FBI probes cases of missing or dead scientists, including four from the L.A. area
WASHINGTON— Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday it has launched a broad investigation into the death or disappearance of at least one person. 10 scientists and staff It has been linked to highly sensitive investigations, including four from the Los Angeles area.
“The FBI is leading efforts to search for connections to missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, the War Department, and our county, state, and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee said it would investigate reports of the scientists’ disappearances and deaths, sending letters seeking information from agencies involved in the federal investigation as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked.
“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances could pose a serious threat to U.S. national security and U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” committee chairmen Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) wrote in their letter.
President Trump told Last week journalists He said that he had been informed about the missing and deceased scientists and that these were “quite a serious issue”. He said at the time that he expected answers about whether the deaths were related “within the next week and a half.”
Michael David Hicks, who studied comets and asteroids at JPL, was the first of the scientists to disappear or die. He died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. The cause of death was not disclosed.
A year later, JPL physicist Frank Maiwald died at age 61, with no cause of death disclosed.
Two more Los Angeles scientists are part of a string of deaths and disappearances.
On June 22, 2025, Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials scientist at JPL, disappeared while hiking near Waterman Mountain in the San Gabriel Mountains.
On February 16, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot on the porch of his home in Llano. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department arrested 29-year-old Freddy Snyder in connection with the shooting. Snyder was arrested in December on suspicion of trespassing on Grillmair’s property.
Snyder is accused of murder.
There is no evidence at this stage that the deaths and disappearances, which occurred over a four-year period, are linked.
A spokesperson for NASA, which owns JPL, told X in a statement that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with relevant agencies regarding the missing scientists.”
“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” agency spokeswoman Bethany Stevens wrote. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information whenever possible.”
Caltech representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
