Law&Crime Sidebar - Bizarre New Evidence in Missing Scientist Case Takes Chilling Turn

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

When Melissa Casias, an administrative assistant at the highly secretive Los Alamos National Laboratory, vanished without a trace, she left behind a trail of bizarre clues, including her personal belongings and a completely wiped cell phone. After her skeletonized remains were recently discovered by a hiker in a New Mexico national forest, her grieving family reportedly uncovered shocking new evidence at the scene that completely upends the initial investigation. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber sits down with the family's attorney, David Adams, and Los Angeles Magazine contributor and true crime reporter Lauren Conlin to break down what these disturbing new details mean for the case.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Stop guessing - start making perfect food every time. Use code SIDEBAR for 40% off - https://chefiq.com/discount/SIDEBAR HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Additional bones were found. There was blood on the clothing, apparently. I certainly suspect that there's fall play in this case. She was reportedly an administrative assistant at one of the most secretive labs in the country when she vanished one summer morning. Melissa Casillas disappeared, apparently leaving behind some key belongings. One of them maybe was even tampered with. After her remains were just discovered,

her family is now claiming they've uncovered even more. Shocking evidence that is changing everything. And I'm going to be breaking this down with the family's attorney and a reporter who broke this story. Lauren Conlin will talk about it right now. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, real quick, before we jump into this, look, America only turns 250 once to celebrate this historic milestone Chef IQ has released this, this limited edition, Stars and Stripes, Chef IQ, Sense Smart Meat Thermometer. This is built for backyard legends, proud patriots, serious barbecue fans alike.

This Stars and Stripes Edition, it comes in a bold, red, white, and blue styling. And it also includes, if you see it right there, these individually numbered units. So every piece is a unique part of this once-in-a-generation celebration. And this IQ sense, it does more than just look like a cool collector's item. Now, underneath the design is the same pro-level performance in smart technology that makes the IQ sense. with a wireless probe that works with Wi-Fi for monitoring from anywhere, you'll be able to watch the fireworks and not the grill. It works for every protein.

Prime rib, wings, chicken, fish, use my code sidebar for 40% off sitewide at ChefIQ.com. That's ChefIQ.com. Use my code sidebar for 40% off. We've been following this story for a while now. Melissa Cassius, the reported administrative assistant from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, who had vanished seemingly into thin air. And after her remains were found just last month, almost a year from when she disappeared,

this is just when we thought we might be getting some answers. This case has taken yet another strange turn. Now, a hiker reportedly found Melissa's remains in May. And since then, we have all been waiting for the medical examiner to tell us what exactly happened to her. What was the cause of death? What was the manner of death? And now what has just happened?

new information. And this is all based on reporting from LA magazine. Okay, the Casillas family has now apparently hired their own search team who headed back to that remote area where her remains were found. And according to their attorney, they discovered items that had never been mentioned before. Shredded pieces of paper, hair, bones. And that's just a bit of what was reportedly uncovered. And this really stands out, according to the family's attorney, is that, Melissa's sister reportedly recognized her handwriting in the shredded papers. What does the writing say? What does this all mean?

How was this reported evidence not uncovered sooner? So there's a lot to get into, but I'm not going to be doing it alone. I got two very special guests joining me on this episode of Sidebar. I got Lauren Conlin, a contributor for Los Angeles Magazine. She's been covering this case from the very beginning. She's spoken with family. She's spoken in law enforcement. She has her sources.

She's going to tell us what she's discovered. But we're also bringing on David Adams. So this is the attorney representing the family, the one who was instrumental in that search team going back into that forest. Now, you're going to remember that Melissa Gaseas was the 53-year-old wife, mother, reported administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, vanished in June of 2025. And the circumstances surrounding her disappearance were strange from the very start. Because according to NBC News, her husband, Mark, who also worked at the lab, told investigators that she dropped them off at work that day, that she said she would. was going to go to another location within the lab to complete some sort of task. She reportedly never came back. Instead, she reportedly returned home because she had forgotten her badge. Her daughter

