Mother Found Dead in Mexico Months After Disappearance
A mother from Indianapolis has been discovered dead in Mexico, over three months after vanishing with her seven children.
Makara Pendley, 30, was found murdered in a ditch in Chiapas, a village in southern Mexico, this past Monday. Local authorities informed her family that she had been both raped and fatally beaten.
Pendley, who was six months pregnant at the time of her death, had been in the ditch for approximately eight to twelve hours. The cause of death was determined to be a traumatic brain injury resulting from blunt force trauma, according to District Attorney Jorge Luis Laven Abarca.
Her sister, Jennifer Lambert, commented on a GoFundMe page she created, revealing that Pendley was found “stabbed, raped, sodomized, naked and beaten in the head.”
Fortunately, Pendley’s children were located safe and reported to be in “good health” in the San Cristóbal de las Casas area, as noted by the local news agency.
In the meantime, their father, Joseph Jude Butler Jr., has been arrested. Authorities are pushing for a harsh sentence of up to 100 years for him.
Butler has a troubling history, having previously been detained for various crimes, including robbery and assault. He also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Alaska.
Pendley and her children—Nicola, 12, Joseph, 10, Aubriel, 8, Orion, 7, Artham, 5, Polaris, 3, and Azrael, 1—were reported missing by a Department of Children’s Services case manager on February 25.
Indianapolis police confirmed that she and the children were located the previous month.
According to reports, “The children were detained by Mexican authorities and later released to Makara,” further highlighting the troubled circumstances surrounding the family.
Pendley had been in a turbulent relationship with Butler since she was 16. She had previously informed Indianapolis police about property damage related to him.
However, court documents indicate that Pendley alleged an assault by Butler in August 2025 at his home in Merida, Yucatan. Just two days post-assault, the children were taken into custody by Mexican authorities.
Lambert expressed her devastation over her sister’s death, labeling it as “the worst day of my life.” She revealed her astonishment upon learning Butler was a suspect in the case.
“I had no idea it was him,” she said, voicing her disbelief.
“The sadness I feel is a type of grief that will linger forever, leaving a void that can’t be filled,” she added online. “My sister, my beautiful sister, rest in peace Makara; you didn’t deserve this. I can’t believe I won’t see her again.”
