This story will update as more information becomes available.
Makala Pendley and her seven children went missing earlier this year from Indianapolis. Months later, her body would be discovered more than 2,300 miles away on a dirt road in Mexico.
One person has been arrested as a suspect in her death.
As authorities continue to unravel the circumstances of Pendley’s killing, here’s a timeline of what we know so far about the case.
Pendley, 30, and her seven children, whose ages ranged from 1 to 12, were reported missing from Indianapolis.
Dec. 26, 2012: Makala Pendley and Joseph Butler Jr. begin what family described as ‘toxic’ relationship
In 2012, Pendley and the man who would become the father of her children, Joseph Butler Jr., began their relationship. The two met in Georgia. Pendley was 16 years old and Butler was 27.
Facebook accounts belonging to Pendley and Butler list the two married on Dec. 26, 2012, but court documents from a February 2026 paternity case cite both were unmarried at the time of their children’s births.
From 2012 onward, the two would go on to have what Maurica Lambert, Pendley’s sister, described as a “toxic,” on-and-off relationship across several states.
January 2014: First child born
Pendley’s first child, Nikola Butler, is born — the only girl the couple will have together.
January 2016: Second child born
The couple’s second child, Joseph III Butler, is born.
February 2018: Third child born
The couple’s third child, Aubrielle, is born.
March 2019: Fourth child born
Pendley’s fourth child, Orion Butler, is born.
Sept. 3, 2019: Living in Alaska
Butler purchases a home in the small Alaskan fishing village of Ninilchik (population 845) on Sept. 3, 2019, according to property records with the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Months earlier he’d received a hunting and fishing license that listed his home address as being in Colorado.
September 2020: Fifth child born
Pendley’s fifth child, Earthum Butler, is born.
May 2023: Sixth child born
The couple has a sixth child they name Polaris Pendley.
Dec. 12, 2023: Assault charges filed
Alaskan court records show Butler faces up to 45 criminal counts. One charge is for “assault causing fear of injury and harassment likely to provoke violence.”
January 2024: A protective order is granted for Pendley
On Jan. 4, 2024, Pendley is granted an extended short-term protective order against Butler, according to court records. Roughly three weeks later, she receives a long-term protective order from Butler on Jan. 29, 2024.
February 2024: Butler charged with violating protective order
On both Feb. 1 and 14, Alaskan court records show Butler is charged with violating a protective order. A motion he filed in March for the “immediate return of minor children to Alaska” is denied by a judge in May 2024.
May 2024: A whirlwind of court motions ensues between Pendley and Butler
On May 14, 2024, Pendley’s long-term protective order against Butler is dissolved after a series of motions from both parties.
Two days later, on May 16, Butler’s pleads guilty to three counts in his 45-count case: one count of harassment likely to provoke violence, one charge of a felon in possession of a weapon, and one count of theft with a value between $250 and $749.
On May 21, 2024, the child custody case between Butler and Pendley is dismissed.
September 2024: Prosecutors file to revoke Butler Jr.’s probation
On Sept. 12, 2024, Alaskan court records show prosecutors filed a petition to revoke Butler’s probation over a “technical violation” in his pre-trial release program. After pleading guilty, Butler fails to report to jail two days later on Sept. 14, 2024.
More than a year later, Pendley will create an online fundraiser saying the couple fled to Mexico to escape the charges. She will complain: “The abuse in Mexico was so extreme it almost killed me.”
January 2025: Seventh child born
Pendley gives birth to her seventh child named Azrael Butler.
Aug. 29, 2025: Makala Pendley reports her children missing in Mexico, taken by their father
In a social media post by news site Radar Yucatán, authorities recovered seven children belonging to Pendley in southeast Mexico on Aug. 29, 2029. The children had disappeared from the coastal area of Chelem and were brought to a compound roughly 28 miles away in Mérida, the capital city of the Yucatán state.
Pendley, according to Radar Yucatán, had reported her children’s disappearance through social media and to the prosecutor’s office, stating they’d been abducted by their father, who was not present when authorities arrived.
