Dead Scientists 2004-2015

Alberto Behar, Robotics expert NASA at the JPL. died instantly when his single-engine plane nosedived shortly after takeoff Friday from Van Nuys Airport He worked on two Mars missions and spent years researching how robots work in harsh environments like volcanoes and underwater As part of the NASA team exploring Mars with the Curiosity rover, Behar was responsible for a device that detected hydrogen on the planet’s surface as the rover moved.47-year old NASA Scientist Alberto Behar helped to prove that there had once been water on Mars according to the sad Daily Mail story published to announce his recent death in a plane crash that happened on Friday in LA, California. While plane crashes do happen and scientists do die, Behar’s name has now been added to a very long list of scientists and astronomers who have met their untimely ends prematurely, leading us to ask, did Behar know something that ‘they’ don’t want the rest of society to find out?Read more

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Died 2014

John Rogers, Tropica Disease expert with the National Institutes of Health. Martin John Rogers was found “near” his wrecked car down in an embankment in western Maryland on Thursday, September 4, 2014, after disappearing on August 21, 2014 when he left home for work at the world-renowned research center near Washington, D.C. No word yet on the cause of death, an autopsy will be performed to determine the manner of death, according to LA Times’ The Baxter Bulletin.Here is where the mystery comes in. According to the report the search for Rogers didn’t start until a “few days after he failed to show up for work,” but on the day he disappeared he is seen on a surveillance and used a credit card at a Motel 8 a few hours after he left home. Two days later there is a report of a sighting of Rogers on a “local trail,” which authorities have deemed “likely credible.While the search for Rogers is over, the search for answers regarding his disappearance and death continues.Read more

Glenn Thomas, AIDS and Ebola expert and spokesperson for the World Health Organization. Ebola expert Glenn Thomas was among the 298 people who were killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down and crashed in Ukraine. It is understood he was one of more than 100 researchers who were aboard the flight on their way to an international Aids conference in Australia. Among the other delegates aboard the plane was Joep Lange, a leading AIDS researcher and former president of the International AIDS Society (IAS)Read more

Mark Ferri, 59, Nuclear engineer A renowned American engineer was found dead in his hotel room in Salford after his heart suddenly stopped working. Mark Ferri, 59, from Tennessee, had completed two degrees in engineering as well as an MBA before becoming a nuclear engineer.At an inquest into Mr Ferri’s death at Bolton Crown Court, it was heard that the dad-of-one was visiting Manchester on business on September 18 – the day of his death.It was said Mr Ferri had been under stress from his job. His wife, Michaela, told the inquest: “He said a number of times, this job is killing me.” Mr Ferri was originally due to return to the US a week earlier to see his family but was asked to remain in the UK for an extra week.On September 5, Mrs Ferri spoke to her husband and said that ‘he didn’t sound right’. She said: “He said it was just his work and they were giving him additional assignments and he was feeling overwhelmed and he didn’t think he would be able to complete them”.Read more from the Manchester Evening News

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Died 2013

Professor Carol Ambruster, 69, University professor and Astronomy and Astrophysics Officers had found nothing in Ambruster’s life or history that appeared suspicious. Philly.com reported; Carol W. Ambruster, 69 was found by her roommate in the kitchen of her apartment in the 5500 block of Wayne Avenue, Germantown with a knife in her neck about 9 p.m., police said. She also had been stabbed in the chest.Ambruster, a tenured professor in the department of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova, retired in 2011. Ambruster attended Northeastern University, where she majored in physics, and received her doctorate in astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. Her research interests included stars and the history of astronomy.http://articles.philly.com/2013-12-12/news/45125885_1_astronomy-apartment-building-roommate

Anne Szarewski, 53, pioneered the cervical cancer vaccine. Mystery: Doctors are still at a loss to explain Dr Anne Szarewski’s death in her Hampstead home in August. Doctors are still at a loss to explain what exactly caused the brilliant researcher’s death. She was found with high levels of an anti-malarial drug in her bloodstream, but doctors said this was not thought to have caused her death. The scientist who pioneered the cervical cancer vaccine was found dead by her husband at their £2million home after he warned she was ‘heading for a crisis’ by working too hard. Dr Anne Szarewski, 53, a university lecturer whose discovery has saved thousands of lives, was begged to slow down by her husband, who was becoming increasingly concerned about the pressure she was putting on herself. In August he found her dead in their four-bedroom home in West Hampstead, north London, after he spent two hours drilling through a door she had locked from the inside. Dr Szarewski is credited with discovering the link between the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, leading to a vaccine for HPV – the first-ever vaccine against any form of cancer – which is now routinely given to girls across the country.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2520360/Scientist-Anne-Szarewski-pioneered-cervical-cancer-vaccine-dead-husband-home.html

