Man Whose Sentence Was Commuted Implicated in Niece’s Death Case

A South Dakota man newly charged in the death of his 14-year-old niece had previously received a commutation of his life prison sentence from then-Gov. Kristi Noem.

Mark Milk, 51, now faces a series of federal charges tied to the case. According to an indictment obtained by Law&Crime, he is accused of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death, and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. He is also charged with two counts involving the concealment of objects with the intent to impair an official proceeding.

The case centers on the death of McKenna Wendel, 14, who was reported missing on March 13, authorities said. Investigators say she was last seen alive in her hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, during the early morning hours of March 14.

While the victim disappeared from South Dakota, authorities said the conduct underlying the charges took place in northern Iowa. The charges were announced this week during a press conference in Sioux City, Iowa.

McKenna’s body was discovered March 19 near Brookings, a town about 55 miles north of Sioux Falls.

A second defendant, 38-year-old Jon Rogness, has also been charged in the case. He is accused of conspiracy to conceal objects with intent to impair a proceeding and accessory after the fact.

“Furthermore, the death of M.W. resulted from the use of the controlled substance defendant possessed with the intent to distribute and distributed,” the indictment reads, referring to the girl.

While largely threadbare in terms of details, the charging document makes clear Milk and Rogness are also accused of trying to “corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, and conceal objects, with the intent to impair their integrity and availability for use in official proceedings,” all of which is related to “the disappearance and death of M.W.”

Milk was also responsible for “the transportation of M.W. with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity,” the indictment alleges.

Authorities say Rogness helped Milk after the fact by taking possession of certain drugs and conspiring to hide other items related to McKenna’s transportation, disappearance and death.

“All charges occurred within the Northern District of Iowa,” South Dakota U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons said during the press conference, according to Sioux Falls-based CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW affiliate KELO. “The charges that we brought are the most serious, readily provable.”

In 1994, Milk was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the October 1993 stabbing death of Shawn Peneaux, according to appellate court records.

In 2023, after serving 30 years of his sentence, Noem commuted Milk’s sentence and he was granted parole in May 2024.

“The application of Mark Milk for commutation of sentence having been presented to me, together with facts pertaining to this case, and it appearing there from that the ends of justice would be best served by granting the Commutation of Sentence requested,” the commutation order signed by Noem reads.

By the time McKenna’s body was found, Milk was in jail in South Dakota on unrelated charges of driving under the influence and eluding police, according to the Sioux Falls Police Department.

“It is fairly often that you see law enforcement oppose commutations,” South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a March press conference, according to the Washington Times.

Noem served as South Dakota’s congresswoman in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019 and then as governor from 2019 to 2025. She resigned from her gubernatorial position to serve as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security before being fired in March by President Donald Trump amid widespread backlash to a series of fatal immigration enforcement operations.