November 2025: Paternity cases opened
On Nov. 21, 2025, court records show Butler filed paternity cases for all seven children in Marion County Superior Court.
Dec. 19, 2025: Pendley creates online fundraiser in Indianapolis
More clues to Pendley’s toxic-described relationship with Butler can be found in an online fundraiser she created on Dec. 19, 2025. Pendley said she was now living in Indianapolis as a homeless mother of seven children.
“I have never caught a break in my life,” she wrote.
On GoFundMe, Pendley described her time with Butler as “a never-ending nightmare of extreme physical, mental, and financial abuse.”
Feb. 25, 2026: Department of Child Services involved with Makala Pendley family
On Feb. 25, 2026, police reports showed a family case manager with the Indiana Department of Child Services reported Pendley as missing. Reached by phone, the case manager said she was unable to comment.
March 18, 2026: The children’s father is reported missing
A missing person’s report by Indianapolis police show the children’s father went missing with an effective date of Feb. 25.
June 8, 2026: Mexican prosecutor announces body found in road
Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, the Chiapas state prosecutor, gave an update on the discovery of a woman’s body in the municipality of Zinacantán on June 8, 2026.
Article continues after map.
Initially, he did not release the woman’s identity, but said she appeared to be a foreign national from the United States.
Llaven Abarca said in a Facebook live briefing findings suggested the woman’s cause of death to be traumatic brain injury caused by blunt-force trauma.
Investigators determined the woman’s body had been left outside between eight and 12 hours before it was discovered, he said.
June 9, 2026: Mexican newspaper identifies body as Makala Marie Pendley
On June 9, the Chiapas Herald, a local newspaper, reported state officials confirmed Pendley was the woman killed. Her body, media reported, had been left naked on a dirt road in the community of Elambó Bajo.
Pendley was pregnant at the time, family told IndyStar.
Pendley’s body was housed at the Forensic Medical Service facilities, south of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, according to the Chiapas Herald, awaiting her family to officially identify her remains.
June 9, 2026: Family of Makala Pendley confirms her death
On June 9, family members confirmed Pendley was found dead in southern Mexico.
“It’s the worst day of my life,” said Maurica Lambert, Pendley’s sister. “I feel like a part of me is dead.”
Earlier, Lambert said the family had reason to believe the body belonged to Pendley because of specific tattoos law enforcement told them were found on the body.
June 9, 2026: Children of Makala Pendley located safe
Pendley’s seven children, who were missing along with her, were found safe in Mexico on June 9.
The state prosecutor confirmed all seven children were in “good health” and were placed under protection. Mexican authorities would work with the U.S. Embassy to transfer the children’s custody to family members.
Lambert said she or Pendley’s mother would be willing to care for the children.
June 9, 2026: Joseph June Butler Jr. placed under arrest by Mexican authorities
Authorities arrested the children’s father, Butler, and placed him under custody.
Lambert said Pendley and Butler — who she had been with since she was 16 — had a “toxic,” on-and-off relationship. Online court records indicate the couple had opened paternity cases relating to their children, and Pendley had reported multiple instances of vandalism to IMPD.
In a June 9 briefing, Llaven Abarca announced Butler was the main suspect in their investigation.
“In the coming hours, his criminal responsibility will be determined, and he may be brought before justice. We will seek the maximum sentence of 100 years for this perpetrator of femicide,” Llaven Abarca said.
July 13, 2026: Pendley’s seven children remain in Mexican custody, timeline for return is unclear
Over a month after their mother’s killing and father’s arrest, Pendley’s children remain in Mexico.
Pendley’s brother-in-law, Chris Norris, told IndyStar July 7 that family members haven’t been in contact with the children, nor do they know when they’re coming back to the U.S. The family is aware the children are in Mexican protective custody, he said.
Pendley’s mother was able to speak with the children once since they were found, Norris said, but no one else has seen or heard from them.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: When did Makala Pendley go missing? A timeline leading up to her death
Reporting by John Tufts, Mia Thurow, Ryan Murphy and Natalie Neysa Alund, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Tufts, Mia Thurow, Ryan Murphy and Natalie Neysa Alund, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
