NM NM - Melissa Casias, 53, frm Taos, car & personal items left at home, pers & work phones wiped, seen walking on Hwy 518 in Talpa, 26 Jun 2025

[dalsglen]

Still no update.

 

[10ofRods]

This is now such a sad and concerning case. I've been wondering if Melissa was doing some kind of vision quest/solitude in nature thing, heading out of town? I know that's a long shot.

If she was planning on walking somewhere on the highway, she apparently didn't give anyone a heads up about it. I feel she was having some kind of mental difficulty. If not, then the only other explanation seems it would be stranger abduction.

Terribly sad and concerning, heart goes out to her family. I hope she does turn up and that she was simply taking a break from her regular life.

 

[TheFemaleTonyStark]

I've been keeping an eye on this one since the week of. People were side eyeing the husband because he was seemingly quiet while everyone else was posting daily about Melissa. He eventually came out and explained his phone was being cleared by law enforcement and that's why he was silent.

I don't remember which article, since now it's been covered nationally, but her husband and daughter elude to them coming across something that they think was a big stressor that caused her to flee. The family members that were posting daily have gone mostly silent and now the husband has been posting about her daily, basically pleading for her back. He is posting these publicly, searching for Melissa on Facebook and sorting by new it's all him and no other updates. Just odd especially considering how her parents don't acknowledge the husband.

 

[Tired Professor]

I've been keeping an eye on this one since the week of. People were side eyeing the husband because he was seemingly quiet while everyone else was posting daily about Melissa. He eventually came out and explained his phone was being cleared by law enforcement and that's why he was silent.

I don't remember which article, since now it's been covered nationally, but her husband and daughter elude to them coming across something that they think was a big stressor that caused her to flee. The family members that were posting daily have gone mostly silent and now the husband has been posting about her daily, basically pleading for her back. He is posting these publicly, searching for Melissa on Facebook and sorting by new it's all him and no other updates. Just odd especially considering how her parents don't acknowledge the husband.

That’s interesting. If you do come across the article again, please share it. I wonder too if her family has gone silent hoping that maybe it will draw her back home. If she is out there seeing this in the media, she might feel too embarrassed to re-appear now if she is voluntarily missing. FWIW, I don’t think the husband or daughter had anything to do with her disappearance. Sad situation. I do hope she is found safe.

 

[TheFemaleTonyStark]

That’s interesting. If you do come across the article again, please share it. I wonder too if her family has gone silent hoping that maybe it will draw her back home. If she is out there seeing this in the media, she might feel too embarrassed to re-appear now if she is voluntarily missing. FWIW, I don’t think the husband or daughter had anything to do with her disappearance. Sad situation. I do hope she is found safe.

"For the past few weeks, Mark and Sierra have gone through Melissa’s documents and discovered that she may have been experiencing pressures that they didn’t know about. “Through our own research — she was going through a huge, huge, huge amount of stress,” Sierra told Dateline. “There is a lot crumbling down on her that we didn’t know about"

Taos, New Mexico, woman Melissa Casias last seen walking eastbound on a highway in Talpa on June 26

The 53-year-old’s belongings — including her car, purse, and phones — were found inside her home.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Deleted member 370120]

Hello all.....
Here is a link to an article from NBC news that may shed some light on a few details of this case:
53-year-old Melissa Casias missing

I found the article to be very enlightening...............I hope this helps. Thank you!

 

[crcap]

I wonder if she “forgot” her badge on purpose knowing that meant she’d get to be alone at home for hours to do whatever it is she ended up doing that day, whether it was substance abuse, planning a getaway, planning to end her life, etc.

I find it odd that people who know her saw her stumbling around on the highway and didn’t pull over to see if she needed help..

 

[crcap]

Hello all.....
Here is a link to an article from NBC news that may shed some light on a few details of this case:
53-year-old Melissa Casias missing

I found the article to be very enlightening...............I hope this helps. Thank you!

This article gives more context thank you! So she definitely had her badge and used it but told her husband she was running errands for work (not true) and told her daughter she was working from home because she forgot her badge (also not true). Sounds like she had this planned ahead of time. I wonder if she dropped the lunch off to her daughter to see her one more time before she decided to leave for good. She didn’t take the car with her because her husband used that car too and maybe she didn’t want to further burden him by taking his means of transportation. All just my speculation.

 

[Deleted member 370120]

I wonder if she “forgot” her badge on purpose knowing that meant she’d get to be alone at home for hours to do whatever it is she ended up doing that day, whether it was substance abuse, planning a getaway, planning to end her life, etc.

I find it odd that people who know her saw her stumbling around on the highway and didn’t pull over "to see if she needed help..

I had the same thought about purposely leaving her badge at home when I first heard about the disappearance too. The thing I find really odd is that she was telling everyone around her a different story. She told her husband that she was going to work at a different location at the lab, but then told her daughter that she forgot her badge. It does sound like her disappearance may have been planned......

 

[carterkatt]

I wondered if she often worked from home, and did she not need "permission" from a boss to spur-of-the-moment decide to work from home?

 

[GraceG]

I wondered if she often worked from home, and did she not need "permission" from a boss to spur-of-the-moment decide to work from home?

Depends on what type of telework arrangemeng she had on file. Some allow for "ad hoc" telework, where one can telework on fairly short notice (I'd do that, if I had an afterwork doc appointment where they'd call me if I could get in a bit earlier, which wouldn't work if I was at the office 2 hours away.)