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Days after a couple went missing from their home at the Olive Dell Ranch, a nudist community in California, police have announced that they believe the couple is dead.

The couple was last seen leaving their home on August 25, 2024, with their Shih Tzu, Cuddles. 

 Human remains were discovered beneath the home of their neighbor, Michael Royce Sparks, raising concerns that these remains could belong to the missing couple.

The Redlands Police Department recovered the remains from a concrete bunker under Sparks’ home, but it has yet to be confirmed whether they belong to the missing couple, Dan Menard, 79, and Stephanie Menard, 73.

"Members of the Redlands fire department, certified in confined space operations, entered the space beneath the suspect’s home and began to remove bags of evidence," said Redlands Police spokesman Carl Baker during a press conference.

On Thursday night, the Redlands Police Department arrested Michael Royce Sparks, 62, in connection with the disappearance of the Menards. 

Sparks has now been charged with murder and is currently booked at the West Valley Detention Center.

Sparks Hated the Menards

As the investigation continues, the discovery of the human remains is shocking to the Olive Dell Ranch community. 

Most residents at the nudist community knew and liked both the Menards and Sparks.

According to Tammie Wilkerson, a member of the nudist resort, Sparks harbored a deep-seated hatred for his elderly neighbors. "He didn’t like them," Wilkerson told KCAL. "He hated them, and he told me that many times."

Wilkerson explained that Sparks' animosity stemmed from a seemingly trivial issue involving a tree on the property line. 

"It’s such a stupid reason," she said. "They had a tree that was on their property line, and Dan used to go trim the limbs, and [Sparks] hated that. That formed his hatred towards them." 

She also revealed that she had driven Sparks, known by his neighbors as "Sparky," to the store several times to buy materials for constructing an underground shelter. The human remains were found in the concrete shelter.

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Couple Missing from Nudist Community

The disappearance of the Menards prompted a missing person investigation from law enforcement.

 After Sparks was taken into custody, police launched an extensive search for the couple's bodies, believing that their remains might be on Sparks' property.