On Thursday, June 26 2025, Melissa Shirley Casias -- a 53 year old mother, avid hunter, devoted reader, thyroid cancer survivor, and administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory -- vanished from Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. 

She dropped lunch off to her daughter Sierra at 12:57 p.m. By 1:38 p.m., her phone had been wiped. By 2:18pm, a witness spotted someone who looked like Melissa walking alone along Highway 518 Eastbound in Talpa. She has not been seen since. 

In this episode, Gina and Amber will introduce you to Melissa: who she was, what her life looked like, and why the people who love her are certain she did NOT choose to disappear. They then walk through the events of June 26, 2025 in chronological order, covering her last confirmed movements, the first hours of the investigation, and the early signs that something about her husband Mark Casias's behavior wasn't adding up. 

Other episodes are available on Weird True Crime's feed. 

If you have information:
Contact the New Mexico State Police at 505-425-6771
or anonymously at Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP

Listen to Weird True Crime’s 3 part series wherever you get your podcasts. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcAPlqQ1t9nzA9B6kAKifmA
https://open.spotify.com/show/3BHNffWPPzW79m0s5phIWM?si=1d2cf98423004b75
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/weird-true-crime/id1803173020

Episode keywords:
Melissa Casias, unsolved, true crime, true crime podcast, disappearance, missing scientists