A NASA nuclear scientist died after a fiery crash in a rural Alabama city final yr, which on the time triggered suspicion amongst relations.
Joshua LeBlanc, 29, died in a fiery crash in his Tesla on July 22, 2025.
The crash occurred in Huntsville, Alabama the place his Tesla was discovered burned past recognition at about 2:45 within the afternoon, the Alabama Regulation Enforcement Company advised Fox Information Digital.
The automobile collided with a guardrail, then a number of bushes, earlier than the automobile burst into flames.
At 4:32 a.m. on the identical day, LeBlanc’s household reported him lacking, in accordance to KLFY.
He uncharacteristically failed to indicate as much as his job as an aerospace applied sciences electrical engineer at NASA, the place he labored on nuclear propulsion tasks.
His physique was additionally burned past recognition, and police confirmed his identification three days later after his physique was transported to the Alabama Division of Forensic Sciences.
On the time, his household advised KLFY that they feared he had been kidnapped and that he had left his cellphone and pockets in his dwelling on the time of the disappearance.
Police tracked LeBlanc down utilizing the information from his Tesla Sentry Mode, and located that his automobile sat on the airport in Huntsville for 4 hours on the morning of his demise.
His household stated his journey west was not a part of his plan for the day, and that uncharacteristically, he was not speaking with them.
A LinkedIn web page for LeBlanc says he labored at NASA for about five-and-a-half years, and that he was a crew lead for NASA’s House Nuclear Propulsion (SNP) Instrumentation and Management (I&C) Maturation.
NASA SNP expertise “would allow sooner and extra sturdy transportation for crew and cargo missions to Mars and science missions to the outer photo voltaic system,” based on the authorities company’s web site.
LeBlanc was later a crew lead on NASA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operation (DRACO), a nuclear thermal propulsion engine.
At the least 12 different folks, the overwhelming majority concerned in nuclear science and house analysis, have died or gone lacking since 2022, some beneath mysterious circumstances.
Monica Reza, 60; Melissa Casias, 53; Anthony Chavez, 79; Steven Garcia, 48; and retired Air Power Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, 68, had been all reported lacking all through 2023 to 2026, with every of their disappearances thought of suspicious.
Michael David Hicks, 59; Frank Maiwald, 61; Nuno Loureiro, 47; Jason Thomas, 45; Amy Eskridge, 34; and Carl Grillmair, 47, all died between 2022 and 2026.
Hicks, Maiwald and Reza had been all related to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The deaths and disappearances haven’t been formally related in any approach, however they’ve caught the eye of the White Home.
“I hope it’s random, however we’re going to know within the subsequent week and a half,” Trump advised reporters final week. “I simply left a gathering on that topic.”
In an announcement to Fox Information Digital, the FBI confirmed the company is working alongside different federal authorities within the investigation into the 11 lacking and deceased scientists.
“The FBI is spearheading the hassle to search for connections into the lacking and deceased scientists,” the company stated. “We’re working with the Division of Vitality, Division of Battle, and with our state and native regulation enforcement companions to seek out solutions.”
The Alabama Regulation Enforcement Company, which investigated LeBlanc’s demise, shared a press launch from July of final yr reiterating particulars of the crash.
Fox Information’ Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
