Monica Jacinto Reza

Aerospace materials scientist, co-inventor of the Mondaloy nickel superalloy critical to U.S. national security rocket engines, and former Technical Fellow at Aerojet Rocketdyne. Vanished on June 22, 2025, while hiking near Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest. She was last seen smiling and waving approximately 30 feet behind her hiking companion before she simply disappeared. No trace of her has ever been found despite months of extensive search operations. She was declared dead and given a "green burial" just four days after vanishing — while search-and-rescue helicopters were still in the air. Her research was directly funded under the Air Force Research Laboratory budget overseen by Maj. Gen. William McCasland, who himself disappeared eight months later under similarly mysterious circumstances.

Field	Details
Full Name	Monica Jacinto Reza
Born	December 30, 1964
Status	MISSING since June 22, 2025 (declared dead four days later under disputed circumstances)
Last Known Location	Upper West Ridge Trail, Mount Waterman, Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County, California
Category	Scientist / Aerospace Engineer / Advanced Materials / Missing Person

Assessment: SUSPICIOUS

The disappearance of Monica Jacinto Reza has moved well beyond a routine hiking accident. She was one of the most important advanced materials scientists in U.S. national security aerospace — the co-inventor of the Mondaloy superalloy now built into the engines replacing Russian-made rockets for American national security launches. She vanished in an instant: her hiking companion saw her smiling and waving 30 feet behind, turned around, and she was gone. No body, clothing, equipment, or any physical trace has ever been found despite months of multi-agency search operations using helicopters, drones, dogs, and ground teams. Most disturbingly, according to reporting by The Sentinel Network, someone declared her legally dead and arranged a "green burial" just four days after her disappearance — while SAR teams from half the state were still searching. Eight months later, retired Maj. Gen. William McCasland — the general who oversaw the AFRL budget that funded her Mondaloy research — also vanished.

Circumstances of Disappearance

On June 22, 2025, at approximately 9:10 a.m., Monica Jacinto Reza was hiking on the Upper West Ridge Trail near Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest, California. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, she was hiking with a companion. The companion reported that Reza was approximately 30 feet behind, smiling and waving. The companion turned around, and Reza had vanished.

Search-and-rescue operations were launched immediately and continued for over a week. The initial search phase involved dozens of agencies, including teams from San Bernardino County and Tulare County, as well as helicopter support, K-9 units, and drones. According to The Sentinel Network's "THE LONG COUNT" investigation (March 18, 2026), the FLIR (forward-looking infrared) search was negative — thermal imaging found nothing. The scent trail ended at a misplaced beanie. The initial phase concluded on June 30, 2025.

The case was transferred to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau: Missing Persons Unit for continued investigation. Additional searches were conducted, including on August 8, 2025. Volunteers and authorities searched the area for months using helicopters, radar, large numbers of hikers, and dogs — but found no trace of Reza.

The Green Burial

According to investigative reporting by The Sentinel Network, Reza was declared legally dead just four days after she vanished, and a "green burial" was recorded in the Angeles National Forest. As journalist Ross Coulthart noted: "Someone declared Monica Jacinto Reza dead and buried four days into the search. While SAR teams from half the state were still looking." No public reports indicate her remains were ever recovered. No obituary was published. No funeral announcement was issued. The Homicide Bureau Missing Persons Unit has not announced a resolution to the case. As of March 2026, she is still officially listed as a missing person.

Background

Career and Expertise

Monica Jacinto Reza was an aerospace materials scientist with a distinguished career spanning decades at the highest levels of U.S. defense aerospace:

• Technical Fellow at Aerojet Rocketdyne — the highest technical rank in the company — specializing in materials science and engineering for rocket propulsion systems
• Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
• Co-inventor of the Mondaloy superalloy — a family of nickel-based superalloys designed to withstand extreme heat and oxygen-rich environments inside rocket engines. Mondaloy is now built into the engines replacing Russian-made RD-180 rockets for American national security launches. She held the patent.
• Previously held roles as a Fellow in Structural Alloys at Pratt & Whitney (later part of Raytheon Technologies / RTX)
• After Aerojet Rocketdyne was acquired by L3Harris Technologies for $4.7 billion in 2023, Reza joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as Director of the Materials Processing Group

She held a Bachelor's degree from Columbia University and a Master of Science in Materials Engineering from UCLA (1994-1997).

