Man pardoned by Kristi Noem charged in 14-year-old niece's death

Man pardoned by Kristi Noem charged in 14-year-old niece's death Mark Milk is now charged with six counts stemming from the death of his 14-year-old niece, McKenna Wendel. In 2023, then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem granted Milk clemency for a 1993 homicide.

Show Caption Hide Caption What's known so far about McKenna Wendel's final days Limited details have been released about the final days of McKenna Wendel from Sioux Falls. The investigation into what happened now spans three states.

The uncle of a 14-year-old girl found dead in a rural area of South Dakota five days after she went missing has now been charged in her death.

Mark Milk, 51, is charged with six counts, including taking a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity and cocaine distribution that prosecutors say in court documents contributed to the death of his 14-year-old niece, McKenna Wendel. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced the charges against Milk on Thursday, June 18.

McKenna's death gained national attention after her disappearance in the middle of the night set off a frantic search for the teenager. Her body was found on Thursday, March 19, along a creek near Brookings, South Dakota, roughly an hour north of the home she shared with her grandparents in Sioux Falls, according to reporting by the Argus Leader, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Milk faced scrutiny from the beginning. Shortly after McKenna went missing but before her body was found, Milk was arrested on charges of drunk driving and eluding police, though it remains unclear if those charges directly relate to McKenna's death.

Milk had been serving life in prison for a 1993 homicide when then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem granted him clemency in 2023.

Milk's attorney, John O'Malley, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment Thursday.

“This is a horrific case,” Gene Kowel with the FBI Omaha Field Office said at a news conference announcing the charges against Milk, noting that his team is working with Operation Not Forgotten, which prioritizes cases involving violence against Indigenous women and children.

“There are no cases that we investigate that are more heart-wrenching than the death of a child," Kowel said. "Far too many children are victimized by kidnapping, sexual abuse and murder.”

Here's what you need to know about the case, including more details about the charges against Milk and another man in connection with the case.

McKenna Wendel was last seen in Sioux Falls, where she lived with her grandparents, around 1:30 a.m. on March 14. She was reported missing on March 15, with police saying that she was last with a family member but declining to specify who.

Authorities found McKenna's body in a rural area near Brookings on Thursday, March 19. Two people led them to the location, Sioux Falls Lt. Terrance Matia told reporters in March, though he did not elaborate. He said someone "transported her in a vehicle" to the site.

Authorities have said very little in the past few months about what they believed happened to McKenna, and that didn't change with the announcement of charges on Thursday.

Leif Olson, U.S. Attorney with the Northern District of Iowa, declined to share more about the timeline or cause of McKenna's death, saying the official cause would be revealed at trial with autopsy results. He also declined to elaborate on McKenna's movements after she went missing. Authorities previously said that she "and others may have traveled" to Iowa, Minnesota and multiple locations in South Dakota after her disappearance.

Though authorities didn't share more at the news conference about how McKenna died, charging documents indicate that cocaine played a significant factor. McKenna's death "resulted from the use of the controlled substance (Milk) possessed with intent to distribute and distributed," documents say.

Mark Milk is a 51-year-old Sioux Falls resident who was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 1993 stabbing death of Shawn Peneaux during a bar fight in downtown Winner, South Dakota. Both men were 19 years old at the time.

Milk claimed self-defense in the case but the trial court at the time noted that it was "one of the most vicious, brutal homicides it had ever seen," according to documents from the Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Milk kicked the victim “until his head was soft,” stabbing him in the chest and face and cutting off his right ear, court records say. The court ruled at the time that photographic evidence in the case “clearly” indicated “Milk went well beyond merely defending himself.”

After nearly two decades in prison, Milk sought a commutation. In 2022, he told the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles that he used his work release paychecks to open a bank account for his nieces and nephews’ college educations, saying: "I love my time with them."

Milk's parents were quoted then as saying they were “accepting of his dark past and support his journey to do better inside the walls,” such as mentoring young men in and out of prison.

“We tend to think we let our families down,” Milk said. “It’s nice to make them proud.”

Noem commuted Milk's life sentence based on a positive recommendation from the parole board, which was “swayed by his work ethic and ascension to a trainer’s post" while he was working for Metal Craft Industries at the prison where he was housed as a maximum-security inmate, according to previous Argus Leader reporting.

Milk is now charged with the following counts in connection with McKenna's death:

Possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death

Possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance

Transportation of a minor across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity

Two counts of conspiracy to conceal objects with the intent to impair their availability for an official proceeding (tampering with a witness, victim or informant)

Concealing objects with the intent to impair their availability for official proceedings

His initial court date has not been announced.

Who else is charged in connection with McKenna Wendel's case?

Authorities announced charges against another man in the case on Thursday: 38-year-old Jon Rogness.

Rogness is charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact and one count of tampering with a witness, victim or informant. It's unclear whether he has an attorney.

In 2007 at the age of 19, Rogness was charged with first-degree manslaughter for helping his friend, 19-year-old Brandon Brody, in the shooting death of his dad, Brian Brody Sr. Rogness later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the charge. The teens fatally shot Brody Sr. in his home, then burned and disposed of his body in a nearby state park, according to court records.

Rogness was released in 2024 and was on parole at the time of McKenna’s death.

Authorities did not elaborate how Milk or Rogness know each other or whether they were together on the night of her McKenna's death, saying that would come out at trial.

Asked why it took three months for charges to be filed related to McKenna's death, Sioux Falls Police Chief Thum urged the public to “trust that the collective law enforcement effort is one of justice and to do things the right way and make sure things get to where they need to be.”

“In my career, this case will be one I remember the most because it captured the collective force of law enforcement to move forward and pursue this case,” he said. “There has to be a measure of trust and understanding that we're working on this to the best of our ability.”

McKenna's mother, Marisa Wendel, told the Argus Leader that her family is "grateful and appreciative of all the department’s work and care in this unreal ordeal ... The Wendels are broken.”