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Shane Todd, 31, Phd in electrical engineering with expertise with GaN (Gallium Nitride). Mystery: Dr. Todd felt increasingly uncomfortable with the work he was doing with the Chinese company Huawei, to the point Shane told his family that he was being asked to compromise US security and he feared for his life. Shane was working on a “one of a kind” machine, with a dual use in commercial and in military application, requiring expertise in the area of GaN (Gallium Nitride). Shane refused to do what he was being asked to do and turned in his sixty day notice at IME. Shane found a good job with a company in Virginia, and bought a ticket to fly back to the US on July 1, 2012. Shane was killed late June 22nd, or 23rd, right after his last day of work.Shane’s death was so unusual that CBS 48 Hours did a show on it. 48 Hours: Did a son die protecting American secrets? A family’s quest for the truth http://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-did-a-son-die-protecting-american-secrets-a-familys-quest-for-the-truth/ http://www.justice4shanetodd.com/

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Dr. Richard Holmes , age 48. Weapons expert. Dr Holmes is believed to have worked on the production of chemical protection suits for troops. In 1991 he was the joint author of a scientific paper about an RAF chemical and biological protection system. Suicide riddle of weapons expert who worked with David Kelly: Scientist tells wife he is going for a walk, then takes his life in a field… just like his friend Body of Dr Richard Holmes discovered in a field four miles from the Porton Down defence establishment Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in latest case but revealed scientist was ‘under a great deal of stress’ He resigned from Porton Down last month, but it is unclear why A weapons expert who worked with Dr David Kelly at the Government’s secret chemical warfare laboratory has been found dead in an apparent suicide. In circumstances strongly reminiscent of Dr Kelly’s own mysterious death nine years ago, the body of Dr Richard Holmes was discovered in a field four miles from the Porton Down defence establishment in Wiltshire. It is not yet known how he died. Read more: http://truthaholics.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/uk-new-suicide-riddle-of-former-colleague-of-dr-david-kelly/

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Melissa Ketunuti, – died January 2013 – Firefighters find charred body of murdered pediatrician who was hog-tied, strangled and set on fire in her basementDr. Kentunuti worked at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and dedicated her whole life to being a doctor and helping kids with cancer. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, she earned a doctorate in medicine from Stanford University and had initially considered working as a surgeon internationally. She worked on an AIDS research fellowship in Botswana through the National Institutes of Health. She also completed internships at Johns Hopkins Hospital and New York University. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266433/Melissa-Ketunuti-murder-Philadelphia-pediatrician-hog-tied-strangled-set-basement.html#ixzz2Ijyy1Y00

Died 2012

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Professor Dr. Richard Crowe, 60, died May 27 in an off-road accident in Arizona. Dr. Crowe came to UH Hilo 25 years ago and helped launch the University’s undergraduate astronomy program. is numerous publications and co-authored works added significantly to the body of astronomical literature. He regularly trained UHH student observers with the UH 24-inch telescope on Mauna Kea, and conducted many research programs on that telescope. In 2005, he won the AstroDay Excellence in Teaching Award for his efforts. In 1991, Dr. Crowe was selected as a Fujio Matsuda Research Fellow for his scholarly work on pulsating variable stars. Crowe was also active in the community. He was a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay.

Gelareh Bagherzadeh, died Jan. 17, when she was shot outside her home, DDetectives investigating the murder of an Iranian molecular scientist gunned down in her car as she drove home believe she was followed or that someone was waiting for her. Bagherzadeh was struck by a single bullet that entered the passenger door window as she talked on her cell phone with her ex-boyfriend. Bagherzadeh was a molecular genetic technology student at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and also active in promoting Iranian women’s rights.

Died 2011

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James S. Miller, 58, as a result of being attacked during a home invasion. Professor James Steven Miller came to Goshen College to teach in 1980, the same year he completed his doctorate degree in medical biochemistry at Ohio State University. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1975 from Bluffton (Ohio) University. The Goshen College Board of Directors granted Professor Miller tenure in June 1985. He primarily taught upper-level courses taken by students in nursing, pre-medical and other health-related tracks.

