US investigating mysterious disappearances and deaths of scientists after one says ‘my life is in danger’

Amy Eskridge was found dead in 2022 after claiming her life was in danger and is among 11 people with ties to US space or nuclear information who have died or vanished in recent years

A young scientist was discovered dead after claiming her life might be at risk in another instance of puzzling deaths and disappearances in recent years, with US President Donald Trump confirming authorities are examining the incidents.

Amy Eskridge, 34, reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Huntsville, Alabama on 11 June 2022. Neither police nor medical examiners have publicly disclosed any details of an investigation into her death. Her death is one of 11 individual connected to US space or nuclear intelligence who has died or mysteriously disappeared in recent years.

Amy was researching and attempting to develop anti-gravity technology, an achievement which could revolutionise space travel and energy production.

In 2020, she said she was planning to present ground-breaking foundational research about antigravity but needed clearance from NASA.

Following her death, an interview has surfaced in which Amy herself, alongside independent findings submitted to Congress, alleged that the death was not suicide but rather a murder conspiracy, reports the Mirror.

US President Donald Trump, responding to a reporter on Thursday, 16 April about 10 scientists who had already disappeared or been discovered dead, said: “I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half.”

“Pretty serious stuff… Some of them were very important people, and we’re going to look at it over the next short period.”

Amy also co-founded a research company, The Institute for Exotic Science, to enable a “public-facing persona to disclose anti-gravity technology.” She established the institute alongside her father, Richard Eskridge, a retired NASA engineer who specialised in plasma physics and fusion technology.

She is quoted as saying: “If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off.

“If you stick your neck out in private… they will bury you, they will burn down your house while you’re sleeping in your bed and it won’t even make the news. That’s why the institute exists.”

The Institute for Exotic Science has allegedly closed since its co-founder’s death.

Amy appeared on a 2020 podcast interview where she outlined a strategy for the public revelation of UFOs and extra-terrestrials, but expressed concern that the threats against her were becoming increasingly serious.

“I need to publish soon because it’s like escalating. It’s getting more and more aggressive. This has been going on for like four or five years, and over the past 12 months, it’s been escalating, like more aggressive, more invasive digging through my underwear drawer and sexual threats.”

Amy’s case seems to follow a mounting pattern of deceased scientists who were investigating crucial areas of technology or space exploration around the time they were discovered dead. Since Amy’s death in 2022, five other notable researchers have passed away, including two who were brutally murdered in their own homes.

Nuno Loureiro, aged 47, was killed at his residence in Boston on December 15, 2025. Authorities identified the shooter as a former schoolmate from Portugal. However, a former FBI official and independent investigators suggest that Nuno’s work in nuclear fusion may have made him a target of a larger conspiracy against US scientists.

Another scientist fell victim to an unprovoked attack at his California home. Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, aged 67, was shot dead on his front porch early in the morning on February 16, 2026. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department identified a person of interest in Grillmair’s murder case and later charged the man with murder, carjacking and burglary.

Separately, NASA scientists Michael David Hicks and Frank Maiwald, both employed at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California, died under mysterious circumstances at a young age.

In another puzzling incident, Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher working on cancer treatments at Novartis, was discovered dead in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026, after vanishing without a trace three months prior. Local police maintain there is no suspicion of foul play.

Several other individuals have been reported missing and remain unaccounted for.