A scientist who reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2022 is receiving renewed attention amid reports on a series of deaths and disappearances involving U.S. experts tied to advanced research.
On Thursday, the Daily Mail reported that Amy Eskridge, 34, died in Huntsville, Alabama, on June 11, 2022. The outlet reported the death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head but said neither the police nor medical examiners had released a public investigative report.
According to the Daily Mail, Eskridge had been investigating and attempting to develop antigravity technology, a method of manipulating or offsetting the effects of gravity.
The Context
The report highlighted unresolved questions around Eskridge's death and placed her among a list of 11 scientists and researchers whose cases have prompted speculation about a potential broader connection.
Officials have not confirmed any link among recent cases cited by online commentators and reports, but the White House signaled this week that it would seek updates from relevant agencies after a reporter queried whether anyone was investigating a possible connection between scientists and officials who had died or gone missing since mid-2024.
What To Know
According to her social media, Eskridge's work spanned leadership and technical roles—including serving as a CEO, chief technology officer and co‑founder—across multiple research organizations. She also had earlier experience in business development and laboratory positions during her academic training.
Eskridge graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a double major in chemistry and biology, and she became an interdisciplinarian and a master of electrical engineering, chemistry, physics and genetic engineering. She was also the chair and president of the Institute for Exotic Science in Huntsville, which she co-founded, according to obituaries posted online.
The Daily Mail report said that after Eskridge's death, the Institute for Exotic Science's website was no longer accessible and that she had previously collaborated with her father, retired NASA engineer Richard Eskridge, on presentations about gravity-modification experiments and claims through their company, HoloChron Engineering.
In 2020, Eskridge said she intended to present new foundational research on antigravity but required authorization from NASA before doing so, the report said.
In a 2020 interview, Eskridge said she co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science "as a public-facing persona to disclose antigravity technology," adding, "If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off."
During the same interview, she alleged that threats against her had been escalating, saying, "I need to disclose soon man."
She added, "I have to publish because it's only going to get worse until I publish."
Footage and text messages of the scientist claiming she was being targeted by a “direct energy weapon” have also resurfaced.
In the footage, shared on X by Right Angle News Network, Eskridge can be heard saying her hands “have been burned to hell and back,” while typing “because you can beam me…and you can get a 3D image of what I’m typing.”
Franc Milburn, a former British intelligence officer who had been in contact with Eskridge, told NewsNation that Eskridge feared for her life and claimed she’d be targeted by a “directed energy weapon.” Her father, however, told the outlet he didn't believe her death was suspicious.
“If you see any report that I killed myself, I most definitely did not. If you see any report that I overdosed myself, I most definitely did not. If you see any report that I killed anyone else, I most definitely did not,” a text shared by Milburn read.
Republican Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri told right-wing commentator Benny Johnson that Eskridge “was clearly distraught, and suggested she was suffering from a mysterious condition known as Havana Syndrome, which refers to a set of unexplained symptoms first reported about a decade ago among U.S. officials and their families stationed at the American embassy in Havana, Cuba.
The renewed attention on Eskridge's death comes after online sleuths and reports have highlighted a cluster of disappearances or deaths in recent years of individuals with ties to advanced research.
Among the missing is retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland, last seen on February 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and aerospace engineer Monica Reza, who disappeared in June while hiking in California. Both have been cited by online sleuths as part of a pattern, though officials have not linked the cases.
Below is a list of workers with ties to advanced research who have disappeared or died since 2023.
- Steven Garcia—Government contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus in Albuquerque.
Missing since August 28, 2025. - William Neil McCasland—Retired U.S. Air Force major general.
Missing since February 27, 2026. - Anthony Chavez—Former employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Missing since May 8, 2025. - Melissa Casias—Administrative worker at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Missing since June 26, 2025. - Monica Reza—Director of Materials Processing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Missing since June 22, 2025. - Nuno Loureiro—Director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
Died December 16, 2025, after being shot the day before. - Carl Grillmair—Caltech astrophysicist who worked on NASA's NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor project.
Died February 16, 2026. - Michael David Hicks—Research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Died July 30, 2023. - Frank Maiwald—Researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Died July 4, 2024. - Jason Thomas—Pharmaceutical researcher.
Missing since December 12, 2025, and found dead March 17, 2026.
What Happens Next
President Donald Trump called the situation "pretty serious stuff" on Thursday, telling reporters, "I hope it's random, but we're going to know in the next week and half."
Trump said he hoped the cluster of deaths and disappearances was a coincidence but added, "Some of them were very important people, and we're going to look at it over the next short period."
Update 4/22/26, 5:43 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 4/23/26, 12:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.