Person · Mt Waterman, Angeles National Forest, CA
Monica Jacinto Reza
- Who: metallurgist who co-invented Mondaloy, a burn-resistant rocket-engine superalloy that AFRL helped scale up. Family and a colleague say she led JPL's Materials Processing group.
- What happened: on 22 Jun 2025 she vanished on the descent from Mt Waterman, about ten minutes behind a hiking companion. A search dog's trail ended at her beanie, the only trace.
- Status: still missing. The sheriff handed the case to Homicide Bureau Missing Persons. A geo-profiler says the scene "can be staged"; proposed, not demonstrated.
- The UAP angle: blogs and FOX 11 tie her to Neil McCasland. The documented link is AFRL funding of Mondaloy; House Oversight named them together in April 2026.
Materials engineer, Mondaloy co-inventor. Metallurgist who joined Rocketdyne in 1988 and co-invented Mondaloy, a burn-resistant nickel superalloy that AFRL helped scale up from 1999. Family and a colleague say she led JPL's Materials Processing group when she vanished. On 22 Jun 2025 she disappeared on the descent from Mt Waterman, about ten minutes behind a hiking companion. Only her beanie was found.
On the record
- Missing since 22 Jun 2025.
- List check (Igor's list and the press lists): entry checks out. JPL director title rests on family and a colleague; no JPL statement found.
- As the list had it: "Director of Materials Processing, NASA JPL / Aerojet Rocketdyne. Disappeared (June 2025). Co-inventor of Mondaloy (high-performance rocket alloys); her work was partially funded by AFRL."
- Cause or status, as sourced: Missing, no outcome. LASD moved the case to Homicide Bureau Missing Persons after the search ended on 29 Jun 2025. Animal attack ruled out by investigators, per family (LA Mag). Staged scene or foul play: proposed, not demonstrated (geo-profiler Doug MacGregor). Fall or misadventure: proposed, not demonstrated.
- Co-inventor, as Monica A. Jacinto, of the Mondaloy patent family (priority 2001). US applications were abandoned; a Russian patent was granted to UTC in 2007.
- Mondaloy was developed by Jacinto and Hardwick; the AR1 engine depends on it.
- Mondaloy was developed jointly with AFRL and used in AFRL's Hydrocarbon Boost demonstrator.
- LASD ended the initial search 29 Jun 2025 and handed the case to Homicide Bureau Missing Persons.
- Hiked with two yoga-studio companions; a search dog's scent trail ended at her beanie, the only trace.
- Named with McCasland and Hicks in the House Oversight letters of 20 Apr 2026.
Claims (7)
She was still employed at JPL, had no classified or foreign ties, and was "not a risk-taker". Her phone never connected after the summit.firsthandSourced, unconfirmed
The scene "can be staged"; the case should be treated as possible foul play.analysisSourced, unconfirmed
She worked closely with or under McCasland; FOX 11 calls him a former colleague who oversaw projects involving her research.secondhandSourced, unconfirmed
Reza, Hardwick and McCasland were on the same program at the same time (the "Mondaloy chain").speculationSourced, unconfirmed
A Find a Grave memorial declared her dead four days after she vanished.anonymousSourced, unconfirmed
Mondaloy has hidden hypersonic or UAP-material uses.speculationSourced, unconfirmed
Companion accounts of times and pace are inconsistent.analysisSourced, unconfirmed
Connected
Exotic alloys and advanced materials fieldEnergetic materials (explosives and propellants) fieldRocketdyne / Aerojet Rocketdyne (L3Harris) orgAir Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) orgNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory orgNASA orgWright-Patterson AFB & 'Hangar 18' orgAnthony "Tony" Chavez personDr. Carl J. Grillmair personFrank W. Maiwald personMelissa Casias personDr. Michael David Hicks personMaj. Gen. William "Neil" McCasland personDr. Nuno F. G. Loureiro personDr. Sergey O. Macheret person