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Melissa Casillas disappeared from Ta
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County, New Mexico on June 26th, 2025.
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Nothing about that day was normal for
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her. And I'm going to break down the
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three strangest facts of this case and
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the seven clues left behind that might
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tell us what happened. And I need you to
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spread the word.
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Here's
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what we know based on police reports
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that we obtained. On June 26, 2025,
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53-year-old Melissa Casillas drove
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herself and her husband Mark to Los
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Alamos National Laboratory where they
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both worked similar shifts. Video
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surveillance shows Melissa arriving at a
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guard shack in their white Volkswagen at
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6:13 a.m. Now, the normal routine is for
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Melissa to drop Mark off at his
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building, go to hers, and then pick him
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up at the end of the day. But today was
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different right from the start. Strange
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thing number one. At 6:20 a.m., instead
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of going to her scheduled shift,
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Melissa's white Volkswagen is seen
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leaving the Los Alamos National
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Laboratory property. Strange thing
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number two, Melissa sends an email to
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work saying something came up with her
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daughter and she was going to be a
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little bit late. But this is bizarre
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because there is nothing in the records
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that I've seen that would suggest
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anything did come up with her daughter
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Sierra. She's at home and she wakes up
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at around 7:30 a.m. for her own work
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shift, surprised to find her mom at the
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house. And when she asks why her mom is
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home, we get strange thing number three.
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Melissa says that she came home because
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she forgot her work badge. But this is
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also super weird because Mark later
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tells police that he saw her hand it to
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the security guard at the guard shack.
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But at home, Melissa offers to make
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Sierra breakfast. And her daughter's
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like, "Well, I mean, don't you have to
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get back to work?" And she basically
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tells her like, "You know what? No, I'm
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already late." Plus, Melissa says she
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might just stay home the whole day
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because she had errands to run. And then
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Sierra goes off to work and everything
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seems fine. At around 11:00 a.m., Mark
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needs their shared car, but he can't
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reach his wife on the phone when he
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tries to call her. Now, it's unclear why
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Melissa wasn't answering his calls at
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this time because we know she's
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available. We know this because around
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lunchtime, Melissa goes to a Subway and
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buys a sandwich that she drops off to
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her daughter at her work just before
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1:00 p.m. Video footage collected by
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police that we've obtained confirms that
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she was in this area. Now, her daughter
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says that they talk and still everything
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seems fine. At some point that day, Mark
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gets a call from Melissa's supervisor
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asking where she is. And Mark says this
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is when he first realized that she
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wasn't at work. And he becomes concerned
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that maybe he doesn't have a ride home,
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but he's not overly worried yet. He
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contacts their daughter, learns that
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Sierra had seen her mom that day, and so
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he asked Sierra to see if she can get a
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response from Melissa about whether or
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not he should catch a ride home with a
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friend. Mark tells police that Sierra
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said, "Yep, mom says find a ride home."
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By 2:34 p.m., any texts going to
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Melissa's iPhone aren't being delivered
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in the normal way. They're delivered in
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a green bubble, not blue, which means
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either the phone doesn't have an
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internet connection or its iMessage is
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disabled. Concerned, Sierra leaves work
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and she gets home by 300 p.m. And this
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is when things really get weird. When
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their daughter gets to the house, she
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sees her parents shared Volkswagen in
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the driveway and she finds odd clues
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left behind in the house. Clue number
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one, the door to the house is locked,
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but all of Melissa's things are inside,
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including her keys. And according to a
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police report, they're told no other
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keys are missing that could have been
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used. Along with her keys and her purse,
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her work phone, her personal phone, even
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her old phone are all there at the
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house. Clue number two, her phones
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weren't just left behind. Both of her
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personal cell phones had been factory
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reset. completely wiped. Now, once Mark
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gets home and he sees everything Sierra
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found, he calls police to report his
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wife missing. And here is part of that
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6-minute call.
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>> New Mexico State Police.
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>> Yeah, this is uh Mark Casillas. Uh you
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know what? We're um we cannot locate my
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wife. Uh we haven't heard from her all
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day
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>> and it's this is not like her. She
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doesn't do this much less leave with all
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her phones and contact people. And I
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mean, she even left me walking. Uh,
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well, not walking. I had to pick a get a
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ride with one of my friends. I'm just
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out of it right now. I'm just trying to
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figure this out.
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>> That's fine. I have an officer on the
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way and they're going to go speak with
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you. Okay.
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>> Okay. Thank you.
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>> Mhm. Bye-bye.
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>> When police begin taking statements,
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they learned that Melissa and Mark were
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struggling financially. She and her
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husband kept separate accounts. And
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though Melissa made about half what Mark
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did, she was in charge of paying a lot
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of the bills. One of her checking
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accounts was overdrawn by about $600 and
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they owed back taxes. Actually, that had
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recently come to a head because these
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money troubles had more than just
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financial implications. According to
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Melissa's former supervisor, who spoke
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to police, this caused Melissa and Mark
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to lose their security clearance at
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work. Now, it didn't really affect
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Mark's role as a superintendent, but
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Melissa is an administrative assistant
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in a secure building, and when she lost
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the clearance, she had to be moved to a
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different site.
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Not the end of the world, but she was
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having performance issues on top of
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that. Now, Mark said their marriage was
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good. Even the financial stuff was
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getting figured out. Melissa had just
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told a friend that she was paying the
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IRS back. No biggie. Now, Mark gives
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permission for police to look around and
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take pictures. The house, while
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cluttered, doesn't show any signs of a
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struggle. Though, there are two things
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that stand out in Mark and Melissa's
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bedroom. Clue number three. In the
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primary bedroom, there are a pair of
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boots on the floor in front of a fish
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tank. Now, Mark said he hadn't used
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those boots in forever. Even mentioned
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spiderw webs being on them. But the
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officer didn't see any spiderw webs.
