By Roberto Bustamante
Authorities in Chiapas, Mexico, detained Joseph Jude Butler Jr.identified as allegedly responsible for the feminicide of Makala Marie Pendleya 30-year-old American citizen whose body was located on June 8 in that Mexican entity.
During an operation carried out in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, also The victim’s seven children were rescued alivewho had been missing since February of this year.
The Long-established State Attorney’s Office confirmed that the woman found dead was identified as Makala Marie Pendley, originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. His body was found with signs of violence and was later recognized with the support of the United States Embassy and the victim’s relatives.
Makala fled Indianapolis because she was raped by her partnerwho even kidnapped her seven children in August of last year, but recovered them in Mérida, Yucatán, that same month.
The mother and her children, between 1 and 12 years old, disappeared again on February 23, so the US authorities issued a new search document.
UPDATE: Some unhappy news to fragment on the present time. An Indiana girl who went lacking earlier this 300 and sixty five days while traveling in Mexico with her seven children has been chanced on boring, in accordance with her family, despite the indisputable truth that her children are safe.
Thirty-300 and sixty five days-worn Makala Pendley and her kids had been lacking? pic.twitter.com/JiCZwDFMkH
— The AWARE Basis (@aware_the) June 9, 2026
According to the investigations, Joseph, Makala’s romantic partner, was captured after a search of a property and the children were found in good health, remaining under the protection of the authorities while their delivery to relatives is coordinated.
The state prosecutor, Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, reported that the autopsy determined that The victim’s cause of death was head trauma. derived from injuries caused by a short, blunt object.
Furthermore, he pointed out that The alleged perpetrator has a criminal record in the United States for various crimes, including assault, fraud, illegal weapons possession and rape, as well as an active arrest warrant in Alaska.
The case has generated attention both in Mexico and in the United States due to the international disappearance of the mother and her children, as well as the circumstances in which the victim’s body was found in Chiapas territory. The investigation continues by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Femicide Crimes.
Keep reading:
– Concern increases for an American couple who disappeared in Mexico City.
– A US citizen and her two children disappear in northern Mexico.
