The chilling final words spoken by a missing New Mexico nuclear contractor before he vanished into the desert with a stolen handgun have been revealed in newly obtained police reports, as fears grow over a disturbing pattern of disappearances and deaths among individuals connected to America’s most sensitive nuclear sites.
Steven Garcia, 48, vanished without trace on 28 August 2025, the day before his birthday, following an argument with his wife Valerie. According to police reports obtained by the Daily Mail, Valerie had told her husband she intended to leave him over ongoing problems in their marriage and that she did not want to work on repairing the relationship. The Albuquerque Police Department’s report states: “Valerie said that Steven was upset and told her ‘well if I can’t have you I will go somewhere else.'”
Those were the last words Garcia spoke before security cameras at the couple’s home captured him taking a handgun and a bottle of water and walking out on foot just after 9am. Valerie told police the weapon — a revolver kept in a gun case — was registered in her name and that her husband had taken it without her knowledge. He left behind his car, keys, wallet and both of his mobile phones, leaving investigators with no digital means of tracking him.
An anonymous source previously told the Daily Mail that Garcia worked as a government contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus in Albuquerque, a facility that manufactures more than 80 per cent of the non-nuclear components used in America’s nuclear weapons arsenal. He reportedly served as a property custodian with top security clearance, described by the source as holding “a very high-level, overseeing position for all the assets. Tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment and assets, some of which are not classified, others would be classified.” KCNSC reportedly launched its own search in the days following his disappearance, combing through his work computers, emails and files without finding any clues.
Valerie told police her husband had no history of mental health issues, had never disappeared from the home before, and had never expressed any intention to harm himself. “Valerie did not disclose Steven having any behavioral health issues or any drug or alcohol abuse reference to his government job,” the report states.
Garcia’s case is now one of at least ten involving individuals connected to nuclear research or defence facilities in New Mexico who have died or disappeared in similar circumstances in recent years. Retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland, 68, vanished from his Albuquerque home on 27 February 2026, leaving behind his phone, wearable devices and prescription glasses, carrying only a .38-calibre revolver. McCasland had previously overseen classified research at Kirtland Air Force Base, which works closely with both KCNSC and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Two other Los Alamos National Laboratory employees disappeared in 2025. Anthony Chavez, 79, who had retired from the lab in 2017, was last seen leaving his home in Los Alamos on 4 May 2025. Melissa Casias, 53, an active administrative assistant at the facility, disappeared from her Taos home on 26 June 2025, leaving behind her phones, keys and identification. Her body was found in New Mexico’s Carson National Forest on 28 May, alongside a handgun her daughter said did not belong to her. New Mexico State Police have not released a cause of death, though former FBI agents and a private investigator have suggested without evidence that it appeared to be a suicide.
The FBI is reportedly continuing to investigate the pattern of disappearances at the direction of the White House, though the agency has not provided an update despite President Trump previously stating that answers would be forthcoming by mid-May. Trump suggested in April that many of the cases were likely “coincidences” rather than connected, saying: “Some of them that we looked at were very sad cases, in some cases, some were sick, some left this earth self-inflicted, some had other things. So far, we’re finding that there’s not much of a connection. We’re going to be doing a full report and it’s very serious.”
However, former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the Daily Mail he believes the pattern still warrants formal investigation. “I think there’s enough of a pattern, even if it’s a small group, I think there’s a smaller group of missing people that warrant an investigation by the FBI, which is the lead agency in counter-espionage, counterintelligence,” Swecker said. “I would be looking for that, unless we show something points to another direction.”
