EXCLUSIVE: A Defense Department scientists 2022 death, which was ruled an accident, is drawing new scrutiny as federal authorities examine a series of deaths and disappearances involving researchers tied to sensitive government work.
The case comes as federal authorities and lawmakers examine reports involving at least 10 to 11 scientists tied to sensitive government research, including individuals connected to nuclear, aerospace and defense programs.
The cases, which span disappearances, confirmed homicides and unexplained deaths, have drawn attention from the White House and Congress, prompting calls for federal agencies to determine whether any broader national security risk exists.
One of those cases drawing renewed attention is the death of Jude Height, a longtime Army biochemist whose work placed him within the type of high-level research now under federal review.
Height, 71, died Sept. 9, 2022, after a vehicle rolled backward down a driveway at a home in Chester County, Pennsylvania, striking and trapping him beneath it, according to the local coroners office and official records. The death was ruled accidental.
The FBI declined to comment on specific cases, but told Fox News Digital it is “spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and local law enforcement partners to find answers.”
The White House similarly declined to get ahead of its investigation.Â
“The White House continues to coordinate across the interagency in order to investigate these events and provide transparency to the American people,” spokesperson Anna Kelly said.Â
Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland for comment. The War Department referred to the Army.Â
Height spent more than four decades working as a biochemist for the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Grounds Edgewood, Maryland, facility, focusing on how nerve agents interact with the human body â work that placed him within the type of national security research now drawing broader federal scrutiny.
His work included findings on Novichok agents, a class of chemical weapons used in high-profile international poisonings, including the 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.
“We were working on the next generation of nerve agent therapeutics,” Scott Peghan, a biochemist who worked with Height through Army research programs, told Fox News Digital.Â
His final research, published after his death, examined how Novichok agents inhibit acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme critical to nerve function. Height was preparing to present his latest findings at the annual Military Health System Research Symposium at the time of his death.
“He worked on the structure of proteins involved in interactions with nerve agents,” Dennis Reuter, a former senior Army scientist who ran a chemical weapons laboratory and oversaw Heights work for two decades, told Fox News Digital. “It was very cutting-edge research.”Â
Dr. Emory “Bill” Sarver, a former chief scientist who worked with Height for 25 years, told Fox News Digital his work focused on how those agents bind to key enzymes, including whether those interactions could be reversed â research with implications for both chemical defense and medical treatment.Â
Nerve agents like Novichok disrupt the bodys ability to transmit signals between nerves, leading to paralysis and, in severe cases, death.
Colleagues said the work required highly specialized expertise and was conducted in a limited number of government laboratories. Height deployed alongside special forces as a civilian scientist to conduct onsite analysis related to suspected chemical weapons.
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