Zachary Greene Warfield, 35, died July 4 in a boating accident on the Potomac River. Zack was a co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors for Omnis, Inc., a McLean, VA-based strategic consulting firm for the intelligence, defense and national security communities. He spearheaded major research initiatives and, in addition to helping steer the company, was directly involved in numerous projects, including analytic training and technology consulting. Prior to founding Omnis, Zack was an engineer and analyst for the U.S. Government and private industry. As a science and technology analyst, he assessed missile and space systems, managed technical contracts, and investigated Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program as a member of the Iraq Survey Group, serving in Baghdad on two separate occasions. As an engineer, he worked on aerospace projects for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and private industry. Most notably, Zack designed critical guidance systems that ensured a successful landing for the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity; his name is inscribed on one of the rovers, and remains on Mars today.

Jonathan Widom, 55, died July 18 of an apparent heart attack. He was a professor of Molecular Biosciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. Widom focused on how DNA is packaged into chromosomes — and the location of nucleosomes specifically. Colleagues said the work has had profound implications for how genes are able to be read in the cell and how mutations outside of the regions that encode proteins can lead to errors and disease.

Fanjun Meng, 29, and Chunyang Zhang, 26, drowned in a Branson hotel swimming pool. Both were from China and working in the anatomic pathology lab at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Meng was a visiting scholar and his wife, Zhang, was a research specialist, according to information at the university’s website. Meng was working on research looking at a possible link between pesticides and Parkinson’s disease.Police said the investigation is ongoing as to the cause of the drowning but had said earlier there was no sign of foul play.

Andrei Tropinov, Sergei Rizhov, Gennadi Benyok, Nicolai Tronov and Valery Lyalin, in a Russian plane crash.. The five scientists were employed at the Hydropress factory, a member of Russia’s state nuclear corporation and had assisted in the development of Iran’s nuclear plant. Theyworked at the Bushehr nuclear power plant and helped to complete construction of it. Officially Russian investigators say that human error and technical malfunction caused the deadly crash, which killed 45 and left 8 passengers surviving.

Rodger Lynn Dickey, 56, from an apparent suicide Mar. 18 after he jumped from the Gorge Bridge.Dickey was a senior nuclear engineer with over 30 years of experience in support of the design, construction, start-up, and operation of commercial and government nuclear facilities. His expertise was in nuclear safety programmatic assessment, regulatory compliance, hazard assessment, safety analysis, and safety basis documentation. He completed project tasks in nuclear engineering design and application, nuclear waste management, project management, and risk management. His technical support experience included nuclear facility licensing, radiation protection, health and safety program assessments, operational readiness assessments, and systems engineering.

Gregory Stone, 54, from an unknown illness Feb. 17. Stone, who was quoted extensively in many publications internationally after last year’s BP oil leak, was the director of the renowned Wave-Current Information System. Stone quickly established himself as an internationally respected coastal scientist who produced cutting-edge research and attracted millions of dollars of research support to LSU. As part of his research, he and the CSI Field Support Group developed a series of offshore instrumented stations to monitor wind, waves and currents that impact the Louisiana coast. The system is used by many fishermen and scientists to monitor wind, waves and currents off the Louisiana coast. Stone was a great researcher, teacher, mentor and family man.

Bradley C. Livezey, 56, died in a car crash Feb. 8. Livezey knew nearly everything about the songs of birds and was considered the top anatomist. Livezey, curator of The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, never gave up researching unsolved mysteries of the world’s 20,000 or so avian species. Carnegie curator since 1993, Livezey oversaw a collection of nearly 195,000 specimens of birds, the country’s ninth largest. Livezey died in a two-car crash on Route 910, authorities said. An autopsy revealed he died from injuries to the head and trunk, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Northern Regional Police are investigating.

Dr Massoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, was assassinated Jan. 11 when a remote-control bomb inside a motorcycle near his car was detonated. This professor of nuclear physics at Tehran University was politically active and his name was on a list of Tehran University staff who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi according to Newsweek. The London Times reports that Dr. Ali-Mohammadi told his students to speak out against the unjust elections. He stated “We have to stand up to this lot. Don’t be afraid of a bullet. It only hurts at the beginning.” Iran seems to be systematically assassinating high level professors and doctors who speak out against the regime of President Ahmadinejad. However, Iran proclaims that Israel and America used the “killing as a means of thwarting the country’s nuclear program” per Newsweek.

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Died 2010

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John (Jack) P. Wheeler III, 66. last seen Dec. 30found dead in a Delaware landfill, fought to get the Vietnam Memorial built and served in two Bush administrations. His death has been ruled a homicide by Newark, Del. police. Wheeler graduated from West Point in 1966, and had a law degree from Yale and a business degree from Harvard. His military career included serving in the office of the Secretary of Defense and writing a manual on the effectiveness of biological and chemical weapons, which recommended that the United States not use biological weapons.

