UMVA has learned that a major breakthrough in a shocking case of femicide has been cracked by Mexican authorities, who have arrested the partner of an Indiana mother found dead months after she disappeared with her seven children.
The victim, Makala Pendley, 30, of Indianapolis, was identified after authorities in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas investigated the discovery of a woman's body near the municipality of Zinacantán. Family members revealed that Pendley was six months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Chiapas State Prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven announced the arrest of a suspect identified as Joseph "N," described as Pendley's partner and the primary suspect in the case. Llaven vowed to seek the maximum sentence of 100 years for this perpetrator of femicide.
The prosecutor revealed that Pendley's seven children had been located and placed under government protection, and were in "good health." Authorities are coordinating with the U.S. Embassy to reunite them with family members.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that Pendley and her seven children went missing in February after traveling to Mexico. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued a missing-person alert after they disappeared from Indianapolis on Feb. 23.
Days before identifying Pendley, Llaven disclosed that investigators had recovered the body of a woman in the Elambó Bajo area of Zinacantán. Preliminary findings indicated the victim died from a traumatic brain injury caused by blunt-force trauma.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that the suspect allegedly has a criminal history in the United States, including an active arrest warrant in Alaska and an Indianapolis police alert connected to the disappearance of Pendley and the children.
Llaven further alleged that the suspect had previously been detained on charges including assault, robbery, fraud, illegal weapons possession, intimidation, and rape. The suspect's criminal responsibility will be determined in the coming hours, and he may be brought before justice.