reportedly saw her that morning around 7.45 a.m. Her family goes to the house. They end up finding her belongings still there. So her purse, her keys, her identification. Her cell phone was also reportedly left behind. And one of those phones had even been put in factory reset, wiped completely clean. So the question becomes, who reset the phone and why? That same afternoon. So this is June 26, 2025. Family acquaintance spotted Melissa walking eastbound on State Road 518. It's apparently a highway that runs through the mountains northeast of Touse. And that, as far as we know, was the last confirmed sighting of her. Apparently, this was also captured on security video two from a local business. You had New Mexico State Police PIO Sergeant Ricardo Brissetta told date,

line, quote, she is observed walking eastbound on NM-518 and wearing the clothing she was last reported wearing in the Taos Plaza, light color shirt, jeans, light tennis shoes. It is difficult to tell if she appears distressed. And then it was literally just nothing for nearly a year. There was no answers. The family was searching. Volunteers jumped into search. Law enforcement was on top of it. But then Melissa, what happened? Nowhere to be found. And throughout all of this, The family claims they're essentially fighting a narrative they don't agree with. In fact, this is what Melissa's niece, Jasmine McMillan, told L.A. magazine. From day one, we've been fighting the idea that Melissa simply left on her own and abandoned her daughter.

That could be further from who she was. Melissa loved her daughter more than anything, and we believe that narrative may have prevented the investigation from receiving the urgency it deserved. And then May 28th of this year, a hiker was walking through a national forest when they discovered human remains about six miles from Melissa's home, and according to New Mexico State Police, the remains were found in an area in the Carson National Forest. This is just outside of Touse. And a handgun was also reportedly found near the remains, which were reportedly skeletonized. The office of the medical examiner positively identified the remains as that of Melissa. And her family confirmed this in a heartbreaking post online, writing, on Saturday, May 30th, we received the worst news any parent could ever hear.

After 11 months of searching and holding on to hope, our beloved Melissa was found. Sadly, our worst nightmare had become a reality. But they also included a detail that was really interesting. This was from a post back on May 30th. 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.

Think about what that might mean, right? The initial search teams missed her. They didn't see it. see what was going on or what was there, or maybe she wasn't there when they were looking for her. But what are the police saying here? Hard to say. They're not saying much. Now, before I get into how we got to this reported uncovered evidence, remember the handgun that I mentioned found near her remains? Well, according to LA Magazine, a forensic CT scan of Melissa's skull found no projectiles, meaning no bullet found in her head, at least during this preliminary stage. L.A. magazine's

Lauren Kamen, who's been on this since the beginning, she took to X, shared correspondence. that she said she had with New Mexico State Police in which they appear to confirm this. So maybe the scene could have pointed to something else, but with no bullet in the skull, the theory that Melissa took her own life seems like it needs to be examined closely, right? And now there's new evidence that the family apparently uncovered on their own. This is evidence that, according to their attorney, has yet to be included in the investigation. So how could this potentially complicate what is happening, complicate the much-anticipated autopsy results.

I want to get into it now, and I want to bring on somebody, I can't believe this is her first time on sidebar. I take full blame for this. But my friend Lauren Conlin, podcaster, reporter, host of pop culture and true crime. Again, LA magazine contributor, Lauren, thank you so much for coming on. It's good to see you. You too. I know. I can't believe this is my first time, but I'm very excited.

I know. And you've been on this story from the very beginning. and I want to, I'll go into the back story of it and what we know, but look, everybody's waiting to find out this information. I want to start with what everybody's been waiting to hear about. This potential new evidence. So you're reporting in LA Magazine revealed this family hires their own, essentially their own search team to return to this area where Melissa's remains were found. What exactly did they find? Well, it's pretty concerning that this evidence was.

was not recovered by the New Mexico State Police, specifically because additional bones were found, Jesse. I mean, they had dogs there as well. I was told by a family member, and they were sniffing out the bones like they were human remains. So there's that. There was clothing. They are going to test this clothing. There was blood on the clothing, apparently. I actually don't think I put that in in my story. I think this is a new piece of information here because I did. speak to a family member after. And yeah, there, there was blood on the clothing. And then additionally, there was ripped up pieces of paper nearby. And Melissa's sister, they were kind of comparing the handwriting to some of Melissa's at home. Or, you know, I think that her niece had mentioned Melissa had written her some cards or whatever. And they were like, this looks like Melissa's

handwriting. So the search team obviously is very professional. They bagged up that evidence as they were supposed to, and they gave it to the lawyer who turned it over to the New Mexico State Police. So reportedly, or supposedly, I should say, the police are now including this evidence in their investigation with the OMI and determining the cause and manner of death, because, I mean, we both know it should be included. Okay, I'm made a question here. I want to just take a step back. The pieces of paper, do we know what they were? Like what the writing was, Are they report, were they a note? Like, do we know anything about pieces of paper?

