Lab worker who vanished last year found dead in New Mexico national forest

Remains found in a New Mexico national forest have been identified as those of Melissa Casias, a worker at the Los Alamos National Laboratory who disappeared last year, authorities announced over the weekend. New Mexico State Police said the remains were discovered by a hiker last week in the McGaffey Ridge area of the Carson National Forest, a massive expanse of wilderness that is within driving distance of Taos, the city where she was from. A handgun was found near the remains, state police said. Casias would have been 53. The medical examiner's office will continue to conduct tests to determine the cause and manner of her death, according to police. When they shared her identity Saturday, neither of those rulings had been made yet. Casias was employed as an administrative assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, her niece, Jazmin McMillen, previously told CBS News . She was the second person employed at the laboratory to go missing last year, following the disappearance of Anthony Chavez, 78, in May. Both are among a group of at least 10 missing or deceased scientists and laboratory staff who worked at sensitive nuclear or space technology labs, law enforcement officials have told CBS News. The FBI is leading an investigation into possible connections between the cases. …