Mark A. Smith, 45. Died Nov. 15 renowned Alzheimer’s disease researcher has died after being hit by a car in Ohio. Smith was a pathology professor at Case Western Reserve University and director of basic science research at the university’s memory and cognition center. He also was executive director of the American Aging Association and co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. He is listed as the No. 3 “most prolific” Alzheimer’s disease researcher, with 405 papers written, by the international medical Journal.

Chitra Chauhan, 33. Died Nov. 15 was found dead in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel, police said. Chauhan left a suicide note saying she used cyanide. Hazmat team officials said the cyanide was found only in granular form, meaning it was not considered dangerous outside of the room it was found in. The chemical is considered more dangerous in a liquid or gas form. Potassium Cyanide, the apparent cause of death, is a chemical commonly used by universities in teaching chemistry and conducting research, but it was not used in the research projects she was working on. Chauhan, a molecular biologist, was a post-doctoral researcher in the Global Health department in the College of Public Health. She earned her doctorate from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, India, in 2005, then studied mosquitoes and disease transmission at the University of Notre Dame.

Franco Cerrina, 62. Died July 12 was found dead in a lab at BU’s Photonics Center on Monday morning. The cause of death is not yet known, but have ruled out homicide. Cerrina joined the faculty of BU in 2008 after spending 24 years on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He co-founded five companies, including NimbleGen Systems, Genetic Assemblies (merged with Codon Devices in 2006), Codon Devices, Biolitho, and Gen9, according to Nanowerk News. NimbleGen, a Madison, WI-based provider of DNA microarray technology, was sold to Basel, Switzerland-based Roche in 2007 for $272.5 million. Cerrina, chairman of the electrical and computer engineering department, came to BU two years ago from the University of Wisconsin at Madison as a leading scholar in optics, lithography, and nanotechnology, according to his biography on the university website. The scholar was responsible for establishing a new laboratory in the Photonics Center.

Vajinder Toor, 34. Died April 26 shot and killed outside his home in Branford, Conn. Toor worked at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in New York before joining Yale.

Joseph Morrissey, 46. Died April 6 as a victim of a home invasion. The autopsy revealed that the professor died from a stab wound. Although the cause of death was first identified as a gun shot wound, the autopsy revealed that the professor died from a stab wound. Morrissey joined NSU in May 2009 as an associate professor and taught one elective class on immunopharmacology in the College of Pharmacy.

Maria Ragland Davis, 52. Died February 13 at the hand of neurobiologist Amy Bishop. Her background was in chemical engineering and biochemistry, and she specialized in plant pathology and biotechnology applications. She had a doctorate in biochemistry and had worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Monsanto Company in St. Louis. She was hired at the University of Alabama after a seven-year stint as a senior scientist in the plant-science department at Research Genetics Inc. (later Invitrogen), also in Huntsville.

Gopi K. Podila, 54. Died February 13 at the hand of neurobiologist Amy Bishop, Indian American biologist, noted academician, and faculty member at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He listed his research interests as engineering tree biomass for bioenergy, functional genomics of plant-microbe interactions, plant molecular biology and biotechnology. In particular, Padila studied genes that regulate growth in fast growing trees, especially poplar and aspen. He has advocated prospective use of fast growing trees and grasses as an alternative to corn sources for producing ethanol.

Adriel D. Johnson Sr. , 52. Died February 13 at the hand of neurobiologist Amy Bishop. His research involved aspects of gastrointestinal physiology specifically pancreatic function in vertebrates.

Amy Bishop, 45, Neurobiologist – murdered three fellow scientists February 13 after being denied tenure. Dead biology professors are: G. K. Podila, the department’s chairman, a native of India; Maria Ragland Davis; and Adriel D. Johnson Sr.

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Died 2009

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Keith Fagnou, 38. Died November 11 of H1N1. His research focused on improving the preparation of complex molecules for petrochemical, pharmaceutical or industrial uses. Keith’s advanced and out–of-the-box thinking overturned prior ideas of what is possible in the chemistry field.

Stephen Lagakos, 63. Died October 12 in an auto collision, wife, Regina, 61, and his mother, Helen, 94, were also killed in the crash, as was the driver of the other car, Stephen Krause, 52, of Keene, N.H. Lagakos centered his efforts on several fronts in the fight against AIDS particularly how and when HIV-infected women transmitted the virus to their children. In addition, he developed sophisticated methods to improve the accuracy of estimated HIV incidence rates. He also contributed to broadening access to antiretroviral drugs to people in developing countries.