No, they were shredded and they were ripped up. And, Jesse, I have asked a lot of questions here. Like, I followed up with the Cassius family law firm or the law firm they're using. It's Parnell and Adams, I believe. And I'm waiting to hear back because I want to know how close was this to the tree and the coordinates, like where she was found. Are we talking yards, feet, what are we talking? Like, I mean, you know, I want to know.

was the clothing strewn about? I just, I have a lot of questions about how this all, you know, how this was all found. Of course, I want to see the blood on the clothing. I want to give it to our friend Joe Scott Morgan who can, you know, kind of determine a possible pattern, but I just, I haven't heard back yet. Any idea how law enforcement didn't find this stuff? Or does it mean, I can imagine a couple scenarios.

Either one, they didn't see it. Two, they didn't think it was relevant. three, was it there after, you know, Melissa was found? I mean, any idea about why it's only being discovered now or potentially being discovered now? Yeah, Jesse, we got the same questions here. So I reached out to the New Mexico State Police on Monday. And, you know, before this, I had been very impressed with their response time. They were quick.

They were engaging with me. They were saying, you know, it was the PIO I was talking to. And she's like, I'm getting all these answers for you. this was about a week ago when I first reported about there being no projectiles in her skull. But I saw all of this info and I was like, oh, no, I got to know why they missed it. But I'm so confused because how can they determine automatically that suicide if there was no projectile reportedly found in her head unless they, unless there was a projectile that was found on the ground? Or again, I'm so confused because we don't even know really the cause of death, right? No, no, we don't.

you're absolutely right. And keep in mind, the, they found Melissa's remains on the 28th. They confirmed it was her by the 30th through dental records. And then it wasn't until the first that they did the initial scan of her skull and they determined there was no projectiles. Something was going on. I also spoke to an employee at Los Alamos. The whole Melissa forgot her badge. So she turned around and went home. This employee was like, I forgot my badge, uh, multiple times before. You you just go to security and get a temporary badge. So something was going on that we are just not privy to. And what really sucks, Jesse, is that we can't ask Melissa.

No, we can't. So the evidence that was collected, which, by the way, also an orange peel? Was it like a slice of orange or something? Is it being tested? Is it been confirmed? We're sending this out to a lab. They're doing forensic DNA testing on it, fingerprints, anything like that? I mean, I did not confirm that myself with the LMI, but per the law firm, they believe that this is all going into, you know, the same evidence storage for testing with the gun, with her bone, et cetera.

So one would hope and one would think, Jesse. We don't know when the autopsy results are going to come out or be made public or even the family would be alerted, right? No, and that is one thing I did ask the law firm. I just said, do you have a timeline at all about the OMI results? And he said nothing, but it, you know, he didn't, he didn't say this specifically, but he kind of hinted it could be longer because they gave the police new evidence to, you know, to take into consideration when when doing this. Now, something else to remember, the area where she was found, right, this woods, this area. Is it frequented by a lot of people? Like, in other words, can people throw their trash out? If people are saying, well, you know, you're making a connection maybe that all these things that were found, maybe they were thrown in after the fact. I mean, is it heavily populated? Do people throw garbage out there?

Do they throw things there? What do we, what should we know about it? This is why you're so good, Jesse. You ask all the right questions here because now, I'm like, and I also asked that. No, this was what I asked because this hiker that found her, I said, is this? Is this specific area, these coordinates, is it heavily populated? No. It is very, very remote.

I even got chills saying that, very desolate because Carson National Forest is millions of acres. It is like, I think I saw, or when I was researching, it's like two or three times the state of Rhode Island, this national forest. And this specific area where she was found, it's remote. Let's just put it that way. Do you know how to get there? Like, do you have to jump over anything? Do you like have to take an ATV? Again, I don't know anything about it.

