Three Agencies Miss House Oversight's April 27 Deadline on Missing Scientists Inquiry
The FBI, NASA, and the Department of Energy failed to provide the staff-level briefings the House Oversight Committee demanded by April 27 on at least 13 scientists with classified-access ties who have died or disappeared. NASA's spokesperson said the agency sees no national security threat; the FBI director said a report is coming "in short order."
The FBI, NASA, and the Department of Energy failed to provide the staff-level briefings the House Oversight Committee demanded by April 27 on the deaths and disappearances of scientists with classified-access ties. Of the four agencies the committee's April 20 letters required to brief Congress, only the Department of Defense — operating under the secondary title "Department of War" under an executive order signed by President Trump in September 2025 — responded by the deadline.
NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens posted a statement on April 25: "NASA is coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists. At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat. The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able."
What the FBI Has Said Publicly
By April 29, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Fox News interview that the Bureau is "trying to make sure, was there a connection? Did they, were they all working on the same thing or not?" He noted that some individuals under review are not even scientists. He said the FBI would produce a report on its findings "in short order."
The Cases Under Investigation
The committee's April 20 letters originally cited at least ten Americans with ties to nuclear secrets or rocket technology who had died or disappeared. The count grew to at least 13 by the April 27 deadline. The three individuals named in the original Oversight letters are:
- Michael David Hicks, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist from 1998 to 2022, whose 2023 death is the earliest incident in the alleged pattern.
- Monica Reza, former director of NASA JPL's Materials Processing Group, who disappeared while hiking in California in June 2025 and remains missing.
- Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, who disappeared from his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on February 27, 2026 with a .38-caliber revolver and remains missing.
The remaining cases involve unnamed individuals described in the letters as affiliated with NASA JPL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MIT's nuclear fusion program, pharmaceutical research, and a nuclear weapons component production facility.
Where the Investigation Stands
The committee's April 20 letters asked each agency for a briefing on what it knows about the deaths and disappearances, and on "the processes and procedures in place to protect American scientific secrets and ensure personnel safety." As of the April 27 deadline, three agencies had not responded to those questions.
Patel's promise of a report "in short order" sets the next observable moment for the investigation's findings becoming public. No subpoena has been issued as of May 11, 2026.