|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (BFMG) — A pregnant Indianapolis woman who vanished four months ago with her seven children has been found dead along a roadside in southern Mexico, while all seven children have been located alive and placed in protective custody, authorities said.
Mexican officials in Chiapas state said the body of 30-year-old Makala Pendley was discovered the morning of June 8 on a dirt road in the community of Elambó Bajo, in the municipality of Zinacantán. Local newspaper El Heraldo de Chiapas reported that state authorities later confirmed the body was Pendley.
Chiapas state prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca said preliminary findings indicate Pendley died of a traumatic brain injury caused by blunt-force trauma. He said in a Facebook Live briefing that investigators believe her body had been dumped between eight and 12 hours before it was found.
In a later update on social media, Llaven Abarca said Pendley’s seven children have been located and are “safe and sound” under the protection of Mexican authorities, while arrangements are being made with the U.S. Embassy so relatives can assume custody. The children’s names have not been released because they are minors.
Llaven Abarca said Pendley’s partner, identified only as Joseph “N,” has been arrested and is in the custody of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. He described the man as the main suspect in the case.
Pendley’s sister, Maurica Lambert, told FOX59 that Makala was at least six months pregnant when she disappeared. “She was a good mom,” Lambert said. “As moms, you know, 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.”
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Pendley and her seven children were reported missing in February. A department spokesperson told PEOPLE the family was located in Mexico last month, and that Mexican authorities initially took the children into custody before releasing them back to Pendley. IMPD said investigators have not yet been officially notified of a death in the case.
Pendley’s cousin, Jami Dowdy, told Indianapolis station WTHR that she will miss Pendley’s warmth and spirit. “Her laughter, everything about Makala, she was just… whenever you seen her, no matter what she was going through, her eyes lit up,” Dowdy said. “The biggest thing right now in this moment is getting our children back over here where they belong with their family who loves them and is going to raise them.”
Lambert told FOX59 that her nieces and nephews are expected to return to Indianapolis along with their mother’s body.
PEOPLE has requested additional information from IMPD and from Llaven Abarca’s office but has not yet received a response.
