Shocking new evidence has been found at the site where a missing nuclear lab assistant was found dead, raising serious concerns about the state of the investigation.
A lawyer for the family of Melissa Casias, who vanished in June 2025 and was found dead 11 months later, told the Daily Mail several red flags involving law enforcement led the woman’s loved ones to start their own search for answers – with stunning results.
David Adams of Parnall and Adams Law revealed that a trove of evidence was discovered nearly a month after New Mexico State Police had officially declared the crime scene clear and removed Casias’s skeletal remains for medical examination.
That independent search of New Mexico’s Carson National Forest in late June uncovered bones, torn and bloody clothing, orange peels and strands of hair that were not collected by police when the 53-year-old’s body was found on May 28.
The lawyer also revealed that the family strongly believed Casias did not commit suicide and had no reason to disappear.
Adams explained: ‘There seemed to be a separate narrative taking place that somehow she wanted to be missing and that she had other places that she would be.’
Although the origins of the hair found at the scene have not been determined yet, the attorney noted that it appeared to be horse hair and theorized that the body of Casias may have been taken to this location by an unknown suspect.
‘In my mind, when you see that, you kind of go, okay, well, I could see that you would need a horse to get her up there if you were moving a body, for instance, because how you would otherwise do that,’ Adams said.
The Casias family and volunteers from the group 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue also unearthed shredded paper, which relatives believe has Casias’s handwriting on it and what appears to be a tobacco pouch. Casias reportedly did not use tobacco.
Adams said: ‘The family really wasn’t expecting to find any additional information, other than to just kind of finally have an idea of where her last resting grounds were, so they could kind of go pay their own respects, and it certainly turned out to be something much, much more.’
The shocking crime scene find has turned the case on its head, with Adams claiming investigators in New Mexico have seriously damaged their credibility if it is found that Casias was the victim of foul play and a suspect is brought to trial.
‘There becomes a question of a chain of custody… Could law enforcement have spat a tobacco pouch in the crime scene? I mean, certainly possible. I mean, that would be an example of just poor training,’ Adams explained.
‘If somebody actually did do that, I mean, it defeats every best practice regarding the crime scene and protecting the integrity of a crime scene.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the New Mexico State Police for comment regarding the situation. A spokesperson said the matter was being brought to investigators for further response.
Adams, who is a former federal prosecutor, said his firm was hired by Casias’s parents and siblings after multiple red flags were raised by legal observers looking at the case who suspected foul play.
‘There [were] enough phone calls coming in, where people were providing information that they thought was relevant based upon how they knew Melissa, and observations that they have made regarding it, and a lot of it has come to be information that I would undoubtedly dive deep into investigating,’ he revealed.
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