A California man has been arrested and charged in connection with the presumed deaths of an elderly couple who disappeared from their home at a nudist resort last week, police said.
Daniel Menard, 79, and his wife, Stephanie Menard, 73, of Redlands, were last seen on Saturday, Aug. 24, and reported missing on Sunday, Aug. 25, the Redlands Police Department said in a statement.
Their car was found abandoned near their home at the Olive Dell Ranch RV Park, a “family-friendly nudist resort” in Redlands, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Their beloved Shih Tzu, Cuddles, was also missing, police said.
The couple’s cell phones, along with Stephanie Menard’s purse and cane, were found inside their home, Sandy Marelli, a neighbor who went to their home on Sunday, told CBS News affiliate KCAL. She said their TV and computer were still on.
“It was just very suspicious for them to be gone,” Marinelli said.
While searching for the couple, “detectives learned that a person who may have been involved was on scene at the location,” police said in an update Thursday, Aug. 29.
“We obtained a search warrant to try and locate the suspect,” Carl Baker, a spokesman for the city of Redlands and the Redlands Police Department, told reporters during a press conference Thursday afternoon, KCAL reports.
Later that day, police arrested Michael Royce Sparks, 62, police said in an update.
Police used armored vehicles to tear down the walls of the house instead of entering the home “for the officer’s safety,” Baker said, CNN reports.
Sparks is the Menards’ next-door neighbor, police said, CBS News reports.
“A short time ago, after trying for several hours unsuccessfully to contact the subject with no response, police used a Tac Cat from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to breach the subject’s home and conduct a search using remote video equipment,” Redding Police said in a statement Thursday. “No one has been located.”
On Thursday night, police located Sparks, arrested him and charged him with murder, according to a Redlands police statement.
He was booked into the West Valley Detention Center, where he remains held, according to the statement. It is unclear if he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf or what his alleged motive might have been.
On Friday, Redlands police wrote in an update that “RPD is currently on scene at the suspect’s house preparing to search for the bodies of the couple.
“Due to extensive damage, the structure will need to be made safe before searchers can enter.”
