Michael Royce Sparks, neighbor of missing couple, Stephanie and Daniel Menard, who vanished from their Oliver Dell Ranch nudist camp last weekend, arrested on suspicion of murder, as cops search for their bodies. Police believe their bodies are at Spark’s property, adjacent to the nudist camp, which they have begun demolishing.
California police have arrested a 62 year old man who they suspect may have killed an elderly couple missing from a nudist ranch in California, who are now presumed dead.
Michael Royce Sparks, a neighbor of missing couple, Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, was taken into custody on murder charges late Thursday according to a release from the Redlands Police Department. The arrest comes five days after the couple was reported missing and six days after they were last seen alive.
At the time of his arrest, Sparks was discovered hiding beneath his home and surrendered after negotiations, according to Redlands Police.
Sparks is now being held at the West Valley Detention Center, in San Bernardino, California.
The couple were reported missing on Sunday after they failed to turn up to Sunday morning church service, according to police.
In a Thursday press briefing, investigators indicated they suspected foul play after receiving a tip from a neighborhood source.
Police are actively searching the suspect’s property, where they believe the couple’s bodies may be found. Search teams, including cadaver dogs, are involved in the search.
The couple’s dog, a white Shih Tzu named Cuddles, is also unaccounted for.
Significant damage was dealt to the suspect’s home when police breached it, but they plan on searching the home as soon as it is safe to enter according to Carl Baker, a spokesman for the city of Redlands and Redlands Police Department.
Come Friday, police said they will continue investigating the dismantled home to search for the couple. Authorities conceded there were no details on where the Menards may have been killed, but police believe their bodies will be found at the Olive Dell Ranch.
Authorities did not disclose what led them to suspect Sparks of murder nor what the motive may have been. It’s not immediately clear if Sparks has retained a lawyer.
Meanwhile, a friend of the missing couple, told KABC-TV that they were active members of a nudist ranch community at the Olive Dell Ranch RV Park in Colton, where they lived.
‘They’re very sweet people,’ Tammie Wilkerson said. ‘There’s not a mean bone in their body at all, which makes this very confusing.’
The couple was last seen at their residence on Olive Dell Ranch — a family nudist resort — at around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday. Their unlocked vehicle was found down the road from the residence that day, according to police.
Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their residence along with both of their cellphones, according to police.
‘There’s no way that Stephanie or Dan could have walked away from that car,’ Wilkerson continued. ‘She has a cane. It was at home, her purse, their cellphones — things they would never have left at home.’
Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Redlands police at 909-798-7681.
