Bizarre New Evidence in Missing Scientist Case Takes Chilling Turn

Additional bones were found. There was. blood on the clothing, apparently. >> I certainly suspect that there's foul. 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 Cacias. disappeared, apparently leaving behind. some key belongings. One of them, maybe, was even tampered with. After her remains were just discovered, [music]. her family is now claiming they've. uncovered even more shocking evidence. that is changing everything. And I'm. going to be breaking this [music] down.

with the family's attorney and a. reporter who broke this story, Lauren. Connolly. We'll talk about it right. [music] now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Hey, real quick, before we jump [music]. 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 smart meat thermometer. This is. built for backyard legends, proud.

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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 with 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 Casillas 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 him off at work that day, that. she said she 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. 26th, 2025, a family acquaintance. spotted Melissa walking eastbound on.

State Road 518. It's apparently a. highway that runs through the mountains. northeast of Taos. And that, as far as. we know, was the last confirmed sighting. of her. Apparently, this was also. captured on security video, too, from a. local business. You had New Mexico State. Police PIO Sergeant Ricardo Berceda told. Dateline, 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 in to. 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. LA Magazine, "From day one, we've been. fighting the idea that Melissa simply. left on her own and abandoned her.

daughter. That couldn't 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 6 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 Taos. 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, quote, "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? Either the. initial search teams missed her didn't. see it, they didn't 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. LA. Magazine's Lauren Coman, 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 backstory 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, your 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 were found. What. exactly did they find? >> Well, it's pretty concerning that. this evidence 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 I was. told by a family member and they were. sniffing out the bones like they were. human remains. So, there's there's that. There was clothing. They are going to 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 paper nearby and Melissa's. sister, they were kind of comparing the. handwriting to to some of Melissa's at. at home or, you know, I think that her. 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 or supposedly I should. say, the police are now including this. evidence in their investigation with the. OMI in determining the cause and manner. of death because I mean, we both know it. should be included. >> Okay, I'm going to ask a question here.

I want to just take a step back. The. pieces of paper, do we know what they. were? Like what what the writing was? Are they a report? Were they a note? Like what do we know anything about the. pieces of paper? >> No, they were shredded and they were. ripped up. And Jesse, I I have asked a. lot of questions here. Like I followed. up with the the Cassius family law firm. or the law firm they're using. It's. Parnall 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 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 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. 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 I just I haven't heard. back yet. >> Any idea how law enforcement didn't find. this stuff? Or does it I 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 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 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." And 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 this.". >> 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 I I again, I'm so. confused.

we don't even know really the cause of. death, right? >> No, no, we don't. You're absolutely. right and 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 multiple times. before. 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 like. Is it being tested? Is it being. 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 OMI, 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 with her bones, etc. So. one would would hope and and one would. think, Jesse. >> We We 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, um. the area where she was found, right? This woods would this area. Um. is it frequented by a lot of people?

Like in other words, can people throw. their trash out? If you people 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, do is it. heavily populated? Do Can it 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. No, I'm like and I also asked that. No, this was This [laughter] was what I I. asked because this hiker that that found. her, I 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 I saw or and. 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. >> know how to get there? Like do you have. to jump over anything? Do you like have. to take an ATV? I again, I don't know. anything about it. >> Yeah. I mean, the terrain is rough, but. you don't have to do any of that to my. knowledge. Um it you can 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 got to go pretty far. It's. not It's not right off the highway by.

any means by any means at all. Um so, it's. 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, her. hobbies? What do you even know about the. work that she was doing? >> Yeah. So, I I've actually admittedly. changed my mind a lot about this case. When I first. you know, came I first saw a headline, I.

I pulled back a few layers, Jesse, but. you know, I I very quickly dismissed it. as {quote} not being part of that 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 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 uh. a wonderful mother. She was an. administrative assistant at 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 which she did as an. administrative assistant? >> Um I mean, it's I think it it could be. you know, a. a range of things, I guess. She she was. responsible, you know, for setting up. meetings, for um 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 her day-to-day.

>> And what about her husband? What did he. do there? What does he do? Or does he. still work there? I don't know. >> He he does still work there. Um I don't. know his his 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. US 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, I even going. through the UFO files, you see Los. Alamos mentioned a lot because. I would say in the the 1940s, the 1950s, a lot of the sightings were coming from. around the the Los Alamos, Albuquerque, New Mexico area, and they weren't just. being uh 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, um an.

incredible education, you know, they. worked in the Air Force, they worked in. the the Department of Defense. So, um I. I would say yeah, this is. this is a very well-known, um. well-respected place that that holds a. lot of government secrets. >> Do 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 Casias was granted a TPO. by a a New Mexico judge against Thomas. McNally for. I I guess it was it was online. harassment mainly from what I saw. This. private investigator was retained by the. Melissa's. family her her mother her her sister and. her niece and by the way they are no. longer working together. Actually.

decided that he he just couldn't kind of. move forward with the investigation as. as it was at the time. But yeah he was accusing Mark Cassias of. of a lot of things. He was putting out a. lot of information on his Facebook page. Mark Cassias 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. 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 a 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 the judge saw that and he's like. you know what I'll 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 and like I. mentioned they they have been so. frustrated and 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. in finding Melissa's remains with a. handgun nearby where everybody's brain, you know, who who possibly doesn't think about, you know, the the Los Alamos connection. or 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 I hope. that we can get some answers so they. can, you know, take the 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 it's. hard it's hard to say yes and it's hard. to say no because there's commonalities. I mean, the the state of New Mexico. itself, I'd say, is a is a big.

commonality here. And the fact that, you. know, there have been another employee. specifically that went missing. Um he 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 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 I heard on Friday.