I mean, the terrain is rough, but you don't have to do any of that, to my knowledge. You can access this area through Highway 518 where Melissa was last seen walking. So this area can be accessed that way, but again, you've got to go pretty far. It's not right off the highway by any means, by any means at all. So it's baffling. Let's take another step back here. You've been following this from the beginning. What do you know about Melissa in general?

Like what do you know about her life, her activities or hobbies? What do you even know about the work that she was doing? Yeah. So I've actually admittedly changed my mind a lot about this case. When I first, you know, I first saw a headline, I pulled back a few layers, Jesse, but, you know, I very quickly dismissed it as, quote, not being part of the missing scientist case, let's say. Um, her husband had put out a statement on Facebook saying he believed she left on her own. And I, I kind of went with that for a minute thinking, okay, I'm going to respect the husband. I'm going to respect the family. But in the meantime, Melissa's mother, her father, her sister, her niece, they don't believe she left on her own. They don't think that there would be any reason in the world to make her leave her daughter, who was her best friend. Um, Melissa loved being a mother. She was, a wonderful mother. She was an administrative assistant at Los Alamos, and reportedly she was having some issues at work. I don't know what those issues are, but something did result in her

losing her clearance at one point. So I don't know if her family, you know, her family is ruling nothing out, but I don't necessarily think that they think it's connected to classified information because she lost her clearance. And do we know what the nature of that work was? What she did administrative assistant? I mean, I think it could be, you know, a range of things, I guess. She was responsible, you know, for setting up meetings, for, you know, documentation, getting that into the right hands. But her family, at least the family I spoke to, they didn't know too much about her

for day to day. And what about her husband? What did he do there? Does he still work there? I don't know. He does still work there. I don't know his partner. particular role. This Los Alamos laboratory, my understanding, it's a place that handles some of the

most sensitive national security work, maybe in the world, designing weapons that are used in the U.S. nuclear arms stockpile. I think it was also the place where the first atomic bombs were developed. Am I right about this? You are correct. I mean, even going through the UFO files, you see Los Alamos mentioned a lot because I would say in the 1940s, the 1950s, a lot of the sightings were coming from around the Los Alamos, Albuquerque, New Mexico area. And they weren't just being spotted by civilians. They were being spotted by people that worked at Los Alamos that had, you know, a crazy background in this type of stuff, an incredible education.

You know, they worked in the Air Force. they worked in the Department of Defense. So I would say, yeah, this is a very well-known, well-respected place that holds a lot of government secrets. Hey, guys, real quick. So the weather's getting nicer, means it's time for a little spring reset on the closet. And I'll tell you, for me, it is always about quality over quantity and going for pieces that are easy for every day. but, you know, has that elevated feel that won't break the budget. And that's why I got to tell you about quince.

Quince makes beautiful, effortless pieces using premium materials like 100% European linen, organic cotton, super soft denim. And they have tons of accessories, too, like their hand-woven Italian leather bags. But here's the best part. They have style starting around just $50 because they work directly with ethically sourced factory. So you get the quality without the markups. Their linen tops, for example, it's your go-to for the nice weather. The fabric feels injurious, but it is so easy to throw on and still, you know, look put together running out the door.

So give your summer closet an upgrade with Quince. Go to quince.com slash law and crime for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash law and crime for free shipping and 365 day returns. You go back to Mark for a minute, right? So there was an interesting thing that happened a couple of weeks ago where he reportedly filed this temporary restraining order against a private investigator named Thomas McNally, who apparently was working with the family. What's going on there? Yes. So Mark Casillas was granted a TPO by a New Mexico judge against Thomas McNally for, I guess it was it was online harassment mainly from what I saw. this private investigator was retained by the Melissa's family, her mother, her sister, and her niece.

And by the way, they are no longer working together. Actually, the FBI decided that he just couldn't kind of move forward with the investigation as it was at the time. But yeah, he was accusing Mark Casillas of a lot of things. He was putting out a lot of information on his Facebook page. Mark Casillas said he was threatening him and his daughters from a previous marriage threatening their life. When Mark had sent him a cease and desist, he apparently, you know, went online and kind of just ramped things up a little bit.

And then when it came time to, you know, have this virtual hearing about the possible TPO, McNally didn't show up. Now, he says it's because he was improperly served or he never got it. But I think a judge saw that. And he's like, you know what? I'll grant this until at least September. But, you know, McNally wasn't necessarily barred from talking about the case. He was just barred from, yeah, pointing fingers at Mark.

