Kristi Noem commuted a convicted killer's life sentence in 2023. That man, Mark Milk, is now charged in the death of his 14-year-old niece, McKenna Wendel, whose body was found in a rural Iowa field five days after she went missing. Noem, who was fired from her job as Homeland Security secretary in March, is currently working as a strategic advisor for a Canadian mining company and did not respond to requests for comment.
A 14-Year-Old Girl, a Missing Week, a Body in a Field
McKenna Wendel was reported missing from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on March 13. She was last seen alive in the early hours of March 14. For five days, she was gone. On March 19, her body turned up outside Brookings, roughly an hour north of Sioux Falls.
Wendel was 14. She was raised by her grandparents, was a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, loved animals and powwows, and had, according to her obituary, a 'vibrant personality and a zest for life.' She loved the sound of the drums. She was a child. She deserved to come home.
She did not come home.
The Uncle, the Charges, and the Commutation That Started All of This
CBS News reports that Wendel's uncle, Mark Milk, 51, has been charged with five counts connected to her death. The most serious: possession with intent to deliver cocaine that caused McKenna Wendel's death. He is also charged with transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Read those charges again slowly.
Here is what makes this a political story and not just a criminal one. Milk was almost three decades into a life sentence for manslaughter when then-Governor Kristi Noem signed a commutation order in February 2023, cutting him loose. He had been convicted in the 1993 stabbing death of a man named Shawn Peneaux, according to court records. He was 19 at the time of that killing. He had been in prison ever since. Then Noem decided the ends of justice would be best served by letting him out.
That is a direct quote. Noem's commutation order reads, per CBS affiliate KELO-TV: '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.' That language is so boilerplate it barely qualifies as a reason. There is no public explanation of why Milk was chosen. The commutation documents were sealed.
A Second Man Charged, and a Cover-Up Alleged
Jon Rogness, 38, of Brookings, South Dakota, faces conspiracy and accessory charges in what prosecutors describe as an attempt to cover up the crimes. CBS News reports that U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons described the charges filed against both men as the 'most serious, readily provable' counts available, and that all of them originated in Iowa.
FBI Special Agent Gene Kowel put it plainly at a Thursday news conference in Sioux City, Iowa: 'This is a horrific case. There are no cases that we investigate that are more heart-wrenching and more tragic than the ones that involve children or the death of a child.' Prosecutors said they finished their investigation in late May and formally linked Milk to Wendel's death when they filed charges Wednesday. As of the time of filing, neither man had an attorney listed in court records.
Where Is Kristi Noem? Ask the Canadian Mining Company.
The Associated Press left a message for Noem seeking comment through NovaRed Mining, a Canadian firm she recently joined in a 'strategic advisory role.' She did not respond. This is the same Kristi Noem who spent years building a tough-on-crime brand in South Dakota, who made a name for herself nationally as a no-nonsense conservative executive, and who then apparently reviewed Mark Milk's case and decided a lifer convicted of stabbing a man to death had served enough time.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said at a late March news conference that the commutation decision was strictly Noem's call. His comment on that decision was pointed in its restraint: 'It is fairly often that you see law enforcement oppose commutations.' He did not elaborate. He also said he had never even seen the sealed commutation documents. So the decision was made by Noem, the reasoning was buried, law enforcement signaled its discomfort, and no one had to answer for any of it.
When a reporter asked U.S. Attorney Leif Olson about the commutation at an April news conference, his answer was: 'I don't have any information on that.' He may have been dodging. He may have been telling the truth. Either way, nobody in a position of power was rushing to explain themselves.
The Career Arc of a Woman Who Fired a Dog and Freed a Killer
Noem served as South Dakota's lone congressperson from 2011 to 2019 and as governor from 2019 to 2025. She was Trump's Homeland Security secretary until she was fired in March 2026, amid widespread criticism of her handling of the administration's immigration crackdown and disaster response. Trump, in his signature fashion, praised her on the way out and named her special envoy for something called 'The Shield of the Americas,' which CBS News describes as a new organization of Western Hemisphere nations focused on democracy and security.
So the woman who commuted a killer's life sentence in 2023, without explanation, with documents sealed from even the state attorney general, is now an envoy for an organization theoretically dedicated to protecting people. That is the career trajectory we are working with here.
The Dingo Take
Let's be precise about what happened. A sitting governor commuted a man's life sentence for a violent killing. She sealed the paperwork. She gave no substantive public reason. Law enforcement, in carefully diplomatic language, made clear it was not on board. That man, now free, is charged with causing the cocaine death of his 14-year-old niece and transporting her with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. McKenna Wendel is dead. She was 14. She loved drums.
Noem's defenders will say you can't hold her responsible for what a freed prisoner does after release. Fine. Make that argument. But you also cannot seal the commutation documents, refuse comment through a Canadian mining company, and expect to avoid the obvious question: what exactly was in those papers, and why did Kristi Noem think Mark Milk deserved to walk free? The public has a right to know the answer to that, and right now, nobody is providing one.
McKenna Wendel's obituary says she had a vibrant personality and a zest for life. She attended powwows with her grandparents. She loved animals. She is dead, and the man charged with causing her death was released from a life sentence by a governor who has yet to explain why. Noem is currently advising a mining company and serving as a democracy envoy for a hemisphere she cannot seem to protect one child in. If there is accountability coming, it is not moving fast enough.
