MITCHELL, SD (Mitchell Now) — The uncle of a 14-year-old girl whose body was discovered in March in Brookings County has been charged in connection with her death.

The charges were filed by federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on Wednesday. Mark Milk of Sioux Falls faces five counts in the case, including giving his niece McKenna Wendel drugs that caused her death, transporting her with the intent to sexually abuse her, and obstruction of justice. A Brookings man, Jon Rogness, is being charged as an accessory after the fact and for obstruction of justice.

Wendel was reported missing on March 13, and her body was found on the 19th. Attorney General Marty Jackley promised in May that the investigation was wrapping up and charges were imminent. The case has gained notoriety regionally due to Milk being a convicted felon who had already been sentenced to life in prison once.

In October 1993, Milk, who was 19 at the time, allegedly stabbed Shawn Peneaux to death. When police found Peneaux’s body, there were knife wounds to his chest, side, back, and face. Milk was also accused of kicking Peneaux multiple times in the face and head, before leaving him to die while Milk went to his girlfriend’s place.

Milk was indicted by a grand jury on premeditated first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter charges in the Peneaux case. He was offered a plea agreement for manslaughter, with the other charges dismissed. Milk was then seemingly locked up for life.

In 2024, Governor Kristi Noem commuted Milk’s sentence, changing the term to 240 years and making him eligible for parole. According to KTIV-TV, speaking in favor of Mark Milk at a parole board hearing in June of that year was McKenna Wendel, providing another heartbreaking twist to the case. The board unanimously approved parole.

Milk was arrested on March 17th for driving while impaired and evading police. He is still in jail related to that case.

Rogness also has a criminal history. He is serving time at the South Dakota State Penitentiary for a 2008 manslaughter conviction.