But needless to say, I don't think he'll be doing any additional work on it. And just to be clear, as far as you know with the family, do they have a theory as to what happened to Melissa? I mean, I think they're just trying to be really careful with everything. I think they, they are confused. And like I mentioned, they, they have been so frustrated and sad about having to defend Melissa against these. She left on her own allegations just because they know her character. And they just know that she wouldn't do that. So I think that, you know, they haven't even had time to grieve.

I will say that, you know, in finding Melissa's remains with a handgun nearby where everybody's brain, you know, who possibly, doesn't think about, you know, the Los Alamos connection or anything else. Their brain goes to suicide. And that's just devastating for the family because they know she wouldn't do that. They know she wouldn't do that. They know that there's more to this story. So I just, you know, for their sake, I hope that we can get some answers so they can, you know, take the proper time to grieve. And look, talking about answers, you've been covering the broader missing and dead scientist story, the theories that have been out there. Have you seen any connection? between Melissa and any of the other individuals that we've been discussing here.

Well, I mean, look, Jesse, it's hard. It's hard to say yes and it's hard to say no because there's commonalities. I mean, the state of New Mexico itself, I'd say, is a big commonality here. And the fact that, you know, there have been another employee specifically that went missing. He was retired from Los Alamos, but he went missing, Melissa missing. General Neil McCaslin, I mean, he had connections to the Department of Defense, of course. He worked there. He went missing in New Mexico. I mean, I could keep going. It's just like, I have a hard time here because I did hear from the New Mexico State Police last week,

and this is pertaining to McCaslin. This was, I heard on Friday, they said to me, there is nothing currently to support General McCaslin being linked to any other missing scientist. And I was like, oh, you seem very sure about that. Have you spoken to other agencies, have you, you know, what's going on? And I asked specifically, have you spoken to agencies in Los Angeles, Los Alamos, you know, all they said back was, yes, we've spoken to other agencies. And at the moment, we don't see any connections. At the moment, I don't know, but they just, they won't get into it. There was this statement. The quote, the New Mexico State Police is awaiting the office of the medical investigator's official determination regarding the cause and

manner of death before drawing any conclusions. This is referring to Melissa. This remains an active and ongoing investigation. The New Mexico State Police continue to pursue relevant investigative leads while also following the facts and evidence in the case. We, by the way, reached out to the police for additional comment. We're waiting response at the time of recording. Not surprised by that response, Lauren? I mean, no, that response is super safe.

It's very diplomatic. It's very, it's the response that one should give, I feel like, when we don't have answers. But I do believe as I start to go through this police report, I do believe that there could have been a little more urgency at the beginning if family members, immediate family members, like Melissa's husband, maybe put a little more emphasis on find my wife. She's missing. Not I think she went off on her own type of thing. I think that's, you know, and even if you think that, that is fine. You have your reasons. That's fine.

But I just, if I'm law enforcement, I want to dig further. I want to know why. You know what I mean? I want to know every single avenue of this case. I want to explore everything. So I'm, yeah, I'm a little confused at that as well. You're going to be on top of it. I want everybody to follow Lauren on this.

Her reporting's excellent on every story that she covers, including, by the way, David. I don't even think we've had you on to talk about David, which we'll definitely do that, too. Yes, yes. But Lauren, you're the best. Thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. And thank you for shedding light on this story.

I want to bring on David Adams. So David is the attorney that's representing the family in this and has been instrumental as we're talking about this potential new evidence that was found at the scene. Thank you so much for taking the time. My first question is, just to be clear, who exactly retained you and for what purpose were you retained? Thanks, Jesse. And thanks for having me on the show. having an opportunity to talk about this important case.

