Human remains found under the home of a man suspected of murdering a couple in their 70s at the nudist resort where they were staying belong to the missing husband and wife, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
A department spokesman confirmed that the remains found under Michael Royce Sparks’ home belonged to Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79.
The identification of the remains comes shortly after the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office charged Sparks, 62, with the murder of the menards.
Authorities have declined to talk about a possible motive.
The Menards were reported missing Aug. 25 by a friend after missing morning church services, according to the Redlands Police Department. The couple’s car was found unlocked down the road from their home at Olive Dell Ranch, a nudist resort.
Redlands Police Chief Rachel Tolber said Sparks became a suspect in Menards’ disappearance on Aug. 29, when one of his family members told a police chief that Sparks had been involved in Menards’ disappearance.
Michael Royce Sparks was arrested in connection with the disappearance and death of Daniel and Stephanie Menard.
(Redlands Police Department)
According to Tolber, the relative told the dispatcher that Sparks had admitted to killing two people and threatened to commit suicide.
At the time, investigators and police were in the area looking for Menards and interviewing neighbors. Tolber said those officers went to Spark’s home, which is next to the house of the menards, and began to look for him.
During the search, she said, officers discovered Sparks had barricaded himself in a homemade bunker under the home and was armed with a rifle, prompting police to use a drone and then a taser to knock down the walls of the house.
At some point, Sparks tried to use the rifle to injure himself, Tolber said, but the weapon failed.
Sparks was then arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into the West Valley Detention Center.
After Sparks’ arrest, police found the remains of two people believed to be the missing couple, Tolber said. Investigators conducted a full search of the property Sunday, she said, and do not believe there are any other victims.