Human remains found at California nudist resort belong to missing elderly couple, officials say

Human remains discovered underneath the home of the suspect in the disappearance of a husband and wife who went missing at a Southern California nudist resort belong to the couple, authorities said Thursday.

Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, have been positively identified as the people whose remains were found under the home of Michael Sparks, 62, as the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner confirmed the identification of their bodies Thursday.

Just two days earlier, Sparks was charged with murder in both of their deaths after they were first reported missing on Aug. 25.

In the days following their disappearance, police dispatched wide-scale search efforts throughout and surrounding the community where they lived and were last seen — the Olive Dell Ranch in Redlands. 

Described online as a "family-friendly" nudist resort and RV park, Olive Dell is where the Menards lived next-door to Sparks, according to police. 

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said the ranch is a "tight-knit" community where neighbors and friends of the Menards were quick to report them missing as soon as it appeared "things weren't right."

Sandy Marinelli, who was friends with the Menards for more than a decade, said friends of theirs knew there was something wrong when the couple wasn't ready for church on Sunday, Aug. 25. Some of their possessions, including their cellphones and Stephanie Menard's purse, were found at their home while their unlocked car was parked just up the street.

"It was just very suspicious for them to be gone," Marinelli said three days after they were reported missing.

While police launched their own investigation, neighbors at Olive Dell searched through the nearby Reche Canyon area on foot and horseback and pleaded for them to come home.

"Dan, Stephanie, if you're seeing this, find some way to get us some information so you can come back, we miss you," Tammie Wilkerson, one of their neighbors, said. "We love you and we miss you and we need you to come back."

Less than a week after they vanished, police returned to Olive Dell to speak again with neighbors. While investigators were at the park, they received a tip from a person described only by police as a family member of Sparks saying he "had admitted to killing two people and was threatening suicide," Redlands Police Chief Rachel Tolber said this week.

Eventually, investigators obtained a search warrant and used a drone to go inside Sparks' home, police said. SWAT officers used armored vehicles to tear down the walls of the house while remote cameras were used to look through the property. Tolber said the cameras were used to keep officers out of harm's way as police had been informed that Sparks was armed.

When SWAT officers finally found him, he was inside what DA Anderson described as a "homemade basement-type area."

Then he allegedly tried to kill himself, according to police.

"He did have a rifle and he did attempt to kill himself when police discovered him, but the rifle misfired," Carl Baker, a spokesman for the Redlands Police Department, said the day after Sparks' arrest.

Days later, he was charged with two counts of murder with a special allegation of multiple murders. Prosecutors have not said whether the alleged killings are believed to have been premeditated.