I was retained by the maternal side of the family, you know, the parents of Melissa and the sister. And I've investigated a lot of prior murdered cases, specifically missing murder indigenous women cases in the past. And I'm a prior federal prosecutor that focused on just crimes against women as well in my past job. So oftentimes I present at conferences around the country. And in one situation, an investigator was at the conference.

connected me with the family. And I learned pretty quickly that just based upon the things I'd seen in the investigation that I could be helpful in trying to have some oversight on it and hopefully try to build some momentum to have the right things done since it was still an active investigation. Do you believe there's evidence that this was a homicide? Yes, I certainly, from my perspective and everything that I've seen, I certainly suspect that there's fall play in this case. What's the ones that's, what's the pieces of?

of evidence or the circumstances that stand out to you the most that would suggest that? I think that given the nature of this of Melissa period in terms of the day before she went missing was her 20th anniversary, three days prior was her daughter's high school graduation. And given how her family and community knew her, that this was something that would never be part of her life where she would disappear or consider committing suicide. So those initial red flags, of course, were huge. How her phone was left behind and both of the phones having all the information deleted, certainly was also suspicious, not taking any medications with her or anything like that,

wherever she was going at the time. All the red flags were there in the beginning. That kind of combined with the initial red flags and then finding her body and finding how remote she was and how those that, went up there would probably say it would be nearly impossible to go up there without having assistance or without having water or food to get you up there because of the terrain being so difficult and so remote. And then to have that terrain end up being federal land, you know, is also unique in itself. Is there any evidence that suggests her body was moved there?

I, in my opinion, yes, there is, and I'll go over that with you. I'm definitely very curious to see how the forensic anthropologists, you know, and their findings from O'MI assist in that as well. But just the fact that there was paper found in her vicinity that was either torn or shredded or cut, whatever might be the case. And to have it be as clear as it was, 11 months after she went missing, given the fact that there's so much rain and snow in that area, it seems highly unlikely that that paper would depict that writing so clearly after that long. And along with that, just finding, you know, all the additional evidence that was found a week after the crime scene was closed and after a, you know, a thorough sweep of that area was done.

And so all of that, you know, every little clue you can find at a crime scene is super helpful and can be the key piece of evidence later that identifies somebody that may have been there. And so to have that forensically analyzed is so unbelievably important. And to be clear, because I spoke to Lauren Conlin as well about this, that material was gathered by, and correct me from it. Is this by a team that you hired an outside investigative team, it was collected and sent to you and you gave it off to law enforcement to be tested? Yeah. So what happened was is that law enforcement and contacted the family after Melissa was found and provided the, coordinates as to where she was and indicated that the crime scene was open and released and there was

nothing else to be done. So the family along with a four corners search and rescue team went up to the area to just kind of see where she was last, not expecting really to find anything. And I think everybody was pretty blown away when they started finding what they found, including, you know, bones, of course, that a dog, you know, had at least gave indication that it could be human bones, you know, based upon the training of the dog, but that'll be determined by the anthropologist and the paper itself, some things that we identified as being possible biological material and blood in the ground. Her clothing, you know, seemingly that was also in shreds. There are some parts of the clothing that appeared to have possible blood in it as well.

A shoestring up there. A wrapper is up there as well. And so every single thing, that could put some type of DNA analysis and attach to somebody or something I think is super, super important in cases like this when otherwise there isn't any other evidence. Was there an orange peel or an orange or something like that? Yeah, there was an orange peel, which was obviously also an initial red flag. And we later learned that law enforcement and indicated that that came from somebody in their a law enforcement team. Having been a prior prosecutor and having reviewed lots of different crime scenes,

I certainly don't want to have any type of contamination take place of a crime scene where anything is left nearby. I mean, my hope and expectation, just as the general public's expectation should be, is it's clean of any debris left behind by law enforcement. So it just doesn't cause any issues. And so at least we can say for certain that law enforcement would say that that orange peals theirs. So this evidence is collected.

You handed over to law enforcement. What do they say about what they're going to do with it in terms of testing? And B, did they give an explanation about how any of this wasn't found earlier? Yeah, good question. Initially, law enforcement response was that, wow, this is surprising because we think we've got 95% of, you know, of all of Melissa's remains with us. And so it was surprising to see anything found up there because I understand that there was at least seven people from the law enforcement. team that investigated this crime scene, which I think they would all attest to being super tired and worn out by the time they got there just because of the actual terrain to get there.

But it's definitely concerning that they were a little nonchalant about all the belongings found up there. Like it wasn't so significant. So, you know, the way that I understand the analysis should be taking place is that some of those findings will be provided to the office of the medical investigator, and some of those findings will remain with law enforcement for them to do another analysis. But most of it went to OMI. In fact, I had contacted the attorney for OMI just to make sure that there was a clear understanding that this was found and that they were going to be taking this in as evidence as well.