Malcolm Casadaban, 60. Died Sept. 13 of plague. Casadaban, a renowned molecular geneticist with a passion for new research, had been working to develop an even stronger vaccine for the plague. The medical center says the plague bacteria he worked with was a weakened strain that isn’t known to cause illness in healthy adults. The strain was approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for laboratory studies.

Wallace L. Pannier, 81. Died Aug. 6 of respiratory failure and other natural causes. Pannier, a germ warfare scientist whose top-secret projects included a mock attack on the New York subway with powdered bacteria in 1966. Mr. Pannier worked at Fort Detrick, a US Army installation in Frederick that tested biological weapons during the Cold War and is now a center for biodefense research. He worked in the Special Operations Division, a secretive unit operating there from 1949 to 1969, according to family members and published reports. The unit developed and tested delivery systems for deadly agents such as anthrax and smallpox.

August “Gus” Watanabe, 67. Died June 9, found dead outside a cabin in Brown County. Friends discovered the body, a .38-caliber handgun and a three-page note at the scene. They said he had been depressed following the death last month of his daughter Nan Reiko Watanabe Lewis. She died at age 44 while recovering from elective surgery. Watanabe was one of the five highest-paid officers of Indianapolis pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly and Co. when he retired in 2003.

Caroline Coffey, 28. Died June 3, from massive cuts to her throat. Hikers found the body of the Cornell Univ. post-doctoral bio-medicine researcher along a wooded trail in the park, just outside Ithaca, N.Y., where the Ivy League school is located. Her husband was hospitalized under guard after a police chase and their apartment set on fire.

Nasser Talebzadeh Ordoubadi, 53. Died February 14, of “suspicious” causes. Dr. Noah (formerly Nasser Talebzadeh Ordoubadi) is described in his American biography as a pioneer of Mind-Body-Quantum medicine who lectured in five countries and ran a successful health care center General Medical Clinics Inc. in King County, Washington for 15 years after suffering a heart attack in 1989. Among his notable accomplishments was discovering an antitoxin treatment for bioweapons.

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Died 2008

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Bruce Edwards Ivins, 62. Died July 29, of an overdose. He committed suicide prior to formal charges being filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for an alleged criminal connection to the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins was likely solely responsible for the deaths of five persons, and the injury of dozens of others, resulting from the mailings of several anonymous letters to members of Congress and members of the media in September and October, 2001, which letters contained Bacillus anthracis, commonly referred to as anthrax. Ivins was a coinventor on two US patents for anthrax vaccine technology.

Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23. Died July 3, after being bound, gagged, stabbed and set alight. Laurent, a student in the proteins that cause infectious disease, had been stabbed 196 times with half of them being administered to his back after he was dead. Gabriel, who hoped to become an expert in ecofriendly fuels, suffered 47 separate injuries.

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Died 2007

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Yongsheng Li, age 29. Died: sometime after 4 p.m. on March 10, when he was last seen as a result of unknown causes. He was found in a pond between the Women’s Sports Complex and State Botanical Gardens on South Milledge Avenue Sunday and had been missing 16 days. Li was a doctoral student from China who studied receptor cells in Regents Professor David Puett’s biochemistry and molecular biology laboratory.

Dr. Mario Alberto Vargas Olvera, age 52. Died: Oct. 6, 2007as a result of several blunt-force injuries to his head and neck. Ruled as murder. Found in his home. He was a nationally and internationally recognized biologist.

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Died 2006

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Yoram Kaufman, age 57 (one day before his 58th birthday). Died: May 31, 2006when he was struck by an automobile while riding his bicycle near the Goddard center’s campus in Greenbelt. Dr. Kaufman began working at the space flight center in 1979 and spent his entire career there as a research scientist. His primary fields were meteorology and climate change, with a specialty in analyzing aerosols — airborne solid and liquid particles in the atmosphere. In recent years, he was senior atmospheric scientist in the Earth-Sun Exploration Division and played a key role in the development of NASA’s Terra satellite, which collects data about the atmosphere.

Lee Jong-woo, age 61. Died: May 22, 2006after suffering a blood clot on the brain. Lee was spearheading the organization’s fight against global threats from bird flu, AIDS and other infectious diseases. WHO director-general since 2003, Lee was his country’s top international official. The affable South Korean, who liked to lighten his press conferences with jokes, was a keen sportsman with no history of ill-health, according to officials.