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What he saw on the boots was mud. The
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right boot had dried mud on the sole,
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and the mud from the toe area down to
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the arch was wet. Clue number four.
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Near these boots, they found another
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clue. Blood. Now, before you start
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jumping to conclusions, thinking
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something happened to Melissa in her
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home and that she didn't even leave on
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her own or willingly, we spoke to the
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police and they said the swabs they took
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of the blood are out for testing right
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now and they don't know yet if it's
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human or not. But the blood's not the
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only reason for concern. Let me tell you
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about the next clue. The last sighting
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of Melissa. Clue number five. Once word
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gets out that Melissa is missing, a
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family friend calls and says that he saw
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Melissa the day she disappeared while he
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was out on his lunch break. According to
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this man's statement, he was driving
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east on the way to a pulloff spot where
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he sometimes stops to eat his lunch. And
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that's when he passed a woman in jeans
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and a sweater walking in the same
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direction on State Road 518. Now, she
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looked familiar this first time he sees
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her, but he didn't really think much of
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it at the time. When he reaches the
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pulloff near Forest Road, he pulls out
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to eat his lunch and he calls his son.
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This is at 2:19 p.m. And then after he's
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called his son, he sees this woman
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again. She passes by him walking
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briskly, head down. And this is when
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he's pretty sure it's Melissa. She's
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skinnier than he knew her to be, but we
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know from another person who police
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interviewed that she'd actually lost a
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lot of weight recently since she'd been
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put on thyroid medication. Now, this
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spot is about a 47minute walk from their
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home per Google Maps. So, it wouldn't be
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that odd for her to be there, especially
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because she was known to take long
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walks. And the timing lines up, right?
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Like after dropping off the sandwich to
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her daughter, she could have gone home,
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then set out on that walk and made it to
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that spot he sees her at by 219 or so,
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right after he calls his son. Now, to be
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sure, when this guy finishes his lunch,
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he gets back on the road, drives further
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east. He sees the woman is still
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walking, and when he passes her, this
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time he is sure of it. It was Melissa
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Casillas. And before you start
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questioning the family friend, police
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later get surveillance footage from a
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house right by where he was eating lunch
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that day that shows Melissa walking east
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at exactly 2:18 p.m. Now, by the time he
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realized that it was her, he couldn't
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just stop. He had to keep driving. But
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he wanted to stop and talk to her, see
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if she needed anything. So, he found a
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place to turn around and drove to the
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area that he expected her to be at if
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she had kept walking in the same
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direction. But when he got there, just
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moments later, Melissa was gone.
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Which brings us to what might be our
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next clue. I'm going to call it clue
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number six. The man tells police that
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where Melissa should have been, he saw a
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newer model, maybe like 2020, dark blue
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Dodge Ram long bed pickup truck in good
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condition with tinted windows. The truck
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was gaining speed like it had just been
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stopped prior and was driving east on
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State Road 518. So, was Melissa walking
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away from her life? Did she walk out
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there to meet someone who picked her up?
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Or was she just going for a long walk
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like she was known to do when she was
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met with foul play? Now, I think it's
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the latter because of the final clue.
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When a couple who knows Melissa was out
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participating in searches for her, they
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found a pile of clothes on the side of
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State Road 518 near the Amole Road
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intersection. This is a 15-minute drive
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from where the blue truck was spotted,
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and the clothes are found in the same
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direction that it was heading. Now, at
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the time, the couple wasn't sure if the
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jeans and sweater they had found were
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Melissa's. But the woman who found them
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said that there was a hair tie, like
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cinching the jeans, and that was
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something that Melissa was known to do
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after she lost weight. Now, police told
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us that the items found didn't match the
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description of what Melissa was last
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seen wearing. So, they told us they
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haven't sent the clothes off for any
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sort of testing, though, they still
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should have them in evidence should
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future testing be necessary.
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And that's it. There have been no
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sightings of Melissa Casillas after 2:18
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p.m. on June 26th, 2025,
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but we are continuing to report on this.
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So, expect an in-depth story on this
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case coming soon to Crime Junkie
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Podcast. And if you have any information
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you want to share with us for that
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episode, email us [email protected].
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With every day that passes by, her
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family grows more and more desperate for
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answers. And they actually had a message
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for Melissa or anyone who has any
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information about her disappearance.
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>> I go to bed thinking about her. Wake up
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in the middle of the night. Same thing.
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Thinking about her. Where is he?
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What we would love is if someone out
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there knows something to be brave, if
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they have any love in their heart to
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think what it would be like to go
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through something like this and if they
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would just think about that of what
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we're going through and that they would
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please try to have the heart to come
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forward and respond.
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anything that they would give a tip of
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some kind to let us know so that we can
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so she can be found. That's all we need.
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We need to find her. We need to know
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where she's at.
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>> She's my little sister. I I need to know
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where she's at. I can't stop looking for
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her. I won't stop looking for her. She
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needs us to find her and bring her home.
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Please, if anybody knows a summon out
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there, please come forward and uh we
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really really appreciate it. Police are
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also asking for help. Anyone who lives
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in or may have been in Ta County,
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specifically in Talpa or Ranchos de Ta,
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or anyone traveling on or near New
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Mexico State Road 518 on June 26, 2025,
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please check any surveillance cameras
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you have or dash cams. We're looking for
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any sign of Melissa or anything that
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appears out of the ordinary. If you have
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footage to share or any tips, you can
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call the New Mexico State Police
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Dispatch at 5054256771.
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Through Crimestoppers and her family,
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there is $7,500 in reward money
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available for information on Melissa
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Casillas's whereabouts.
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[Music]