another targeted search effort in the area, while deputies expanded a neighborhood canvass to more than 700 homes and asked residents to preserve and share security video.
McCasland’s disappearance drew in agencies well beyond Bernalillo County. The FBI Albuquerque Field Office has been assisting the sheriff’s office, and search resources have been coordinated through the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and New Mexico State Police Search and Rescue system, with volunteer teams involved as requested. McCasland retired from the Air Force in 2013 after a 34-year career that included director-level positions at the Pentagon and leadership roles at the Phillips Research Site at Kirtland Air Force Base and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Public attention around the case has also turned to online speculation. Wilkerson has pushed back on claims that McCasland was confused, disoriented or living with dementia, and has rejected rumors tied to UFO or conspiracy theories. For Bernalillo County residents, the most important unanswered questions remain basic: how McCasland left the house, where he went, and whether any of the newly identified items can place him on a specific route after he disappeared.
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