Died 2005

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Leonid Strachunsky. Died: June 8, 2005 after being hit on the head with a champagne bottle. Strachunsky specialized in creating microbes resistant to biological weapons. Strachunsky was found dead in his hotel room in Moscow, where hed come from Smolensk en route to the United States. Investigators are looking for a connection between the murder of this leading bio weapons researcher and the hepatitis outbreak in Tver, Russia.

Robert J. Lull, age 66. Died: May 19, 2005 of multiple stab wounds. Despite his missing car and apparent credit card theft, homicide Inspector Holly Pera said investigators aren’t convinced that robbery was the sole motive for Lull’s killing. She said a robber would typically have taken more valuables from Lull’s home than what the killer left with. Lull had been chief of nuclear medicine at San Francisco General Hospital since 1990 and served as a radiology professor at UCSF. He was past president of the American College of Nuclear Physicians and the San Francisco Medical Society and served as editor of the medical society’s journal, San Francisco Medicine, from 1997 to 1999. Lee Lull said her former husband was a proponent of nuclear power and loved to debate his political positions with others.

Todd Kauppila, age 41. Died: May 8, 2005of hemorrhagic pancreatitis at the Los Alamos hospital, according to the state medical examiner’s office.  Picture of him was not available to due secret nature of his work. This is his funeral picture.  His death came two days after Kauppila publicly rejoiced over news that the lab’s director was leaving.  Kauppila was fired by director Pete Nanos on Sept. 23, 2004 following a security scandal.  Kauppila said he was fired because he did not immediately return from a family vacation during a lab investigation into two classified computer disks that were thought to be missing. The apparent security breach forced Nanos to shut down the lab for several weeks. Kauppila claimed he was made a scapegoat over the disks, which investigators concluded never existed. The mistake was blamed on a clerical error.  After he was fired, Kauppila accepted a job as a contractor at Bechtel Nevada Corp., a research company that works with Los Alamos and other national laboratories. He was also working on a new Scatter Reduction Grids in Megavolt Radiography focused on metal plates or crossed grids to act to stop the scattered radiation while allowing the unscattered or direct rays to pass through with other scientists: Scott Watson (LANL, DX-3), Chuck Lebeda (LANL, XTA),  Alan Tubb (LANL, DX-8), and Mike Appleby (Tecomet Thermo Electron Corp.)

David Banks, age 55. Died: May 8, 2005. Banks, based in North Queensland, died in an airplane crash, along with 14 others. He was known as an Agro Genius inventing the mosquito trap used for cattle. Banks was the principal scientist with quarantine authority, Biosecurity Australia, and heavily involved in protecting Australians from unwanted diseases and pests. Most of Dr Banks’ work involved preventing potentially devastating diseases making their way into Australia. He had been through Indonesia looking at the potential for foot and mouth disease to spread through the archipelago and into Australia. Other diseases he had fought to keep out of Australian livestock herds and fruit orchards include classical swine fever, Nipah virus and Japanese encephalitis.

Dr. Douglas James Passaro, age 43. Died April 18, 2005 from unknown cause in Oak Park, Illinois. Dr. Passaro was a brilliant epidemiologist who wanted to unlock the secrets of a spiral-shaped bacteria that causes stomach disease. He was a professor who challenged his students with real-life exercises in bioterrorism. He was married to Dr. Sherry Nordstrom..

Geetha Angara, age 43. Died: February 8, 2005. This formerly missing chemist was found in a Totowa, New Jersey water treatment plant’s tank. Angara, 43, of Holmdel, was last seen on the night of Feb. 8 doing water quality tests at the Passaic Valley Water Commission plant in Totowa, where she worked for 12 years. Divers found her body in a 35-foot-deep sump opening at the bottom of one of the emptied tanks. Investigators are treating Angara’s death as a possible homicide. Angara, a senior chemist with a doctorate from New York University, was married and mother of three.

Jeong H. Im, age 72. Died: January 7, 2005. Korean Jeong H. Im, died of multiple stab wounds to the chest before firefighters found in his body in the trunk of a burning car on the third level of the Maryland Avenue Garage.  A retired research assistant professor at the University of Missouri – Columbia and primarily a protein chemist, MUPD with the assistance of the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire Department are conducting a death investigation of the incident. A “person of interest” described as a male 6’–6’2″ wearing some type of mask possible a painters mask or drywall type mask was seen in the area of the Maryland Avenue Garage. Dr. Im was primarily a protein chemist and he was a researcher in the field.

