Man Whose Life Sentence Was Commuted By Kristi Noem Now Implicated In His Niece's Death

[RandySF]

Two men, including one whose life sentence was commuted by then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, have been charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in a rural area five days after she went missing in March.

McKenna Wendel was reported missing March 13 and last seen alive in her hometown of Sioux Falls early on March 14. Her body was found outside Brookings, an hour’s drive north of Sioux Falls, on March 19.

Wendel’s uncle, Mark Milk, 51, also of Sioux Falls, now faces five counts related to her death. Milk was almost three decades into a life term on a manslaughter conviction when Noem commuted his sentence in 2023.

Wendel was raised by her grandparents, loved animals and had a “vibrant personality and a zest for life,” according to her obituary. She and her grandparents were Rosebud Sioux Tribe members and attended powwows often.



https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-milk-mckenna-wendel-kristi-noem_n_6a3469c0e4b057a50ced78a3

[wyn borkins]

1. Would there be a way...

...to implicate Kristi Noem in the death of the girl-child, McKenna Wendel?

[RandySF]

2. Maybe in a civil suit against the State of South Dakota.

[wyn borkins]

3. Thank You RandySF For Your Helpful Information

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

4. Sad

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

5. Long article

https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2026/06/18/sioux-falls-man-on-parole-for-manslaughter-is-charged-with-providing-drugs-that-killed-his-niece/

[rpannier]

6. Another finest people

Noem and Milk

[Skittles]

7. that poor girl

[tishaLA]

8. I strongly believe in compassionate commutations and pardons

but for some reason these repubs choose the absolute dregs of the earth to waste them on and leave legitimately deserving cases -- nonviolent drug offenders, pretty criminals convicted of overinflated charges and found guilty by racist juries, etc. -- to rot in prison.