Connection to General McCasland

Reza's advanced materials research at Aerojet Rocketdyne was funded through the U.S. government's defense research infrastructure. As reported by multiple outlets including NewsNation, Reza worked on a government-funded rocket materials project overseen by Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland during his tenure as commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson and Kirtland Air Force Bases. McCasland oversaw a total $4.4 billion portfolio — $2.2 billion in annual science and technology funding plus $2.2 billion in customer-funded research and development.

According to The Sentinel Network's "THE LONG COUNT" investigation, McCasland commanded the lab that funded the Mondaloy alloy's maturation. He directed the Hydrocarbon Boost program and assessment of Mondaloy for preburners, thrust chambers, and hydrostatic bearings. His $4.4 billion portfolio paid for the work. When McCasland took command in May 2011, Dallis Hardwick was still one of his senior civilian scientists. All three — Hardwick, Reza, and McCasland — were on the same program at the same time.

McCasland himself disappeared from his Albuquerque home on February 27, 2026 — approximately eight months after Reza vanished. The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department has confirmed to Newsweek that detectives are "looking into this to see if there is any connection at all."

The Patent and the Alloy

The Sentinel Network documented that Hardwick and Reza invented the alloy together. The patent is public: US 2010/0266442 A1, "Burn-Resistant and High Tensile Strength Metal Alloys," Jacinto et al. The AR1 engine — the replacement for the Russian RD-180 — has twelve components made of Mondaloy: pre-burners, turbine rotors, turbine housings — every part that touches the fire.

Mondaloy and National Security Significance

The Mondaloy superalloy represents a critical national security asset. The alloy was developed to free the United States from dependence on Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines for national security space launches. In March 2022, Russia cut off RD-180 servicing. According to The Sentinel Network, the alloy Monica Reza invented is what stands between the United States and a gap in its ability to put national security assets into orbit. A scientist with this level of knowledge about U.S. rocket propulsion materials science would be of significant interest to foreign intelligence services.

The JPL-Caltech Corridor

Grillmair's IPAC and Reza's JPL are the same institutional family — the same campus corridor, the same San Gabriel Valley where America's planetary defense infrastructure lives. Reza vanished in LA County. Carl Grillmair was killed in LA County. Both in the shadow of the JPL/Caltech corridor. Five of the nine names in The Sentinel Network's briefing are women. Of the three who vanished without trace, two are women.

Why This Disappearance Raises Questions

• Instantaneous vanishing — was 30 feet behind her hiking companion, smiling and waving, then simply gone. No scream, no sound, no sign of disturbance
• No physical trace found — months of extensive multi-agency searches with helicopters, drones, dogs, radar, and hundreds of searchers found nothing: no body, no clothing, no equipment, no sign of a fall
• Declared dead in four days — someone arranged a legal death declaration and "green burial" while SAR helicopters were still searching, and before the initial search phase had even concluded
• No remains recovered — despite being declared dead, no body was ever found. The "green burial" was recorded in the forest where she vanished
• National security expertise — co-inventor of a superalloy critical to U.S. national security rocket launches; holder of the patent
• Connection to McCasland — her research was funded under McCasland's AFRL budget. He vanished eight months later under similarly mysterious circumstances
• Two people connected to the same defense research program missing — both Reza and McCasland had connections to advanced aerospace research funded through AFRL
• Case transferred to Homicide Bureau — the LASD moved the case from missing persons to the Homicide Bureau's Missing Persons Unit, suggesting investigators did not treat this as a routine hiking accident

The Counterargument

• The Angeles National Forest is rugged mountain terrain where hikers do go missing and die from falls, dehydration, and exposure
• Bodies are sometimes never recovered in mountainous wilderness areas
• The "green burial" detail, while unusual, could potentially have an administrative or family-related explanation not yet made public
• No evidence of foul play has been officially reported by law enforcement
• The connection to McCasland may be coincidental — both were in aerospace research, but that does not prove a linked conspiracy
• The UAP connection is speculative: while advanced materials science is theoretically relevant to alleged UAP crash-retrieval programs, there is no public evidence Reza worked on any UAP-related project

