Monica Reza Aerospace Engineer Missing Vanished Disappearance

Monica Jacinto Reza, a 60-year-old aerospace engineer and former Technical Fellow at Aerojet Rocketdyne, vanished on June 22, 2025, while hiking near Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest, California. She was last seen around 9:10 a.m. waving to a companion on the Upper West Ridge Trail, shortly before disappearing. Reza, who had recently joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), was an expert in advanced rocket materials, co-inventing Mondaloy, a nickel-based superalloy critical to U.S. national security rocket engines.

An extensive search involving dozens of agencies, helicopters, dogs, and drones concluded its initial phase on June 30, 2025, but the case was transferred to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau: Missing Persons Unit for continued investigation. Despite ongoing efforts, including a search on August 8, 2025, no trace of Reza has been found.

Her disappearance gained national attention in March 2026 due to its connection to the unsolved disappearance of retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, who oversaw the government-funded project Reza worked on. Online speculation has linked the two cases, though authorities have not confirmed any connection. Notably, Reza was declared legally dead four days after vanishing, with a green burial recorded in the Angeles National Forest — a fact that contradicts the ongoing official investigation.

The case remains open, and authorities continue to urge the public to report any relevant information.

17GEN4.com