Monica Jacinto Reza

Monica Jacinto Reza is a materials scientist who served as Director of the Materials Processing Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Before joining JPL after 2023, she spent decades as a Technical Fellow at Aerojet Rocketdyne and was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She is the co-inventor of Mondaloy, a family of nickel-based superalloys designed to replace Russian-made engines in US national security rocket launches – work that was directly funded and supervised by Major General William McCasland during his command of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

On June 22, 2025, Reza vanished while hiking near Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest. She was 60 years old. Despite months of searching involving hundreds of personnel, helicopters, thermal imaging, and scent dogs, no trace of her has been found.

Background

Reza held advanced degrees in materials science and built her career around the development of high-temperature alloys for rocket propulsion. Her work at Aerojet Rocketdyne focused on creating domestic alternatives to Russian-manufactured rocket engine components – a strategic priority for the US space and defense programs after relations with Russia deteriorated.

The superalloy she co-invented, Mondaloy, was designed to withstand the extreme temperatures and stresses of rocket combustion chambers. The research was funded through the Air Force Research Laboratory during the period when General McCasland commanded AFRL – making Reza the second person in this investigation connected to both McCasland and advanced aerospace research to go missing.

After decades in the defense contracting sector, Reza moved to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was appointed Director of the Materials Processing Group. She had been in the role only months when she disappeared.

What Happened

On the morning of June 22, 2025, Reza set out on a hike near Mount Waterman in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County – a route she hiked regularly. She was accompanied by a hiking companion. The weather was clear.

According to reports, Reza was last seen on a ridgeline approximately 30 feet behind her companion. She gave a wave. That was the last confirmed contact with her.

When her companion realized Reza was no longer following, they backtracked. No sign of her was found on the trail or in the surrounding area.

The Search

The search and rescue response was extensive and prolonged. Multiple teams from across Southern California deployed to the Angeles National Forest, including Montrose Search and Rescue, the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team, the Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, Air Rescue 5 helicopters equipped with thermal imaging (FLIR), scent dogs, and UAS (drone) operations. The California Department of Fish and Game also participated.

Despite months of searching involving hundreds of personnel, no body, clothing, equipment, or any other trace of Reza was recovered. The terrain near Mount Waterman is steep and rugged, with dense vegetation and significant elevation changes – but Reza was an experienced hiker familiar with the area.

A Find a Grave memorial page was created four days after her disappearance, while search helicopters were still in the air – a detail noted by investigators as unusual.

What Doesn’t Add Up

The circumstances of Reza’s disappearance are difficult to reconcile with a simple hiking accident. She was on a familiar route in clear weather, only 30 feet behind her companion, on a ridgeline – not a cliff edge or a narrow traverse. Experienced hikers do not typically vanish without a trace under such conditions.

The scale of the search – hundreds of personnel, thermal imaging, dogs, drones, weeks of effort – produced nothing. No body, no clothing, no gear. In most cases where a hiker falls or becomes incapacitated in the Angeles National Forest, some evidence is eventually recovered.

The connection to McCasland is circumstantial but notable. Reza’s rocket engine work was funded and supervised by the same general who disappeared from Albuquerque eight months later, in February 2026. Both worked at the intersection of aerospace technology and national security. Both vanished without explanation.

The Daily Mail reported in April 2026 that the cluster of deaths and disappearances involving JPL-connected scientists – including Reza, Michael David Hicks, Frank Maiwald, and Carl Grillmair – had drawn the attention of Congress and former FBI leadership.

Sources

1. “Search Continues for Missing Hiker Monica Reza,” La Cañada Outlook, August 2025.
2. “Ongoing Search for Missing Hiker Monica Reza,” Crescenta Valley Weekly, June 24, 2025.
3. Montrose Search and Rescue Team, Facebook updates, June–August 2025.
4. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Missing Persons Unit – Detective Richie Sanchez, Case File.
5. Daily Mail – Mystery surrounds death of NINTH scientist tied to US secrets (April 7, 2026).
6. The Green Burial – The Sentinel Network (investigative report on Reza’s disappearance).