Feds Probe Troubling SoCal Scientists Cases

Federal authorities are now reviewing at least 10 deaths and disappearances of scientists and government workers tied to sensitive U.S. research, including four with Southern California ties. (nbclosangeles.com) The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on April 20 that it would lead the search for any connections among the cases and work with the Department of Energy, the Department of War, and state and local police. President Donald Trump said on April 17 that he had just left a meeting on the matter and expected answers “in the next week and a half.” (nbclosangeles.com) NBC Los Angeles reported April 21 that four of the 10 people in the federal review are linked to Southern California: former Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Michael David Hicks, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Frank Maiwald, Jet Propulsion Laboratory materials scientist Monica Reza, and California Institute of Technology astrophysicist Carl Grillmair. (nbclosangeles.com) The cases are not all the same. Hicks died on July 30, 2023, at 59, and Maiwald died on July 4, 2024, at 61; NBC Los Angeles said no public cause of death was released in either case. (nbclosangeles.com) Reza, 60, disappeared during a hike near Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest on June 22, 2025, according to Los Angeles County authorities and local reports on the search. (ktla.com) Grillmair, 67, was shot to death on the porch of his Llano home on February 16, 2026, and Los Angeles County prosecutors later charged a 29-year-old man with murder, burglary and carjacking in the case. (abc7.com) The federal review has drawn notice because the people on the list had worked around nuclear, space, or other restricted research programs. NBC News said the cases stretch back to 2022 and involve people who at some point may have handled sensitive information. (nbclosangeles.com) But investigators and relatives have also cautioned against treating the cases as a single plot before evidence supports that. CBS News reported April 21 that people close to the separate investigations said they had not identified links between the cases, and one missing retired general’s wife said it was unlikely he was taken for “very dated secrets.” (cbsnews.com) NASA said it is cooperating with the investigation and added that, so far, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat. The next test for federal investigators is whether a list that now spans several years and several agencies turns out to be one story or many. (nbclosangeles.com)