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