New Mexico mother disappears after taking lunch to her daughter, family says
TAOS COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – It's been more than a week since a northern New Mexico woman went missing. Though there has been an extensive search effort, not much has shed light on what happened to Melissa Casias.
Casias went missing on Thursday, June 26, and was last seen near Talpa, just southeast of Ranchos De Taos. Her disappearance spurred large-scale search and rescue operations and has prompted the involvement of the New Mexico State Police (NMSP).
"That's the last that we know about where she was that day," said Jazmin McMillen, Casias' niece. According to her family, Casias went missing after taking lunch to her daughter at a cafe in Taos Plaza. Nine days later, investigators are still searching.
"No positive news right now," McMillen said. "We're really just trying to kind of keep it top of mind for people in the area."
Her family says Casias is an administrative assistant for the federal government's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and drove to work that morning. They say she forgot her badge, which she needs for security clearance, and decided to work from home. Her family says Caisas later took lunch to her daughter at the John Dunn Shops in Taos, and left the area just before 1:00 p.m.
"She got back in her car, she left," McMillen said. "We have surveillance footage that shows what she was seen last wearing."
Alarms were raised when Casias' daughter returned home after work and found all of her mother's belongings. But Melissa was not there.
"Her purse, her car, her keys, her wallet, and her personal phone, her work phone, and her computer were all at home," McMillen explained.
A tip came in later that day, saying that someone saw her walking alone on foot on Highway 518 in Talpa, and was seen on neighbors' Ring doorbell cameras. The family later confirmed it was her based on the clothes she was wearing that day. The family says that's the last time she was seen. Since then, hundreds of volunteers, family members, and law enforcement have spent hours searching for her.
"We created some large maps of the total search area," McMillen added. "We divided that into quadrants and sub-quadrants, so we had 16 grid areas where we sent volunteers."
The family is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to Casias' safe return. The family has started a Facebook page and GoFundMe to help in their efforts to find Melissa. They are asking the public to contact NMSP with any tips or leads at 505-425-6771.