An arrest has been made in connection with the disappearance of an elderly couple who disappeared from the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in San Bernardino County on Saturday.
Redlands police said Friday that Michael Royce Sparks, 62, has been arrested and charged with murder. A news conference is scheduled for 8 a.m.
On Thursday, police reported that they had identified a suspect —the couple’s neighbor — who may have been involved in their disappearance.
Daniel Menard, 79, and his wife, Stephanie Menard, 73, were last seen in the ranching community around 10 a.m. Saturday, police said. Their dog, a small white Shih Tzu named Cuddles, was with them. In the days that followed, friends voiced concern as police sent dogs and a sheriff’s office helicopter to assist in the search.
“We suspect foul play,” Carl Baker, a spokesman for the city of Redlands and the Redlands Police Department, told reporters during a brief news conference Thursday afternoon. Police said investigators received a tip that prompted them to search the home of the Menards’ neighbor.
“We have obtained a search warrant to locate the suspect,” Baker said.
Shortly afterward, SWAT teams in armored vehicles broke down the walls of the couple’s neighbor’s home, instead of entering “for the safety of the officers,” police said.
Shortly after the couple was last seen, their unlocked car was found across the street from their home in the 26000 block of Keissel Road in Redlands. Some of their belongings, including their cell phones and Stephanie Menard’s purse, were found inside the home.
The circumstances of their disappearance have caused concern among friends.
“I just want them back,” said Sandy Marinelli, who has been friends with the couple for more than a decade. “They don’t deserve this. … They’re just good people. They go to church. They don’t deserve any of this.”
Marinelli said another neighbor went to the couple’s home Sunday when they weren’t ready for church and found Stephanie Menard’s purse and walking stick. She also said a TV and computer were left on.
But the couple was nowhere to be seen.
“It was just very suspicious that they were gone,” Marinelli said.
