By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-10 04:11:21 | Updated at 2026-06-10 19:22:56
15 hours ago
An Indiana woman who was reported missing along with her seven children in February was recently found dead in Mexico, according to her family.
The body of 30-year-old Makala Pendley, of Indianapolis, was discovered near the town of Zinacantán in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Monday. She was identified on Tuesday by family members, who also said Pendley was pregnant.
The woman's children were located in Mexico as well, and all seven of them are reportedly safe. They were taken into custody by Mexican authorities.
Pendley's body was found with blunt-force injuries to the head, and her cause of death was a traumatic brain injury, according to Chiapas State Prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca.
The mother's family provided more details to FOX59 and said that she had been found nude in a ditch.
Investigators believe the woman had been dead between eight and 12 hours by the time she was found, Abarca said during a livestreamed briefing on Monday.
Abarca added that police are searching for a suspect or suspects and that his office is committed to 'zero impunity for femicidal violence.'
A family member told the Indianapolis Star that the father of Pendley's children, Joseph Jude Butler Jr, has been taken into custody by Mexican police.
Makala Pendley, 30, was found dead in Mexico on Monday after she was reported missing along with her seven children back in February. Her family identified her on Tuesday
Pendley is pictured with six of her seven children. All of the children were located in Mexico as well and are reportedly safe
The father of Pendley's children, Joseph Jude Butler Jr, was taken into custody by Mexican police. The parents had a 'toxic' relationship, according to Pendley's sister
The parents had a 'toxic, on-and-off relationship' since Pendley was 16 years old, her sister, Maurica Lambert, told the outlet.
Court records reviewed by the Indianapolis Star show that the parents had opened paternity cases and were fighting over custody of their children.
An Indiana Department of Child Services case manager is the person who reported Pendley missing in February.
Indianapolis police told the Indianapolis Star that Pendley and her children had been located in Mexico last month, so she was no longer technically missing and her whereabouts had become known.
Mexican authorities had taken custody of the minors before returning them to their mother, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department added.
After her sister's body was found, Lambert said: 'It's the worst day of my life. I feel like a part of me is dead.'
Regarding the arrest of the children's father, Lambert told FOX59, 'I thought it was somebody else. I still feel like it’s someone else.
'It just never would have crossed my mind that it would have been him. I’ve never gotten like that type of feeling from him or anything.'
The children have been taken into custody by Mexican police while they wait to be returned to their family in the US. Pendley's sister and mother both said they would take care of the kids
A missing persons flyer for Pendley and her seven children is pictured
Lambert said that she hadn't spoken to her sister since around February, which is when Pendley took her children to Mexico. The siblings' mother, however, had spoken to Pendley more recently, Lambert noted.
The sister said that either she or her mother would be willing to take care of the seven children.
The names and ages of those children are Nikola Jude Butler, 12, Joseph Jude Butler, 10, Aubrielle Oriana Butler, 8, Orion Jude Butler, 7, Earthum Jude Butler, 5, Polaris Jude Butler, 3, and Azrael Jude Butler, 1.
Matt Lahr, the communications director for Senator Todd Young, told the Indianapolis Star that Pendley's death was 'extremely sad news,' and that the senator's office can help with the repatriation of the mother's body.
Lambert described her sister to FOX59 as 'a good mom.'
'As moms, we have our bad days, you know what I mean? And she was a good mom, though. She put her kids before she put anything,' Lambert added.
The sister said that the children will return to Indianapolis along with their mother's body in the near future.
