Mark Milk is currently charged with six crimes stemming from the death of his 14-year-old niece, McKenna Wendell. In 2023, then-South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem pardoned Milk for the 1993 murder.
What we know so far about McKenna Wendell’s final moments
Limited details have been released about the final days of Sioux Falls native McKenna Wendell. The investigation into what happened is currently spanning three states.
A 14-year-old girl was found dead in rural South Dakota five days after she went missing, and her uncle is now charged with her death.
Mark Milk, 51, is charged with six counts, including transporting a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual conduct and cocaine distribution, which prosecutors say in court documents contributed to the death of his 14-year-old niece, McKenna Wendell. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced the charges against Milk on Thursday, June 18th.
McKenna’s death garnered national attention after she disappeared in the middle of the night, sparking a frantic search for the teenage girl. Her body was found on Thursday, March 19, along a stream near Brookings, South Dakota, about an hour north of the home she shared with her grandparents in Sioux Falls, the USA TODAY Network’s Argus Leader reported.
Milk has been under intense scrutiny from the beginning. Shortly after McKenna went missing and before her body was found, Milk was arrested on charges of drunk driving and fleeing police, but it remains unclear whether those charges were directly related to McKenna’s death.
Milk was serving a life sentence for a 1993 murder, but was pardoned in 2023 by then-South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Milk’s attorney, John O’Malley, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment Thursday.
“This is a horrific case,” Gene Cowell of the FBI’s Omaha field office said at a news conference announcing Milk’s indictment, noting that his team works with Operation Unforgettable, which prioritizes cases involving violence against indigenous women and children.
“Of all the cases we investigate, there is no more heartbreaking incident than the death of a child,” Cowell said. “Too many children are victims of kidnapping, sexual abuse and murder.”
Here’s what you need to know about the case, including details on the charges against Milk and another man in connection with the case.
What happened to McKenna Wendell?
McKenna Wendell was last seen around 1:30 a.m. March 14 in Sioux Falls, where she lived with her grandparents. She was reported missing on March 15, and police said she was last seen with family, but did not say who.
Authorities discovered McKenna’s body on Thursday, March 19, in a rural area near Brookings. Sioux Falls Lt. Terrence Mattia told reporters in March that two people escorted the body to the scene, but did not provide further details. He said someone “drove her to the scene.”
Authorities have said little in recent months about what allegedly happened to McKenna, and Thursday’s announcement of charges did not change that.
Leif Olson, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, declined to provide details on the schedule or cause of McKenna’s death, saying the official cause of death would be determined with the results of an autopsy. He also declined to provide details about what happened to McKenna after she went missing. Authorities previously said she and others may have traveled to multiple locations in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota after her disappearance.
Authorities did not provide details about how McKenna died at a news conference, but charging documents indicate cocaine was a key factor. McKenna’s death “resulted from the use of a controlled substance (milk) that was distributed and possessed with intent to distribute,” the document states.
Who is Mark Milk?
Mark Milk, a 51-year-old Sioux Falls resident, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 1993 stabbing death of Sean Pennault during a bar fight in downtown Winner, South Dakota. Both were 19 years old at the time.
Milk claimed self-defense in the case, but the trial court at the time called it “one of the most vicious and brutal murders I have ever seen,” according to South Dakota Supreme Court documents.
According to court records, Milk kicked the victim “until he was soft in the head,” stabbed him in the chest and face, and cut off his right ear. At the time, the court ruled that photographic evidence in the case “clearly” showed that “Milk was doing more than simply defending himself.”
After nearly 20 years in prison, Milk asked for his sentence to be commuted. In 2022, he told the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Parole that he used his salary from work to open a bank account for his nieces and nephews’ college educations, saying, “I love spending time with them.”
Milk’s parents reportedly said at the time that they were “supporting his journey to come to terms with his dark past and become better within the walls,” including mentoring young people in and out of prison.
“We tend to think we’ve let our families down,” Milk says. “It’s nice to make them proud.”
According to a previous Argus Leader report, Nomu commuted Milk’s life sentence based on a positive recommendation from a parole board that was “swayed by his work ethic and promotion to the post of trainer” while working for Metal Craft Industries at the prison where Milk was housed as a maximum-security inmate.
Milk is currently charged with the following charges 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 Controlled Substances.
- Transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual conduct
- two counts of conspiracy to conceal items with intent to impede access to a public proceeding (tampering with a witness, victim, or informant);
- Concealing items for the purpose of preventing access to official proceedings
His initial court date has not been announced.
Who else has been charged in connection with the McKenna Wendell case?
Authorities on Thursday announced charges against another man, 38-year-old John Rognes, in the case.
Rognes is charged with one count of accessory after the fact and one count of tampering with a witness, victim or informant. It is unclear whether he has a lawyer.
In 2007, Rognes, 19, was charged with first-degree manslaughter for allegedly helping his friend Brandon Brody, 19, shoot and kill his father, Brian Brody Sr. Rognes, who later pleaded guilty, suffered from mental illness. According to court records, the boys shot Brody Sr. to death in his home and disposed of his body by incinerating it at a nearby state park.
Rogness was released in 2024 and was on parole at the time of McKenna’s death.
Authorities did not elaborate on how Milk and Rognes knew each other or whether they were together the night of McKenna’s death, saying that would be revealed at trial.
Authorities address billing delays
Asked why it took three months to file charges in connection with McKenna’s death, Sioux Falls Police Chief Tam urged the public to “believe in collective law enforcement efforts, to do things the right way, to make sure things get where they need to go.”
“This case will be the most memorable in my career because it brought together the full force of law enforcement to move this case forward and pursue it,” he said. “There needs to be some trust and understanding that we are doing everything in our power to address this issue.”
McKenna’s mother, Marisa Wendell, told the Argus Leader that her family is “grateful and grateful for all of the department’s work and care during this surreal ordeal…The Wendell family is heartbroken.”