So that did take place, and they did come and gather all of the evidence to take pictures of that evidence at the office. Did they give you a time frame about when you might get answers back, when the family might get answers back, whether it's in terms of that testing or even the autopsy? No. Unfortunately, we have no idea on timing. Given prior experiences, you know, we really should be seeing some initial reports and findings from OMA and law enforcement within the next 30 days, hopefully. Talk to me about the report. They do this preliminary CT scan. and they don't find a projectile in Melissa's skull. I'm confused as to how that might be possible, and B, how did they were, it seems that there was an immediate understanding or an immediate conclusion

that she might have done something to herself, but I guess I'm confused how two things can be true at the same time. How can authorities determine that she might have done this to herself, if I'm understanding it correctly and B, how is it possible there's no projectile, in her or bullet found in her skull based on a preliminary examination at this point? Yeah, great question, Jesse. I think the initial side to it is just that I think there's a lack of compassion truly in how the investigation was conducted. I think it's reflected throughout the investigation.

Even you mentioned the gun, you know, I would think that the analysis, the forensic analysis of that firearm will also have some indication as to whether or not it had been outside for a very long time. because there will be some wear and tear, possible rust on the firearm, if it had been sitting outside in those conditions for that long. The speculation that it could have been suicide, I think, is something that most people tend to do under circumstances where there hasn't been a lot done to determine whether or not there is any foul play. And so I certainly would never recommend that an unattended finding of a body

that suicide be the first conclusion. Not too surprising to me that the CT scan, which at this point I just speculate on because I have not seen that report, so I can't say for certain if that is the case, but obviously there's been some findings released that indicate there is no indication that there's any gunshot wound to the head.

And all that means to me is that there's a different cause of death that we should expect to see in the findings from O'N.I. Do you and or the family have a theory as to who may potentially be responsible? You don't have to name names, but do you have a theory as to who maybe should be investigated

as to who might have done this, whether she had any enemies? I mean, again, if we're taking the premise that this was a homicide. Yeah, in my mind, there's usually a checklist in place for these types of cases, and you should be going down that checklist with a fine-tooth comb

to make sure you've covered every possible loose end or circumstantial evidence that could lend itself to a conclusion in the investigation. And from what the information that I've seen and have listened to, there are definitely individuals involved that I would talk to and try to get some answers to to explain some things that have been suggested by folks that have called in and it's up line. Our hope, of course, is that law enforcement does talk to those individuals. so we have a clear understanding as to whether or not the information they can provide is accurate. Do you know anything more about the work that she was doing?

I'm not exactly sure what she had access to. But nonetheless, you know, given the fact that she was working at an area that has been of national attention in many different past occasions, you certainly would want to pay attention to it. And frankly, given the fact that she was found on federal land and had that job, you know, I would have suspected and hoped that the FBI would have been involved. at least in some of the initial investigation. And to my understanding, they weren't involved and going to where she was found and hasn't been doing a whole lot in this case.

And I would have hoped that they would have been more involved given those factors. Before I let you go, how's the family doing? I think they are just beginning a whole new chapter of grief now that she has been found. it has taken that last hope that they had that maybe she would be out there and alive and that she would return home someday. Now I think the grief has turned into accountability and justice because of what they believe to be lots of red flags in this case as well. They are anxiously waiting some type of conclusion when it comes to the forensics of this

case to where they could really start healing knowing that if there is somebody that's involved in that this was a homicide, that they're brought to justice in this case. And I think that will really open the doors for them to begin the healing journey. Otherwise, this has been an extremely emotionally exhausting time frame for the family. Of course. I mean, understandably so it's one thing to lose a family member, but now there be a magnifying glass put on it from the entire world.

Listen, thank you so much for coming on, explaining a little bit more of the circumstances of this, what we should expect next. Sending my best wishes to the family. What is at a really difficult time? But David Adams, thank you so much. Thank you, Jesse. We really appreciate the attention to this,

hopefully lending itself to small community members that come forward with information if they have it. So we thank you all very much. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast.

You can also check us out on NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to follow me, X Instagram, My News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.