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Died 2004

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Darwin Kenneth Vest, born April 22, 1951, was an internationally renowned entomologist, expert on hobo spiders and other poisonous spiders and snakes. Darwin disappeared in the early morning hours of June 3, 1999 while walking in downtown Idaho Falls, Idaho (USA). The family believes foul play was involved in his disappearance. A celebration of Darwin’s life was held in Idaho Falls and Moscow on the one-year anniversary of his disappearance. The services included displays of Darwin’s work and thank you letters from school children and teachers. Memories of Darwin were shared by at least a dozen speakers from around the world and concluded with the placing of roses and a memorial wreath in the Snake River. A candlelight vigil was also held that evening on the banks of the Snake River.Darwin was declared legally dead the first week of March 2004 and now the family is in the process of obtaining restraining orders against several companies who saw fit to use his name and photos without permission. His brother David is legal conservator of the estate and his sister Rebecca is handling issues related to Eagle Rock Research and ongoing research projects. Media help in locating Darwin is welcome. Continuing efforts to solve this mystery include recent DNA sampling. Stories about his disappearance continue to appear throughout the world. Issues surrounding missing adult investigations have received new attention following the tragedies of 911.

Tom Thorne, age 64; Beth Williams, age 53; Died: December 29, 2004. Two wild life scientists, Husband-and-wife wildlife veterinarians who were nationally prominent experts on chronic wasting disease and brucellosis were killed in a snowy-weather crash on U.S. 287 in northern Colorado.

Taleb Ibrahim al-Daher. Died: December 21, 2004. Iraqi nuclear scientist was shot dead north of Baghdad by unknown gunmen. He was on his way to work at Diyala University when armed men opened fire on his car as it was crossing a bridge in Baqouba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad. The vehicle swerved off the bridge and fell into the Khrisan river. Al-Daher, who was a professor at the local university, was removed from the submerged car and rushed to Baqouba hospital where he was pronounced dead.

John R. La Montagne, age 61. Died: November 2, 2004.  Died while in Mexico, no cause stated, later disclosed as pulmonary embolism.  PhD, Head of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie Thompson.  Was NIAID Deputy Director.  Expert in AIDS Program work and Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Matthew Allison, age 32.  Died: October 13, 2004. Fatal explosion of a car parked at an Osceola County, Fla., Wal-Mart store.  It was no accident, Local 6 News has learned. Found inside a burned car. Witnesses said the man left the store at about 11 p.m. and entered his Ford Taurus car when it exploded. Investigators said they found a Duraflame log and propane canisters on the front passenger’s seat.  Allison had a college degree in molecular biology and biotechnology.

Mohammed Toki Hussein al-Talakani, age 40. Died: September 5, 2004: Iraqi nuclear scientist was shot dead in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. He was a practicing nuclear physicist since 1984.

Professor John Clark,  Age 52, Died: August 12, 2004.  Found hanged in his holiday home.  An expert in animal science and biotechnology where he developed techniques for the genetic modification of livestock; this work paved the way for the birth, in 1996, of Dolly the sheep, the first animal to have been cloned from an adult.  Head of the science lab which created Dolly the sheep.   Prof Clark led the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, one of the world s leading animal biotechnology research centers. He played a crucial role in creating the transgenic sheep that earned the institute worldwide fame. He was put in charge of a project to produce human proteins (which could be used in the treatment of human diseases) in sheep’s milk. Clark and his team focused their study on the production of the alpha-I-antitryps in protein, which is used for treatment of cystic fibrosis. Prof Clark also founded three spin-out firms from Roslin – PPL Therapeutics, Rosgen and Roslin BioMed.

Dr. John Badwey, age 54. Died: July 21, 2004.  Scientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of sewage waste program of exposing humans to sludge.  Suddenly developed pneumonia like symptoms then died in two weeks.  Biochemist at Harvard Medical School specializing in infectious diseases.

Dr. Bassem al-Mudares.  Died: July 21, 2004.  Mutilated body was found in the city of Samarra, Iraq*. He was a Phd. chemist and had been tortured before being killed. He was a drug company worker who had a chemistry doctorate.

Professor Stephen Tabet, age 42. Died on July 6, 2004 from an unknown illness. He was an associate professor and epidemiologist at the University of Washington. A world-renowned HIV doctor and researcher who worked with HIV patients in a vaccine clinical trial for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network

Dr. Larry Bustard, age 53. Died July 2, 2004 from unknown causes. He was a Sandia scientist in the Department of Energy who helped develop a foam spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax scare in 2001. He worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. As an expert in bioterrorism, his team came up with a new technology used against biological and chemical agents.

