Rep. Burlison Demands FBI Join White House Probe of Missing and Dead U.S. Defense Scientists
Rep. Eric Burlison has asked the FBI to join a White House probe into a string of missing and dead U.S. defense scientists.
The request followed a White House review into deaths and disappearances of U.S. defense researchers and former officials dating back to 2023. Rep. Burlison is a member of the House Oversight Committee. He said his office referred Matthew Sullivan's case to the Office of Inspector General and the FBI. Burlison said the FBI deemed that referral "credible and urgent." Fox News has identified at least 10 U.S. researchers with access to high-level secrets who have gone missing or been found dead since 2023.
Fox later added Amy Eskridge as an 11th case, reporting she died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot in June 2022. Eskridge co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science and said in a recorded interview that she and colleagues claimed to discover "antigravity" and then faced harassment, threats and sabotage. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration said it is aware of reports about employees and is "looking into the matter." President Trump said he had just left a briefing on the cases, called the situation "pretty serious," and said he hoped the incidents were coincidental. Reports say several people, including Monica Jacinto Reza, Anthony Chavez, Melissa Casias and Steven Garcia, reportedly walked out of their homes and then vanished. McCasland's wife has posted that he retired years earlier and it was unlikely he was targeted to extract dated secrets.
Coverage has shifted from reporting individual, sometimes unexplained deaths to treating the cases as a possible cluster that merits a coordinated federal inquiry. Early accounts focused on separate incidents, while recent reporting has amplified connections among at least 10 people and prompted public and congressional concern. Fox News has driven much of the new attention by naming additional individuals and highlighting patterns, while social media researchers and some lawmakers have pushed for transparency without endorsing conspiracy theories.
đź“Ś Key Facts
- Reporting ties at least 10 U.S. researchers with access to top-level secrets who have gone missing or turned up dead since 2023; coverage now cites an 11th related death.
- Amy Eskridge is being identified as the 11th case; she died from a reported self-inflicted gunshot on June 11, 2022, co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science, publicly claimed in 2020 that she and colleagues had discovered 'antigravity,' and said she experienced escalating harassment, threats and sabotage and felt forced to publish to protect herself.
- House Oversight Committee member Rep. Eric Burlison has called for the FBI and 'every agency' to investigate the cluster, and says his office referred the case of Matthew Sullivan—who died by suicide under what Burlison describes as suspicious circumstances—to the Office of Inspector General and the FBI; Burlison says the FBI deemed the referral 'credible and urgent.'
- The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) confirmed it is aware of reports about employees at its labs, plants and sites and said it is 'looking into the matter.'
- Fox News names several individuals linked to the cluster — including contractor Steven Garcia; Los Alamos–linked employees Melissa Casias and Anthony Chavez; pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas; Monica Jacinto Reza; and Gen. McCasland — and reports that several (including Jacinto Reza, Chavez, Casias, Garcia and McCasland) reportedly walked out of their homes before vanishing.
- President Trump said he had 'just left a meeting'/briefing on the cases, called the situation 'pretty serious,' said he hoped the incidents were random or a 'coincidence,' and said he expected answers 'within roughly a week and a half,' while not explicitly stating whether he believed the cases were connected.
- McCasland's wife publicly posted that he retired years ago and suggested it is 'quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him,' expressing skepticism about espionage motives.
đź“° Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- House Oversight Committee member Rep. Eric Burlison has publicly called for the FBI and 'every agency' to investigate the cluster of scientists' deaths and disappearances.
- Burlison says his office referred the case of Matthew Sullivan, who died by suicide under what he calls suspicious circumstances, to the Office of Inspector General and the FBI, and that the FBI deemed the referral 'credible and urgent.'
- The piece recounts that McCasland's wife publicly posted on Facebook that he retired years ago and that it is 'quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him,' injecting skepticism about espionage motives.
- The Fox hit reinforces that at least 10 U.S. researchers with access to top-level secrets have gone missing or turned up dead since 2023, and highlights that several (including Monica Jacinto Reza, Anthony Chavez, Melissa Casias, Steven Garcia, and McCasland) reportedly walked out of their homes before vanishing.
- President Trump is quoted saying he has just left a briefing on the cases, hopes they are 'coincidence,' and will know more soon, but he does not say whether he believes the cases are connected.
- Amy Eskridge, a Huntsville-based experimental propulsion researcher who died by reported self-inflicted gunshot on June 11, 2022, is now being cited as the 11th case in the cluster.
- Eskridge co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science and publicly claimed in 2020 that she and colleagues had discovered 'antigravity,' after which she described escalating harassment, threats and sabotage.
- She warned in a recorded interview that researchers who report unconventional breakthroughs can be pressured out of public view or 'disappear' from publishing, and said she felt forced to publish to protect herself.
- The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration gave Fox News a statement confirming it is aware of reports about employees at its labs, plants and sites and is 'looking into the matter.'
- President Trump told reporters he had 'just left a meeting' on the string of cases, called the situation 'pretty serious,' and said he hoped it was random but expected answers within roughly a week and a half.
- Fox names and visually highlights additional individuals in the cluster, including contractor Steven Garcia, Los Alamos–linked employees Melissa Casias and Anthony Chavez, and pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas, alongside previously noted names like Gen. McCasland and Monica Jacinto Reza.