Human remains discovered last week in Carson National Forest in New Mexico have been identified as the body of 53-year-old Melissa Casias, a mother who went missing nearly a year ago. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 1 (UPI) -- Human remains discovered last week in Carson National Forest in New Mexico have been identified as the body of 53-year-old Melissa Casias, a mother who went missing nearly a year ago.
A hiker discovered human remains in the McGaffey Ridge area of the national forest on Thursday. Investigators said Sunday the remains have been identified as those of Casias.
"Investigators also learned that a handgun was located alongside the remains," New Mexico State Police said in a statement on Saturday.
Casias' remains were found about six miles from her home. She was reported missing on June 26 after her supervisor called her husband, Mark Casias, looking for her. Mark Casias said she dropped him off at Los Alamos National Laboratory where they both worked earlier in the day that she vanished.
