Authorities continued Sunday to search for a motive in the disappearance — and suspected murders — of an elderly couple who vanished from a nudist ranch in San Bernardino County.
Daniel Menard, 79, and his wife, Stephanie Menard, 73, were last seen leaving their home in Olive Dell Ranch and then reported missing Aug. 25 after missing a church service, according to neighbors and police.
On Thursday, Redlands police arrested one of their neighbors, Michael Royce Sparks, 62, who was barricaded in a concrete bunker beneath his home when officers arrived. Sparks was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into the West Valley Detention Center.
Police said Sparks was uncooperative and only surrendered to authorities after “lengthy negotiations.”
Under the house, located next to the Menards’, authorities say they found human remains that they are now identifying.
The Menards and their dog, a small shih tzu named Cuddles, were reported missing by a friend, police said.
The Menards’ car was found unlocked down the road from their home, and Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside the home along with the couple’s cellphones, authorities said.
Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker did not immediately respond to an email requesting information about the case. He previously said at a news conference Friday that authorities were “still trying to locate the victims” but were confident the Menards were “deceased and still on the property.”
Baker did not comment on a possible motive Friday. But Tammie Wilkerson, a neighbor of Sparks, told several local TV stations that Sparks hated the couple. The apparent feud between the Menards and Sparks was over a tree between their properties, Wilkerson told Fox 11, and Sparks “repeatedly said he hated them.”
Other neighbors told the news station that Sparks was a quiet and reserved man.
According to its website, Olive Dell Ranch is a family- and couples-friendly nudist resort in Colton, California that is a “great place to enjoy the nudist/naturist lifestyle, whether you’re visiting for the day or an overnight stay.”