Edward Hoffman, ag2. Die 6ed July 1, 2004 from unknown causes. Hoffman was a professor and a scientist who also held leadership positions within the UCLA medical community. He worked to develop the first human PET scanner in 1973 at Washington University in St. Louis.

John Mullen, age 67. Died: June 29, 2004.  A Nuclear physicist poisoned with a huge dose of arsenic.  A nuclear research scientist with McDonnell Douglas. Police investigating will not say how Mullen was exposed to the arsenic or where it came from. At the time of his death he was doing contract work for Boeing.

Dr. Paul Norman, age 52. Died: June 27, 2004.  From Salisbury Wiltshire.  Killed when the single-engine Cessna 206 he was piloting crashed in Devon.  Expert in chemical and biological weapons. He traveled the world lecturing on defending against the scourge of weapons of mass destruction.  He was married with a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and was the chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at the Ministry of Defense’s laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire. The crash site was examined by officials from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the wreckage of the aircraft was removed from the site to the AAIB base at Farnborough.

Dr. Assefa Tulu, age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.  Dr. Tulu joined the health department in 1997 and served for five years as the county’s lone epidemiologist. He was charged with trackcing the health of the county, including the spread of diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents. Tulu often coordinated efforts to address major health concerns in Dallas County, such as the West Nile virus outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media to inform the public. Found face down, dead in his office. The Dallas County Epidemiologist died of a hemorrhagic stroke.

Thomas Gold, age 84. Died: June 22, 2004.  Austrian born Thomas Gold famous over the years for a variety of bold theories that flout conventional wisdom and reported in his 1998 book, “The Deep Hot Biosphere,” the idea challenges the accepted wisdom of how oil and natural gas are formed and, along the way, proposes a new theory of the beginnings of life on Earth and potentially on other planets.  Long term battle with heart failure. Gold’s theory of the deep hot biosphere holds important ramifications for the possibility of life on other planets, including seemingly inhospitable planets within our own solar system. He was Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Cornell University and was the founder (and for 20 years director) of Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research. He was also involved in air accident investigations.

Antonina Presnyakova, age 46. Died:  May 25, 2004.  A Russian scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia died after an accident with a needle laced with ebola. Scientists and officials said the accident had raised concerns about safety and secrecy at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, which in Soviet times specialized in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. Vector has been a leading recipient of aid in an American program.

Dr. Eugene Mallove, age 56. Died: May 14, 2004. Autopsy confirmed Mallove died as a result of several blunt-force injuries to his head and neck. Ruled as murder. Found at the end of his driveway. Alt. Energy Expert who was working on viable energy alternative program and announcement. Norwich Free Academy graduate.Beaten to death during an alleged robbery. Mallove was well respected for his knowledge of cold fusion. He had just published an “open letter” outlining the results of and reasons for his last 15 years in the field of “new energy research.” Dr. Mallove was convinced it was only a matter of months before the world would actually see a free energy device.

William T. McGuire, age 39. Found May 5, 2004, last seen late April 2004. Body found in three suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay. He was NJ University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He emerged as one of the world’s leading microbiologists and an expert in developing and overseeing multiple levels of biocontainment facilities.

Ilsley Ingram, age 84. Died on April 12, 2004 from unknown causes. Ingram was Director of the Supraregional Haemophilia Reference Centre and the Supraregional Centre for the Diagnosis of Bleeding Disorders at the St. Thomas Hospital in London. Although his age is most likely the reason for his death, why wasn’t this confirmed by the family in the news media?

Mohammed Munim al-Izmerly, Died: April 2004.  This distinguished Iraqi chemistry professor   died in American custody from a sudden hit to the back of his head caused by blunt trauma. It was uncertain exactly how he died, but someone had hit him from behind, possibly with a bar or a pistol. His battered corpse turned up at Baghdad’s morgue and the cause of death was initially recorded as “brainstem compression”. It was discovered that US doctors had made a 20cm incision in his skull.

Vadake Srinivasan, Died: March 13, 2004.Microbiologist crashed car into guard rail in Baton Rouge, LA.  Death was ruled a stroke. He was originally from India, was one of the most-accomplished and respected industrial biologists in academia, and held two doctorate degrees.

Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, age 62. Died: January 24, 2004. Died of massive heart attack. Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class. It is interesting to note, he had a good heart, but it “gave out”. Dr. Shope and Dr. Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the UTMB Galvaston