Police officers went to a Redlands nudist ranch on Thursday, using a battering ram to break into the home of a suspect in the disappearance of a local couple.
The manhunt is part of the ongoing search for Stephanie Menard, 73, and her 79-year-old husband, Daniel Menard, who disappeared Sunday.
On Thursday morning, officers arrived at the Olive Dell Ranch, where the couple has a home, to conduct a missing persons investigation. There, they received a phone call that a man involved in their disappearance was somewhere in the RV park, according to Redlands spokesman Carl Baker.
Officers cordoned off the park and obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s home, which is located next to the Menard property. They entered using a battering ram and then used remote-controlled equipment, including a drone and an assault vehicle, to search the premises, Baker said at a news conference Thursday.
Aerial footage from KTLA showed a police vehicle with a boom aggressively digging into the suspect’s home, nearly knocking over a deck in the process.
Baker said police have not found the suspect but believe he is somewhere on the property, either at his home or elsewhere.
The couple was last seen at the nudist ranch on Saturday. Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their home and their car was found unlocked on the road leading to the property. Their dog, a small Shih Tzu named Cuddles, is also missing.
Daniel Menard is diabetic and suffers from dementia, police said.
Tammie Wilkerson, a friend of the couple, told KABC-TV that the Menards lived on a nudist ranch and were very active in the community.
“They’re very nice people,” Wilkerson said. “They don’t have a single shred of malice in them, which makes it very confusing.”
