12 US scientists have gone missing or died. The mystery has become the talk - and worry - of Washington

NewsWorldAmericas12 US scientists have gone missing or died. The mystery has become the talk - and worry - of WashingtonThe 12 scientists who have died or gone missing all appeared to have ties to nuclear or space programs and, in some cases, classified projects. Rhian Lubin delves into the casesFriday 24 April 2026 12:10 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2963785","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/scientists-missing-dead-fbi-investigation-b2963785.html","title":"Mystery of the 12 missing or dead scientists as lawmakers launch investigation"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseTrump puts the FBI on case of missing NASA and nuclear research scientistsThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Evening_Newsletter","regTitle":"Evening Headlines","subscriptionGroup":"us_evening_headlines","subscriptionGroupId":"4326e634-422a-4447-8e1e-604a937cd3b5","type":"daily_news","pathPrefix":["/us","/news/world/americas","/news/world/americas/crime"],"title":"The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday","mobileTitle":"Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/usEveningHeadlines1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"recei...