Missing retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland may have ‘planned’ his disappearance, wife’s 911 call suggests

More than a month after the mysterious disappearance of retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland, new details have emerged suggesting he may have intentionally gone missing. When McCasland’s wife reported him missing, she told a 911 dispatcher that he might have “planned not to be found,” raising early questions about whether his disappearance was deliberate.

“My husband is missing. It’s been about three hours, and I have some indication that he must have planned not to be found,” Susan Wilkerson told a 911 dispatcher in audio obtained by the Law&Crime Network. “I think he’s on foot. All of our cars and bicycles are in the garage.”



The 68-year-old McCasland was last seen at his Albuquerque, New Mexico, residence on February 27 by a repairman. Authorities later confirmed that his phone, prescription glasses, and a wearable device were left behind at the house. Wilkerson told the dispatcher that she had stepped out for a doctor’s appointment and returned roughly an hour later to find him gone.

General William Neil McCasland never done anything 'remotely like it'

She noted that his phone was turned off and left behind, which she explained “seems kind of deliberate because he’s always got his phone.” Officials said he was believed to be wearing a “light green, long sleeve button-up outdoor shirt,” and that missing items included his hiking boots, wallet, and a .38 caliber revolver with a leather holster.

Wilkerson told authorities her husband had never done anything “remotely like it” before and generally doesn’t carry a weapon. However, she added that he had recently expressed concerns about his health, saying he had been “saying if his brain and body keep deteriorating, he doesn’t want to live like that.”

“It seemed to me that was just a, ‘Man, I hate how this is going’ kind of thing. Because I told him, ‘Yes, you do. Yes, you do,’” she added.

Timeline and investigation of retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office released a detailed timeline about the disappearance, stating that William “Neil” McCasland was “last known to have been at or near his residence in the area of Quail Run Court NE on the morning of Friday, February 27, 2026. A Silver Alert remains in effect, and Mr. McCasland remains missing.”

Speculation over William Neil McCasland’s background and UFO rumors

McCasland oversaw classified space weapons programs and led research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base during his military career. The base has long been rumored to contain extraterrestrial debris from a UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, prompting speculation online about a possible link to his disappearance.

His wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, addressed those claims in a Facebook post on March 6, confirming that he had ties to the “UFO community” but dismissing theories about secret knowledge.

“Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt. Though at this point with absolutely no sign of him, maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership. However, no sightings of a mothership hovering above the Sandia Mountains have been reported.”

Who is retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland

Authorities confirmed McCasland is a retired U.S. Air Force general who previously served as Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. There, he was “responsible for managing the Air Force’s $2.2 billion science and technology program as well as additional customer-funded research and development of $2.2 billion,” according to his US Air Force biography.