Human remains found near Taos in search for missing LANL worker

Human remains found off Rio Chiquito Road southeast of Taos have shifted the search for missing Los Alamos National Laboratory worker Melissa Casias into a new and more urgent phase, with state police now working to determine whether the discovery is linked to the case that has gripped Los Alamos County and the Taos area for months.

The remains were located just miles from where Casias was last seen, in an area accessible from Talpa. That proximity has drawn particular attention because security camera footage in Talpa captured the last known sighting of Casias, tightening the timeline around the rural roads south and southeast of Taos that investigators and volunteers have been combing since she was reported missing.

Casias has been listed as missing by New Mexico State Police since June 26, 2025, the day her husband last saw her around 6:15 a.m. when she dropped him off at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Investigators say she later returned home to Ranchos de Taos and then drove to Taos Plaza around 12:30 p.m. to drop off lunch to her daughter before leaving again. State police also confirmed that Casias and her daughter spoke by phone from 12:50 to 12:57 p.m.

The state missing-persons bulletin lists Casias as a White female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 125 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. It says she was 53 when she disappeared and is now 54. Those details have been widely circulated as the search expanded across Taos County and nearby roads leading into the Carson National Forest.

The disappearance has stayed in the public eye because of Casias’ ties to LANL, one of the region’s largest employers and a major federal laboratory whose workforce stretches well beyond Los Alamos. Family members and volunteers mounted a broad search effort, with KRQE reporting that hundreds of volunteers, relatives and law enforcement personnel searched in grids. The family also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to her safe return, on top of a $2,500 Crime Stoppers reward reported by KOB.

New Mexico State Police continue to investigate Casias’ disappearance and have asked anyone with information to contact investigators or the missing-person hotline. As officers examine whether the remains are connected to Casias, the case remains central to families in both Taos and Los Alamos, where her disappearance has left lingering questions about the final hours of June 26 and the road that led out of town.