They said to me, "There is nothing. currently to support General McCaslin. being linked to any other missing. scientists." And I was like, "Oh, you. seem very sure about that. Have you. spoken to other agencies? Have you you. know, what what's going on?" And I asked. specifically, "Have you spoken to. agencies in Los Angeles, uh 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 I. don't know, but they just they 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 we're recording. Not surprised by that response, Lauren? >> I mean, no. That response is super safe.

It's very diplomatic. It's very It's. It's It's the response that. one should give, I feel like, when when. we don't have answers. Um but. I I do believe I 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, um 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 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. We'll definitely do that, too, cuz we. got to do that. 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 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 and and having the. opportunity to talk about this important. case. I was retained by the maternal side of. the family, uh you know, the. the parents of Melissa and the sister. And I've investigated a lot of prior. murder cases, specifically missing. murdered indigenous women cases in the. past. Uh and I'm a prior federal prosecutor. and focused on just crimes against women. as well in in my past job. So, often. times I present at conferences around.

the country and in in one situation uh. an investigator was at the conference. and 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 uh 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. Yes, I certainly from my perspective and. everything that I've seen, I certainly.

suspect that there's foul play in this. case. >> What's the. the ones that's the what's the pieces 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, 3 days prior was her. daughter's high school graduation. Um 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 um and. both of the phones having all the. information deleted certainly was also. suspicious. Um. not taking any medications with her or. or like that wherever she was going at. the time. Those all the red flags were 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, 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, um there is, and. I'll I'll go over that with you. I'm. definitely very curious to see how the. forensic anthropologist, you know, and. their findings from all my assistant. [snorts] that as well. But just the fact that um there was. there was paper found in her vicinity. that was either torn or shredded um or. cut, whatever might be the case, and to. have it be as clear as it was 11 months. after she went missing. um 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. Um. and along with that. just finding. you know, all the additional evidence. that was found a week after uh the crime. scene was closed and after 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, um because I spoke to. Lauren Conlin as well about this, that material was in was gathered by and. correct me if I'm wrong, was 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 had 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 of the dog but that'll. be determined by the anthropologist. and the paper itself. some things that we we identified as. being possible biological material blood. in the ground her clothing you know. seemingly that was also in shreds there. were some parts of the clothing that. appeared to have possible blood in it as. well. a shoe string up there. a wrapper is up there as well and so.

every single thing that could put some. type of DNA analysis and attached 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 had indicated that. that came from somebody in their law.

enforcement team. having been a prior prosecutor and. having reviewed lots of different crime. scenes I I certainly don't want to have. any type of contamination take place at. a crime scene where anything is left. nearby. You would 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 say. that that orange peel was theirs. >> So this evidence is collected, you hand.

it 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. Um initially law. enforcement response was that wow, this. is surprising because we think we've got. 95% of you know, of all of Miss. 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 had investigated.

this crime scene. Which I think they would all test to. being super tired worn out by the time. they got there just because of the. actual terrain to get there. Um. 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 be 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 take. this in as evidence as well. So that did. take place and they did come and gather. all of the evidence and 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. Um given prior experiences, you. know, we really should be seeing some. initial uh. reports and findings from OMI and law. enforcement within the next 30 days, hopefully. >> Talk to me about the report. They do. this preliminary CT scan. 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 um. uh 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 How can you How can authorities. determine that she might have done this. to herself if I'm if I'm understanding. correctly? And B, how is it possible there's no. projectile found 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. 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'd.

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 um to. determine whether or not there is any. foul play. And so I I I certainly would. never recommend that um in an unattended. finding of a body that suicide be the. first conclusion. Not too surprising to me that the CT.

scan, which I at this point I just. speculate on cuz 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 OMI. >> 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, I 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. um. a conclusion in the investigation. And. from what the information that I've seen.

and have listened to, there are. definitely um individuals involved that. I would talk to and try to get some. answers to to explain some things that. have been suggested by um. folks that have called in and that. supply. 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 is. accurate. >> Do you know anything more about the work. that she was doing? >> I'm not exactly sure what she had access.

to, um 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 I would have suspected and hoped that. the FBI. um would have been involved at least in. some of the initial investigation. And. to my understanding, uh that weren't involved in in 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, um. how's the family doing? >> Uh I think they are just beginning a. whole new chapter of of grief now that. she has been found. It um has taken that last hope that they. had of that maybe she would be out there. and alive. and that she would return home someday. Um. now I think the grief has turned into.

accountability and justice because of. what they believed to be lots of red. flags in this case as well. They they. are anxiously waiting some type of. conclusion when it comes to the. forensics of this case. uh to where they could really start. healing knowing that if there is. somebody that's involved and that this. was a homicide that they are brought to. justice in this case and I and I think. that will. really open the doors for them to. beginning 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. Um sending my. best wishes to the family. Uh what is it. a really difficult time. But uh 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. [music] 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. Podcasts, [music] Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can also. check us out on NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to follow me, X, Instagram, my NewsNation show Jesse Weber LIVE, [music] Monday through Friday, 11:00. p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time. everybody.