Key Quotes from Media Coverage

"Someone declared Monica Jacinto Reza dead and buried four days into the search. While SAR teams from half the state were still looking." — Ross Coulthart, investigative journalist, via X, March 2026

"Detectives are looking into this to see if there is any connection at all." — Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, to Newsweek, regarding the Reza-McCasland connection, March 2026

"Reza was about 30 feet behind the person she was hiking with, smiling and waving. The person turned around, and she had vanished." — NewsNation, reporting on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department account, March 2026

The 2025-2026 Scientist Cluster

Reza's disappearance is the first in a cluster of five scientist deaths or disappearances between June 2025 and March 2026 that Congressman Tim Burchett has publicly linked as a pattern. The Daily Mail reported on March 22, 2026, that all five specialized in advanced technologies with a shared link to UAP-related research or defense contracts. The five are:

• Monica Jacinto Reza (this profile) — Co-inventor of Mondaloy superalloy. Missing since June 22, 2025.
• Jason Thomas — Novartis chemical biology director. Vanished December 12, 2025. Body found March 17, 2026.
• Nuno Loureiro — MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center director. Shot December 15, 2025.
• Carl Grillmair — Caltech astrophysicist. Shot on his porch February 16, 2026.
• William McCasland — Retired USAF Major General, AFRL commander. Missing since February 27, 2026. Oversaw the AFRL budget that funded Reza's Mondaloy research.

See Also

• Dallis Hardwick — Co-inventor of Mondaloy and Reza's mentor at Rockwell Science Center; died of cancer 2014; completes the custody chain
• William McCasland — Retired USAF Major General who oversaw the AFRL budget funding Reza's research; disappeared eight months later
• [AFRL Scientist Cluster (2025-2029)]# — The broader pattern of defense scientist deaths and disappearances
• Monica Jacinto Reza (Zero Point Energy) — This case also appears in the Zero Point Energy project
• Ning Li — Antigravity researcher who disappeared from public life after receiving DOD grant; struck by vehicle on campus
• Amy Eskridge — Co-founded Institute for Exotic Science; ruled suicide, alleged murder by private aerospace company
• Nuno Loureiro — MIT fusion physicist murdered December 2025; part of the same five-scientist cluster
• Carl Grillmair — Caltech astrophysicist killed February 2026; part of the same cluster
• Jason Thomas — Novartis scientist found dead; part of the same cluster

Other Shocking Stories

• Phil Schneider: Found dead with a rubber catheter wrapped around his neck — no fingerprints on it. Lectured about underground bases for two years.
• Mark McCandlish: Aerospace illustrator who testified about alien reproduction vehicles — died of shotgun blast days before Senate testimony.
• Ron Rummel: Ex-Air Force intel agent found shot — no blood on pistol, no fingerprints on gun, suicide note written with wrong hand.
• Arie DeGeus: Inventor of zero-point energy battery found slumped dead in car at airport — was en route to secure major funding.

Sources

• NewsNation: William McCasland search — Ex-colleague Monica Reza went missing months before him
• Newsweek: Monica Reza Case Gains Attention After Disappearance of US General
• The Sentinel Network: THE GREEN BURIAL — She Was Declared Dead Four Days After She Vanished
• KTLA: Initial search phase concludes, Southern California hiker still missing
• BroBible: Mystery Deepens As Colleague Of Missing Air Force General Has Also Vanished
• Solve the Case: MISSING — Monica Reza
• Ross Coulthart on X: grave new questions about McCasland's former colleague
• We Got This Covered: Super alloy could end American dependence on Russian rockets — now two officials involved are missing
• Find a Grave: Monica Jacinto Reza (1964-2025)
• Daily Mail: Mystery of five missing scientists sends chill across America
• THE LONG COUNT: We Started With Two Names. The List Didn't Stop. — The Sentinel Network (March 18, 2026)

This information was built by Grok and Claude AI research.