Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt.

Listen, last year, I received an email from a crime junkie. A woman named Jasmine wanted help because her aunt had recently vanished from Tows County, New Mexico. And no one could agree on what happened to her. But everyone did agree to speak with us, because at the heart

of it, they all say they want to know what happened to her. Her husband and her daughter think

she left on her own. Her other family believes that she was a victim of foul play. And I'll be

honest with you, I don't know what to believe. Each side believes their theory so

fervently that I'm afraid my recounting of the facts as I know them are going to upset everyone.

Because even the facts don't make sense. But that usually means that we're missing something,

a piece of the puzzle that maybe one of you out there hearing

this right now might have. And there is a small chance that missing piece has bigger implications

than I could have ever imagined when I first read Jasmine's email last year. This is the story

of Melissa Cassius. On the afternoon of Thursday, June 26, 2025, 18-year-old Sierra Cassius is working at a coffee shop in Tau's New Mexico when she steps away to check a voicemail from her dad, Mark.

Now, his tone is tight, like something is off. He wanted her to know that he had just gotten a call from

her mom's supervisor who told him that Melissa hadn't shown up for work that day. Now, to Mark,

that seems impossible because he and Melissa both work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is a

superintendent. She's an administrative assistant. They share a car and commute together every single day,

including that day. So how could she not be there? But Sierra already knows something he doesn't,

which is that Melissa drove the hour and 15 minutes back from the lab after dropping mark off.

So she was there at the house at like 7.30, 7.45-ish when Sierra woke up that morning,

which was way out of the norm, by the way. But she told Sierra that she had forgotten her

security badge. And since she was back home anyway, she would probably just work remotely or maybe

even take the day off. Now, Sierra kind of assumes that she had done the latter because she

saw her mom for a second time later in the day, before one o'clock when she'd stopped by the coffee shop Sierra works at to bring her lunch.

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