Tag: new mexico

Former New Mexico AG Drop Epstein BOMBSHELL

New Mexico’s former Attorney General is calling out the Justice Department for systematically undermining the state’s long-running effort to probe Jeffrey Epstein’s isolated Zorro Ranch, revealing a pattern of interference that began in 2019 and continues to this day. 

Hector Balderas says federal prosecutors struck an informal deal, took the state’s evidence, then ghosted New Mexico while the elite predator’s desert compound remained largely untouched.

In an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation, Balderas detailed how the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York persuaded his office to halt interviews of witnesses and persons of interest in exchange for a promise to return any state-related materials once the federal case wrapped. That promise, he says, was never kept.

A newly surfaced handwritten note from July 23, 2019, captures the arrangement: “Agreed NMDOJ will stop interviews + refer all matters to SDNY. SDNY will refer any state-related matters to NMAG @ [the] conclusion of SDNY case.” 

An email from then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey days later confirmed the conversation, stating New Mexico had agreed to “cease any investigation into sex trafficking and share whatever they had gathered to date” while the federal side pledged to pass along state crime information later. 

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Chilling new clues missed by cops challenge suicide theory on missing scientist found dead in woods

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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New Mexico says US Justice Dept hindering probe of former Epstein ranch

New Mexico’s top law enforcement official on Thursday accused the U.S. Department of Justice of hindering the state’s investigation into ​Jeffrey Epstein by withholding unredacted files on the late sex ‌offender.

The Democratic-run state re-opened an investigation in February into activities at Epstein’s former ranch south of state capital Santa Fe, where he is accused of abusing women and ​girls for nearly three decades.

Nearly five months into the investigation, New ​Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has yet to announce any ⁠results.

Political pressure to release U.S. Department of Justice files on Epstein has dogged ​President Donald Trump during his second term. He has suggested the country move on ​from investigating the late financier’s crimes.

In a June 30 letter, opens new tab to Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche, Torrez said the Justice Department had failed to respond to a state request ​in February for unredacted files containing names of Epstein survivors, witnesses, co-conspirators, ​and other individuals essential to the New Mexico probe.

In a statement on Thursday, Torrez said ‌the ⁠delay, which has now lasted 130 days, was “unreasonable under any rule of reason.”

In response, a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said the agency responded to the New Mexico request in June.

“The DOJ reiterates that it welcomes New ​Mexico undertaking additional ​investigation of the ⁠Zorro Ranch and stands ready to provide necessary assistance with New Mexico’s investigation,” the spokesperson said, adding that ​the agency was ready to investigate and possibly prosecute ​any federal ⁠crimes the New Mexico investigation uncovered.

In March, Torrez said investigators faced significant obstacles in the Zorro Ranch probe. He cited the years that had passed ⁠since ​Epstein’s alleged crimes, possible deterioration or disappearance ​of evidence at the ranch which was sold in 2023, and possible jurisdictional issues surrounding any ​potential prosecutions.

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Roswell’s biggest mystery might not be the UFO

Four University of New Mexico students are revisiting one of New Mexico’s most enduring mysteries, the notorious 1947 Roswell UFO Incident.

Not to determine whether aliens landed near Roswell, but to examine what the incident reveals about the law, government transparency and public trust.

UNM constitutional law/pre-law students Nicole Osborne, Caden Salazar, Tatiana James and Miguel Serna recently participated in an online panel discussing the Roswell incident through a legal lens, setting aside the long-running debate over whether the debris found approximately 75 miles northwest of Roswell was extraterrestrial.

That debate began in 1947, when something crashed onto William Ware “Mac” Brazel’s ranch near Corona.

Brazel reported the incident, and personnel from Roswell Army Air Field traveled to the ranch to retrieve the debris.

Soon afterward, the U.S. Army Air Force announced that it had “come into the possession of a flying saucer.”

Less than a day later, the military retracted the statement, saying the recovered object was a weather balloon.

The abrupt reversal fueled decades of speculation about a government cover-up.

“While there is this alien background to everything and a conspiracy background to everything, we’re also able to look at this incident from a legal lens and view the relationship between the people and their government and understand why it’s so applicable to our day-to-day life,” Osborne said.

The four UNM constitutional law/pre-law students are looking at it from a legal angle.

The panel stemmed from an assignment from their professor, Lawrence R. Jones, intended to help students apply constitutional knowledge to real-world scenarios.

“It’s not just about whether there were aliens or not, but there are a whole lot of other issues here on Earth that matter and should matter,” Jones said.

The panel was sponsored by the New Mexico State Library, the New Mexico Museum of Space History and the University of New Mexico Political Science Department.

Moderators asked the students several questions about the crash. They were asked background and summary questions and whether the government or military has the right to enforce a citizen’s silence on what they consider classified material.

Students discussed government secrecy, free speech, property rights, military authority and constitutional protections.

The panelists had been preparing since May and researching the Roswell crash before that.

“I actually invite the whole community to learn about the whole Roswell incident, because it just opens up opportunities for them to learn about their constitutional rights,” Serna said. “I think that one of the most important things that you have is your rights.”

