An Indiana woman who was said to have been missing in Mexico for months with her seven children was found dead, her family said.
Hailey Lambert, a relative of Makala Pendley, said the family was notified of her death Tuesday morning by authorities in Mexico. Her children are safe, Lambert said.
Jami Dowdy, Pendley’s cousin, told NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis that Pendley vanished in February. Dowdy said relatives spent months searching for answers but do not know how she ended up in Mexico.
Lambert said in a phone interview Wednesday that Pendley had been in a “very, very, very toxic relationship” with the father of her children. She said she always feared “this was going to be the outcome.”
“It’s insane, but unfortunately, it just happens in domestic situations,” she said.
Indianapolis police said that Pendley was located in Mexico last month and that her children were briefly “taken into custody by Mexican authorities” before they were returned to her. It is not clear why the children were taken.
The police department said it had not been notified of the death of anyone in the case.
Dowdy told WTHR that the children’s father had been arrested in Mexico. Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, the Chiapas state prosecutor, said in a translated Facebook post that a suspect identified as Pendley’s partner had been detained.
Attempts to reach relatives of the children’s father were not successful.
Pendley’s children “were located and rescued” and are “under protection of the authorities, while necessary arrangements are being made with the U.S. Embassy so that relatives can take care of them,” Llaven Abarca said.
Police and Llaven Abarca’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Christopher Lambert, Pendley’s uncle, said he was saddened by her death.
“I hate to see anybody go through things that maybe they feel like they’re having to run away from, especially when they have kids involved,” he said.
