The case moved from an Indiana missing-person report to a child-custody intervention and then a femicide investigation.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The final months of Makala Pendley’s life stretched from a February departure from Indianapolis to a May encounter with Mexican authorities and her June death near Zinacantán, leaving investigators to fill major gaps in the family’s cross-country journey.
Pendley, 30, traveled with seven children and their father, Joseph Jude Butler Jr., before she was found dead June 8 in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Prosecutors detained Butler as the principal suspect and recovered the children in San Cristóbal de las Casas. The known dates outline the case, but officials have disclosed little about where the family lived, whom they met or what happened after Mexican authorities first located them.
The timeline begins Feb. 23, when Pendley and her children were reported missing from Indianapolis. A case manager with the Indiana Department of Child Services reportedly made the report. Public missing-child information indicated that the children might be with Pendley, but later accounts said Butler also traveled with them. Family members said Pendley feared losing custody of the children. No agency has publicly released the child-welfare findings or court order that may have influenced her decision to leave.
Relatives said Pendley stopped speaking regularly with some family members around the time of the departure. Her sister, Maurica Lambert, said their mother had more recent contact, but public accounts do not establish when that communication ended. Investigators have not disclosed Pendley’s route from Indiana, when she entered Mexico or whether the group stayed elsewhere before reaching Chiapas. The distance between Indianapolis and the Chiapas highlands exceeds 1,500 miles and involves several days of driving.
By May, Indianapolis police knew Pendley and the children had been located in Mexico. Mexican officials temporarily took the children into custody and then returned them to Pendley, according to an IMPD statement. That action marked a critical point in the timeline because authorities had direct contact with the family. Yet no public report explains what officers or social-service workers observed, whether they interviewed Pendley privately or whether Butler was present during the decision.
The May recovery also changed how the Indianapolis case was classified. Once investigators knew where Pendley and the children were, they were no longer missing in the ordinary sense, even though they remained outside the United States. Indianapolis police could maintain records and communicate with other agencies, but Mexican authorities controlled immediate decisions about the children. IMPD said after news of Pendley’s death emerged that it had not received official notification that anyone in the case had died.
The next confirmed event came June 8, when Pendley’s body was found near the entrance to Zinacantán. The municipality sits in the mountains outside San Cristóbal de las Casas and is home to many Tzotzil Maya residents. Chiapas State Prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca said forensic findings showed that Pendley died from a traumatic brain injury caused by blunt-force trauma. Investigators estimated that she had been dead for eight to 12 hours when found.
That estimate places the fatal assault within a limited period, but authorities have not publicly said where it occurred. The discovery site may have been the place of death or a location where someone left her body. Officials have not described a suspected weapon, a vehicle, surveillance footage or physical evidence connecting a person to the scene. Reports that Pendley suffered sexual violence came through family accounts and news reports; the prosecutor’s publicly quoted cause of death focused on the head injury.
Relatives learned of Pendley’s death June 9. Her cousin, Jami Dowdy, said the family was close to joining a video call to identify Pendley when officials shifted their attention to locating the children and Butler. A person from a shelter where Pendley had stayed reportedly completed the identification. The shelter reference raises another unresolved question: when Pendley entered the facility, why she was there and whether she remained there until shortly before her death.
The same day, prosecutors announced that Butler had been detained. Officers found him in San Cristóbal de las Casas after a search in the Fátima neighborhood, according to Mexican reports. Authorities also found the seven children and placed them under protection. The prosecutor called Butler Pendley’s partner and the main suspect in her death. He said the office would determine Butler’s criminal responsibility and seek the maximum punishment allowed for femicide if the evidence supported prosecution.
The search closed one gap by establishing that the children were alive, but it opened others. Officials did not say when the children last saw Pendley, who had cared for them after she died or whether they were found with Butler. Authorities also did not provide the address searched, describe evidence seized or identify other adults at the location. Because the children are minors and potential witnesses, many details may remain sealed even if the case reaches court.
Mexican officials also said Butler had an outstanding warrant in Alaska and a criminal record in the United States. Their summary referred to offenses including assault, robbery, fraud, weapons possession and threats. Prosecutors did not release the underlying records, and public reporting did not establish which matters produced convictions. Any U.S. warrant would create a separate legal issue from the Chiapas investigation, which takes priority while Mexican authorities consider a local charge.
The relationship between Pendley and Butler extended far beyond the 2026 timeline. Lambert described it as toxic and on-and-off since Pendley was about 16. Indiana court records reportedly included paternity proceedings and custody disputes. Those earlier events may help investigators examine motive or a pattern of conflict, but they do not answer what occurred in Chiapas. Prosecutors must build the case from admissible evidence related to the killing rather than from family descriptions alone.
Pendley’s pregnancy adds another factual question. Her relatives said she was about six months pregnant, which would have made the fetus her eighth child. Initial public statements from Chiapas authorities did not provide a separate forensic finding about the pregnancy or explain whether it would affect the charge. Mexican criminal law varies by state, and prosecutors have not publicly identified every count they may pursue.
The family’s timeline continued after the arrest through calls with the children and attempts to return Pendley’s remains. Dowdy said relatives spoke with the children June 10. She said the family planned to care for all seven but had no firm date for their arrival. Consular and child-protection officials had to verify family relationships, custody authority and travel documents before allowing the siblings to leave Mexico.
Relatives also received repeated calls from an unidentified person saying Pendley had to be buried quickly. Dowdy said a U.S. Embassy representative warned that the calls might be fraudulent. The family resisted the demand and continued working to transport Pendley to Indiana. The caller’s identity and access to information about the body were not publicly established, adding another unexplained event to the days following the killing.
Llaven Abarca said prosecutors were collecting evidence to strengthen the case. That process may include forensic testing, records from the May child-custody encounter, interviews at the shelter, phone-location information and statements from people who saw the family in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Investigators may also request documents from Indiana and Alaska. None of those records has been released in a form that provides a complete hour-by-hour account.
Public reporting reviewed through July 12 did not identify a formal trial date or disclose a full charging document against Butler. It also did not resolve whether Pendley voluntarily remained with Butler throughout the trip, separated from him before her death or sought help at the shelter. Officials have not announced a motive, identified any additional suspect or stated that the children witnessed the attack.
What remains is a timeline with three clear government contacts: the February missing report, the May recovery of the family and the June homicide response. The gap between those points holds the central questions of the case. The next court filing or official investigative report could show what authorities knew at each stage and how Pendley’s final movements were reconstructed.
Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.