Katherine Miles, bureau chief of the public services bureau at the New Mexico State Library, served as a mediator for the program.

“The Roswell incident has become a pop culture staple, fueling endless speculation about aliens and their intentions,” she said. “But in all the noise, we often lose sight of the human story at its core. These students, with their deep curiosity and insight, have brought that humanity back into focus. Their work reminds us to look at the everyday world around us with a wider, more thoughtful lens.”

You can watch the panel on the New Mexico State Library’s website. https://libguides.nmstatelibrary.org/UFOs

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She Took Two KEY Items: New Details Raise Doubts Over Los Alamos Lab Assistant’s Death

Fresh reporting reveals that Melissa Casias, administrative assistant at the Los Alamos nuclear lab, left home with everyday possessions that suggest she intended to survive — not end her life — raising new questions in the widening pattern of mysterious deaths among nuclear and UFO-linked personnel.

Some have suggested that Casias committed suicide, yet new details about her final moments show that before walking out the door of her Ranchos de Taos home on June 26, 2025, Casias took her toothbrush and thyroid medication with her.

Los Angeles Magazine contributor Lauren Conlin, who has followed the case closely, told NewsNation that these are “things that might indicate you’re planning to stay alive.”

She also returned home to drop off both her work and personal phones — which were later found wiped clean of all data. Her skeletal remains were discovered nearly a year later next to a handgun her family has stated did not belong to her. No bullet was recovered despite reports of a gunshot wound to the head.

Investigator Morgan Wright put it plainly: “You don’t get slumped up on a tree… Most of the time, in every crime scene I’ve worked on, there are skeletonized remains, and there’s no connective tissue left. Everything’s on the ground in pieces.”

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Former FBI Agent Claims Nuclear Lab Worker May Have Been Killed With DIRECT ENERGY WEAPON

A former FBI agent has advanced a bombshell theory that the Los Alamos National Laboratory worker whose remains were recovered from a New Mexico forest was eliminated using a direct energy weapon, complete with psychological manipulation technology that could explain her sudden, out-of-character departure from home.

The claims inject a technological dimension into the pattern of mysterious deaths and disappearances among those with access to nuclear and classified aerospace secrets—suggesting outside actors may be deploying exotic tools to silence key personnel and block public knowledge.

Melissa Casias, a 53-year-old administrative assistant at the elite lab, vanished on June 26, 2025 after dropping her husband, a lab superintendent, at work.

Her actions that day were atypical: she claimed she needed to retrieve a forgotten security badge even though she had it, visited her daughter to drop off a sandwich while saying she would work from home, then returned to the house, wiped both phones clean of all data, and walked away without keys, identification or purse.

Surveillance last placed her walking alone eastward on State Road 518 roughly three miles from the family home in Ranchos de Taos around 2:20 p.m.

Her skeletal remains turned up on May 28, 2026 in the Carson National Forest, discovered by a hiker near a handgun the family said did not belong to her. As previously reported, identification followed in early June.

Forensic teams reconstructed the skull from fragments found at the scene. New Mexico State Police confirmed that “the initial CT scan did not reveal any projectiles in the skull.” No official cause of death has yet been issued by the medical examiner.

Former FBI agent Ben Hansen examined the details shared so far and concluded they point strongly away from suicide. “Just what they have shared is highly highly suspicious,” he stated on the Brian Entin Investigates podcast. “I don’t know if I give a percentage but it’s kind of more like an 80 percent foul play versus someone who’s depressed is the way I see it.”

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Cause of Death for Missing Scientist and Nuclear Lab Employee Reportedly Revealed

The cause of death for the missing scientist who was discovered dead in a New Mexico forest has been reportedly revealed, but it is simply raising more questions.

As The Gateway Pundit reported on Monday, New Mexico State Police announced that they identified the remains of 54-year-old Melissa Casias, a scientist and nuclear lab employee, who worked as an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Casias was last seen alive on June 26, 2025. Her body was found in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest.

This is about six miles from the last place Casias was seen walking before being declared missing.

Although the New Mexico State Police have yet to release an official cause of death, the Daily Mail has learned that her body had a gunshot wound to the skull, and a gun was found close by.

In addition, her body was found skeletonized and propped up in a seated position against a tree in a remote part of the National Forest.

While at first glance this may suggest suicide, Arizona-based investigator Thomas McNally does not agree. He has been working on the case of Casias’s disappearance on behalf of her parents, Joe and Joanne Mondragon.

He suspects that foul play was involved in her death.

“It’s great that the press is getting this story out there because of the Los Alamos stuff,” McNally said, “But it has nothing to do with LANL. If you want to tell the story, tell a real story.”

“I want to be emphatic on this point – this is in no way, shape, or form related to her job,” he added.

Adding to the mystery is that The Mail previously noted that she had left ALL RECORDS from her phones (she had more than one), and her identification behind.

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the Daily Mail in March that he thought Casias’s disappearance was part of a bigger pattern involving individuals who had access to top-secret government research.

Swecker theorized that Casias’s work at LANL made her a target for abduction. The reason is that an administrative assistant often has access to the same sensitive files as their superiors.

