US Woman Found Dead in Chiapas; Husband Arrested

Zinacantán, Chiapas — A US woman who had reported her seven children missing in Yucatan was found dead in a remote area of Chiapas, authorities said. Her husband has been arrested on suspicion of femicide.

Makala M.P., a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, was discovered dead in a rural area of Zinacantán municipality. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, and the body showed visible signs of violence, officials confirmed.

The case began in August 2025, when state police in Yucatan located the seven children in the Solana neighborhood of Tixcacal, west of Mérida. The children had been reported as taken by their father, identified as Joseph, who had allegedly fled the United States with them.

Authorities from Mexico and the United States monitored the case due to concerns for the mother’s safety. On February 23, 2026, a new search alert was issued after Makala and the children disappeared again. The situation raised alarms because of prior domestic violence complaints filed in the United States.

The search ended tragically in Chiapas. After the body was found, the Chiapas State Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest of Joseph, the victim’s partner, as the main suspect.

Meanwhile, security forces located and secured the seven children. They were found safe and remain under government protection while arrangements are made with the US Embassy to hand them over to relatives.

The case has caused shock because part of the story unfolded in Yucatan, where the children were initially found, before culminating in a femicide hundreds of miles away in Chiapas.

Investigations are ongoing to determine how the family managed to move again after the operation in Mérida and what happened between the disappearance reported in February and the discovery of the victim in Chiapas.