Mystery as elderly couple and their dog go missing from nudist ranch
A man has been arrested after an elderly couple and their dog vanished at a nudist resort in California.
Last Sunday (25 August), couple Daniel, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73, vanished from their home in Olive Dell Nudist Ranch, Redlands, California alongside their dog.
The couple were last seen near their home on the RV ranch with their dog, a shih tzu named Cuddles, the previous day. The Menard's unlocked car was later found near their house.
Tammie Wilkerson, a friend of the couple, was interviewed earlier in the week and confirmed that the Menards had lived in the nudist ranch and were very active in the community.
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"They’re very sweet people. There’s not a mean bone in their body at all, which makes this very confusing," she said, adding that there's 'no way' the couple would've been able to just 'walk away' from their car.
It has also been revealed that Daniel is diabetic and suffers from dementia.
"She has a cane. It was at home, her purse, their cellphones — things they would never have left at home."
After five days of the couple being missing, authorities in California have now revealed they have now arrested a man living on the resort and are currently holding him on charges of murder.
The man, who has been identified as 62-year-old Michael Royce Sparks by media outlets, had been a neighbour of the Menards. It is understood that authorities had received a tip-off about the man while investigating the case.
According to an update shared by NBC, police located Sparks under his home around 9:30pm the previous night after using a battering ram to enter the address and remote video equipment.
"We obtained a search warrant to try to locate and contact the suspect. That’s his home," Carl Baker, a public information officer for the Redlands Police Department, said of the arrests. "He was not responding to our efforts to have him come out."
Baker added: "He surrendered voluntarily – I won’t say he’s been cooperative – after lengthy negotiations."
Authorities added that they haven't recovered any bodies from the property, however they currently believe there are 'bodies are on the site of his home' and there was enough reason to 'investigate the possibility of foul play'.
“We are confident that they are deceased and that they are still here on the property,” Baker said
"We had to secure the scene overnight to make sure it's safe to enter. We have cadaver dogs we'll using to located victims' remains."
Brenna Cooper