“In a classified lab, or just a high clearance lab, they would basically be in the know on what’s going on,” Swecker explained. “And it wouldn’t be the first time their administrative assistant has been targeted.”

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Missing Scientist Melissa Casias Body Found ‘Skeletonized’

Missing government worker Melissa Casias has been found dead … with her body “skeletonized” and a gunshot wound to her skull, a report says.

According to New Mexico State Police, a hiker found “human remains” at McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest … who authorities have ID’ed as Melissa. They also said a gun was found “alongside the remains.”

NMSP hasn’t announced cause or manner of death, but investigator Thomas McNally — who’d been looking into the case for Melissa’s parents — told DailyMail that her body was “skeletonized,” sitting against a tree with a gunshot wound in her skull.

McNally claims Melissa was wearing “sun-bleached clothing” and her body didn’t show any signs of animal activity.

Melissa — who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory — disappeared about a year ago, after she dropped her husband off at the lab, where he also worked.

Her case has made headlines because she’s one of at least 10 government workers and scientists who have died or gone missing since 2023.

But McNally insists Melissa’s death has “nothing to do” with those other cases, telling DailyMail … “I want to be emphatic on this point — this is in no way, shape, or form related to her job.”

He does, however, believe there’s foul play involved and says her family is filing a civil suit against NMSP … because they believe they botched the case.

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Missing Scientist and Nuclear Lab Employee Found DEAD in New Mexico Forest as the Shocking Circumstances Surrounding Her Disappearance are Revealed

A missing scientist has been discovered dead in a New Mexico forest, but that is just the beginning of a more harrowing and stunning story.

As The Daily Mail reported on Monday, New Mexico State Police announced that they identified the remains of 54-year-old Melissa Casias, a scientist and nuclear lab employee, who worked as an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Office of the Medical Investigator in New Mexico has not yet determined the cause of her death.

Casias was last seen alive on June 26, 2025. Her body was found in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest.

This is about six miles from the last place Casias was seen walking before being declared missing.

It’s unknown how long Casias’s body was in the forest before it was found. But it’s surprising it took this long because this is a part of a US Forest Service restoration project where crews have been working consistently since December 2025.

Casia’s disappearance and death are also quite alarming. The Mail notes that she previously left ALL RECORDS from her phones (she had more than one), left her identification behind, and vanished last June.

Sounds like something straight out of a spy thriller. What was going on?

From the Daily Mail:

Casias vanished after dropping off her husband, another LANL employee, at the facility that June morning, approximately 70 miles from their home. That was when Casias’s behavior allegedly became unusual, as she claimed she would need to return home after forgetting the badge needed to access the nuclear lab.

According to her husband, Mark, a superintendent at the lab, Casias had the security badge with her when she dropped him off that morning, as she would have needed the badge to get past the security checkpoints.

When Casias arrived in Ranchos de Taos, the couple’s daughter, Sierra, reportedly told investigators that her mother visited the teen’s place of work to drop off a sandwich and then said she planned to work from home after forgetting the badge needed to access the nuclear lab.

The wife and mother then wiped all records from her phones before leaving them and her identification behind and walking out of her home in Ranchos de Taos.

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Police confirm body is missing Taos woman, LANL worker

New Mexico State Police confirmed Saturday night that human remains discovered off Rio Chiquito Road southeast of Taos belong to Melissa Casias, the missing Ranchos de Taos woman and Los Alamos National Laboratory worker who disappeared last June.

The single lane dirt road — Forest Road 437 — is accessible from N.M. 518 in Talpa, where security camera footage captured the last known sighting of Casias on June 26 of last year. Rio Chiquito Road extends deep into the Carson National Forest and provides access to the Garcia Park recreation area and several trails.

The body was discovered by a hiker in the McGaffey Ridge area of the national forest.

The Office of the Medical Investigator positively identified the deceased individual as Casias, however the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, according to a state police press release. Police said a handgun was found “alongside the remains.”

The remains will undergo “further anthropological examination” by the medical investigator, according to state police, who “extend their deepest condolences to the Casias and Mondragon families during this difficult time.”

Jazmin McMillen, Casias’ niece, posted an official statement from the family on a Facebook page dedicated to finding the missing wife and mother. 

“We confirm that the remains found in Rio Chiquito are Melissa,” the post states. “There will be more information to come but what we can tell you now is she was located in an area previously searched. This is a lot to process, our hearts are heavy and we fully intend to continue to pursue answers for justice.”  

An investigation into the circumstances of Casias’ disappearance and her death is ongoing.

Casias, who lived with her husband in Ranchos de Taos, was reported missing after her daughter, Sierra Casias, came home from work and discovered her mother’s keys, wallet, and work and personal cell phones — both wiped of data — inside the house. Her mother’s car was parked outside the home and the front door was locked. Melissa Casias was an administrative assistant at LANL, where her husband, Mark Casias, also worked.

Her disappearance drew national media attention and has been featured on the Crime Junkie podcast, which reported the discovery of the human remains in a social media post Friday evening (May 29).

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