Her seven children were found safe as Mexican authorities detained their father and began coordinating with U.S. officials.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Mexican authorities are investigating the killing of 30-year-old Makala Pendley, a pregnant Indianapolis mother found dead near Zinacantán, Chiapas, months after she traveled to Mexico with her seven children and their father.

The case now reaches across two countries and several government systems. Chiapas prosecutors detained Pendley’s partner, Joseph Jude Butler Jr., identified by officials as the principal suspect, while placing the children under protection. Pendley’s relatives began working with the U.S. Embassy to return the children and her remains to Indiana. Public reports reviewed through July 12 did not establish whether prosecutors had formally charged Butler or scheduled a court hearing.

Authorities found Pendley’s body June 8 near the entrance to Zinacantán, a municipality in the highlands of southern Mexico. Chiapas State Prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca said forensic investigators determined that she died from a traumatic brain injury caused by blunt-force trauma. Investigators estimated that her body had been at the location for eight to 12 hours before it was discovered. Pendley’s family said she had been about six months pregnant. Her sister, Maurica Lambert, described the news as difficult to accept. “It just doesn’t feel real at all,” Lambert said after relatives learned of the death.

Prosecutors announced Butler’s detention after officers carried out a search in the Fátima neighborhood of San Cristóbal de las Casas, about six miles from Zinacantán. Authorities also located Pendley’s seven children during the operation and transferred them to protective care. Officials withheld the children’s names in Mexico because they are minors. U.S. missing-person notices had listed them as ranging from 1 to 12 years old. The prosecutor said the children appeared to be in good health, although authorities did not release details about medical evaluations, interviews or where they had stayed before the search. Investigators also did not publicly explain what evidence led them to Butler.

Llaven Abarca said his office was examining the death as a femicide, a criminal classification used in Mexico when evidence indicates that a woman was killed under circumstances tied to gender-based violence. He said investigators were gathering forensic evidence and witness accounts to determine criminal responsibility. During a public briefing, he said prosecutors would seek the maximum punishment of 100 years if the evidence supported a case against the suspect. That statement described the prosecution’s intended position, not a sentence or finding of guilt. Butler is presumed innocent unless a court convicts him.

The family’s path to Chiapas began months before the killing. Indianapolis police records cited by local news outlets said Pendley and the children were reported missing in late February. A case manager with the Indiana Department of Child Services reportedly made the notification. Relatives said Pendley had left Indianapolis with the children and Butler because she feared that the children would be removed from her care, although the precise reason for that fear has not been publicly established. The group eventually reached Mexico, more than 1,500 miles from central Indiana.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said investigators learned in May that Pendley and the children had been located in Mexico. Mexican authorities temporarily took custody of the children but later released them back to Pendley, according to an IMPD statement provided to Indianapolis television station WTHR. Because officials knew the family’s location, the matter was no longer treated in Indianapolis as an unresolved disappearance. The department said shortly after Pendley’s death became public that it had not yet received official notice that anyone connected to its missing-person case had died.

That sequence left major questions about communication between agencies and the family’s circumstances in Mexico. Officials have not publicly explained why the children were first removed, what review occurred before they were returned or whether concerns about violence were raised during that process. They also have not said how Pendley and Butler supported the family, how long they lived in Chiapas or whether they had contacts in Zinacantán or San Cristóbal de las Casas. Those unanswered points may become important as prosecutors reconstruct Pendley’s final days.

Mexican authorities said information shared with U.S. officials showed that Butler had a criminal record and an active warrant in Alaska. The Chiapas prosecutor referred broadly to past allegations or arrests involving assault, robbery, fraud, weapons possession, intimidation and sexual violence. Public statements did not provide case numbers, outcomes or enough detail to determine which accusations led to convictions. Prosecutors must separately prove any allegation tied to Pendley’s death, and earlier records do not by themselves establish responsibility for the killing in Mexico.

Pendley’s relatives said the relationship between Pendley and Butler had lasted for years and had repeatedly broken apart and resumed. Lambert described it as toxic and on-and-off since Pendley was a teenager. Indiana court records reviewed by news organizations showed paternity proceedings and disputes involving the children, although the full child-welfare record was not public. The family’s account provides context for investigators, but authorities have not announced a verified motive or released a full timeline of the couple’s movements after leaving Indianapolis.

While detectives worked on the criminal case, Pendley’s relatives faced a second international process involving the children and her body. Her cousin, Jami Dowdy, said the family spoke with the children after they entered protective care. “The biggest thing right now, in this moment, is getting our children back over here where they belong with their family,” Dowdy said. She said relatives expected the transition to be difficult but planned to share responsibility for caring for them.

The return arrangements required coordination among child-protection officials, consular staff and relatives seeking legal authority to take custody. Authorities had to verify identities, travel documents and the adults eligible to receive the children. The family also sought permission to transport Pendley’s remains to Indiana. Relatives said they received repeated calls from someone claiming that Pendley had to be buried quickly in Mexico. A U.S. Embassy representative warned them that the calls might be fraudulent, according to Dowdy. The identity of the caller was not established.

Pendley’s family remembered her less through the international case than through her daily life as a mother. Lambert said Pendley placed her children first despite the ordinary difficulties of raising a large family. Dowdy recalled that Pendley’s expression changed when she saw relatives, even when she was dealing with private problems. “Whenever you saw her, no matter what she was going through, her eyes lit up,” Dowdy said. Those memories now stand beside an investigation that has largely been described through forensic findings, official briefings and custody procedures.

The U.S. Embassy’s role centers on consular assistance rather than directing the Mexican prosecution. Chiapas authorities control the criminal investigation because Pendley was killed within that state. U.S. agencies may provide records, identity checks or other support when requested. The FBI told WTHR in June that it was not involved in the case at that time. Indianapolis police remained a source of records from the original missing-person inquiry but had not announced a separate criminal investigation connected to the death.

The criminal process will depend on what Mexican investigators recovered from the location where Pendley was found, the residence or area searched in San Cristóbal de las Casas, electronic devices, travel records and witness interviews. Prosecutors have not publicly described a suspected weapon, the place where the fatal injuries occurred or whether they believe Pendley was killed by one person. Reports that she suffered additional violence came from relatives and news accounts, while the publicly stated official cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head.

More than a month after Pendley’s death, the most important procedural details remained outside the public record. Chiapas officials had not released a complete charging document, an evidence summary or a court schedule in the reporting reviewed for this article. The children had survived the journey and were found together, but authorities had not described what they witnessed. Their privacy and welfare remain central as family members pursue custody and prosecutors decide how the case will move forward.

Pendley’s death transformed a February missing-family report into a Mexican homicide inquiry with consequences in Indiana. The next public milestone will be confirmation of any formal charge, hearing or custody order issued in Chiapas, along with an official update on the children’s return and the transfer of Pendley’s remains.

Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.