ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO — More than six months after retired U.S. Air Force Major General William “Neil” McCasland disappeared from his Albuquerque home, one of the most unusual missing-person cases in the United States remains unresolved.

McCasland, 68, has not been publicly confirmed found, and investigators have not announced a definitive explanation for what happened to him. Despite an extensive search involving local authorities, search-and-rescue teams and the FBI, the case continues to generate questions about how an experienced military leader and outdoorsman could seemingly disappear without leaving behind a clear trail.

McCasland disappeared on February 27, 2026. His wife, Susan Wilkerson, left their home that morning for a medical appointment. According to accounts released during the investigation, a repairman had interacted with McCasland earlier that morning.

When Wilkerson returned shortly after noon, her husband was gone.

The circumstances were immediately unusual.

McCasland’s phone was left behind. So were his prescription glasses and other electronic devices that could have helped investigators track his movements. At the same time, several personal items were missing, including his wallet, a red backpack, hiking boots and a .38-caliber revolver.

The combination created a perplexing picture.

If McCasland had simply gone for a walk, investigators faced the question of why he would leave behind his phone and other tracking devices. If he had intended to disappear deliberately, investigators had to determine where he could have gone and whether he had prepared in advance.

His wife called 911 several hours after discovering that he was missing.

In the recording later made public, Wilkerson told the dispatcher she believed her husband may have “planned not to be found.” That statement immediately became one of the most widely reported details of the investigation. But it is important to distinguish her concern from an official conclusion: authorities have not publicly established that McCasland intentionally disappeared.

The timeline also contains another critical piece of evidence.

McCasland was reportedly seen at an REI store on February 26, one day before he disappeared. Los Angeles Magazine later published what it described as the last verified surveillance image of him. The image has become one of the most important visual clues in the case because it provides investigators and the public with a confirmed reference point immediately before the disappearance.

Then the trail went cold.

Search teams moved through areas around Albuquerque and the Sandia Mountains. Drones, helicopters and search dogs were used. Investigators examined tips and possible video evidence while attempting to reconstruct McCasland’s movements.

Weather also complicated portions of the search.

An unusually warm period in New Mexico reduced the effectiveness of some thermal-imaging operations because natural heat sources made it more difficult to distinguish a human heat signature from the surrounding environment. Authorities nevertheless continued searching and reviewing leads.

One discovery briefly raised hopes.

A gray U.S. Air Force sweatshirt was found roughly 1.25 miles east of McCasland’s home on March 7. Because of his military background and the proximity to his residence, the discovery attracted immediate attention.

But there was a major problem.

His family could not confirm that the sweatshirt belonged to him.

That distinction matters. The discovery generated another search effort, but it did not establish that McCasland had been in that location.

The case became even more complicated because of McCasland’s extraordinary professional background.

Before retiring in 2013, he served as a senior U.S. Air Force officer and commanded the Air Force Research Laboratory. His career involved aerospace, defense and highly sensitive research programs.

That history quickly attracted speculation online.

Some social media users began linking his disappearance to UFO investigations and alleged secret government programs. His past association with individuals interested in UFOs added fuel to those theories.

But the available evidence does not establish such a connection.

Wilkerson publicly pushed back against what she described as misinformation surrounding her husband’s disappearance. She emphasized that McCasland had been retired for years and rejected claims that he possessed some unique secret knowledge about extraterrestrial material connected to the Roswell legend.

That clarification did little to stop the speculation.

The disappearance had already become part of a broader online narrative involving several scientists and researchers who had died or disappeared in circumstances that internet commentators considered suspicious.

The FBI and federal authorities did examine whether any broader connections existed among some of those cases. The development attracted national attention, particularly because McCasland’s military career placed him among people who had worked around sensitive government research.

Yet investigators have not publicly established that the cases form a single conspiracy.

Experts have warned that similarities between unrelated cases can create the appearance of a pattern even when no causal relationship exists.

For McCasland’s family, however, the larger theories are secondary to one unanswered question.

Where is Neil?

There has been no publicly confirmed explanation for his disappearance.

There has been no verified account of where he went after leaving his home.

And there has been no publicly confirmed discovery that explains the missing wallet, backpack, boots and firearm.

The absence of a clear answer is what continues to make the case so compelling.

McCasland was not an inexperienced traveler unfamiliar with the outdoors. He was a retired general, an engineer and a man with decades of experience navigating complex environments.

Yet in February, he disappeared from his own neighborhood.

Six months later, the most important pieces of the story remain separated by unanswered questions: the final verified sighting, the abandoned phone, the missing personal items, the isolated clothing discovery and the unexplained gap between his home and wherever he may have gone.

Until investigators establish what happened after McCasland left his house, the case remains exactly what it was on the day the search began — a disappearance without a confirmed ending.

And for the people still looking for him, the mystery is not about UFOs, classified programs or internet theories.

It is much simpler.

They want to know where William Neil McCasland went — and whether he can still be brought home.