Monica Reza: JPL Materials Engineer Missing Since June 2025

The Disappearance

On June 22, 2025, at approximately 9:10 a.m., Monica Reza was last seen hiking along Angeles Crest Highway in the Mount Waterman area of the Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County. She was classified by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Crescenta Valley Station as an "at-risk missing person." The Sheriff's Homicide Bureau was involved from an early stage.

Reza was hiking with two companions from her yoga group — a male companion who accompanied her to the summit, and a female companion who turned back approximately halfway. According to reporting by Los Angeles Magazine, the male companion confirmed that Reza was behind him when he called out to her and received no response.

Her scent was tracked by K9 units to a hat believed to belong to her, found at a location separate from her last known position. The hat was found in the direction of a more hazardous southern route — not an entrance or access point to the trail — requiring travel off the marked path through brush and wilderness terrain.

Search Efforts

An extensive multi-agency search was conducted following Reza's disappearance, involving drones, K9 units, and law enforcement sweeps of the surrounding terrain. Family members and volunteers continued organized searches for months afterward through a dedicated Facebook group. As of publication, no physical trace of Reza — no clothing, backpack, or biological evidence — has been located beyond the hat.

Investigators ruled out a fatal wildlife encounter. According to a family member who spoke with Los Angeles Magazine, there was an absence of any clothing remnants, backpack, or biological evidence that would typically be associated with a mountain lion or bear attack. "There was nothing," the family member said.

Professional Background

Monica Jacinto Reza spent more than 37 years as a Technical Fellow at Aerojet Rocketdyne in the field of materials science and engineering, and previously worked for 25 years at Pratt & Whitney in structural alloys research. She holds a master's degree in materials engineering from UCLA and a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from Columbia University.

Reza is the co-inventor of Mondaloy, a family of nickel-based superalloys used in rocket engine manufacturing. She held patents on the alloy. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform identified her in April 2026 as having served as "director of the NASA Lab's Materials Processing Group" at JPL at the time of her disappearance.

According to the New York Post, her Mondaloy research brought her into contact with retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, who oversaw the Air Force group that funded research into advanced materials for reusable space vehicles and weapons in the early 2000s. McCasland himself disappeared from his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on February 27, 2026, and remains missing.

Family's Account

In an exclusive interview with Los Angeles Magazine published in April 2026, a family member addressed several points that had circulated in earlier media coverage. The family member described Reza as "very calm" and "not a risk-taker," pushing back on accounts suggesting she had begun running on the steep and uneven terrain during her final hike. The family member said such behavior would have been out of character.

The family member also confirmed that neither the FBI, the White House, nor the local sheriff's department had contacted the family in the period following the White House's April 17, 2026 public statement that the administration was directing agencies to examine these cases. "No one has reached out to us," the family member said.

The family member participated personally in search efforts over several days and weeks and described the trail's geography as potentially significant: the northern entrance near a parking lot and highway is where Reza began her hike, while a southern route near the Mt. Waterman Ski-Lifts — accessible by off-road vehicles — is where her hat was found. The family member noted that reaching the southern route from the main trail would require going off-trail through brush and wilderness.

Congressional Inquiry

On April 21, 2026, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Subcommittee Chairman Eric Burlison (R-MO) formally wrote to the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, FBI, and NASA requesting information about individuals connected to sensitive U.S. scientific research who have died or disappeared in recent years. The committee's press release named Reza explicitly among the cases under congressional review.

The committee stated that the cases "raise questions about a possible sinister connection" and that "if the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security."

Federal and Institutional Response

On April 17, 2026, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed publicly that the administration was directing the FBI and the Department of Energy to examine the cluster of cases and "identify any potential commonalities that may exist."

NASA stated it was "coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies," and that "at this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat," according to NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens. The Department of Defense said it would respond to the committee directly. Neither Aerojet Rocketdyne nor JPL issued a public statement at the time of Reza's disappearance or in the period of renewed media attention in April 2026.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department remains the lead agency on the missing persons case. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Crescenta Valley Station at (818) 248-3464.