CA DANIEL & STEPHANIE MENARD: Missing from Redlands, CA - 24 Aug 2024 - Age 79 & 73 *Found Deceased**ARREST*

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Redlands police ask for help in search for couple in 70s who disappeared over weekend​

Authorities are asking for help in the search for a Southern California couple reported missing over the weekend after their unlocked vehicle was found near their residence.

Seventy-three-year-old Stephanie and Daniel Menard, 79, were reported missing Sunday by a friend. They were last seen at 10 a.m. Saturday at their home in the 26000 block of Keissel Road.

The couple's dog, a white Shih Tzu named Cuddles, also is missing.

The couple's car was found unlocked down the road from their home. Stephanie Menard's purse and the couple's cell phones were found at the residence.

Daniel Menard suffers from demntia and is diabetic, police said in a statement.

Media - DANIEL & STEPHANIE MENARD: Missing from Redlands, CA - 24 Aug 2024 - Age 79 & 73
 
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Talk about a case where hatred consumes.
that's for sure. I have to believe this was over more than a tree or this guy was just trouble waiting to happen regardless.

that thing about further remains needs to be cleared up. not sure it was a good thing to put such out when it could be more remains of these two or OTHER remains... reporting without having a clue...
 

Neighbor charged with murder in disappearance of Redlands couple at nudist resort​

A 62-year-old man arrested last week at a Southern California nudist resort in connection with the disappearance of his neighbors has been charged with two counts of murder, authorities announced Tuesday.

Human remains believed to be those of 73-year-old Stephanie and Daniel Menard, 79, were found Friday under Michael Royce Sparks' house at Olive Dell Ranch in Redlands following an hours-long SWAT operation, according to investigators. Sparks was arrested a day earlier at the San Bernardino County nudist resort on suspicion of murder in the disappearance of the Menards one week earlier.

The remains, which have not been identified by the coroner, were found by a fire department confined space search-and-rescue team in bags in a concrete basement under Sparks' house following the SWAT operation.


An initial court date was set for Sept. 4. In addition to the two counts of murder, Sparks also faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murder, which makes him eligible for a sentence of life without parole.
 
No explanation by news media reporting further remains found then... And this says their remains were bagged which would seem to imply other remains found were other people... Not a word of it though. When we get a chance, need to look back above to see which outlet reported that and who the source was claimed to be as I don't recall offhand and if entirely false, they need to go by the wayside as a news outlet. Shall wait and see I guess...
 
No explanation by news media reporting further remains found then... And this says their remains were bagged which would seem to imply other remains found were other people... Not a word of it though. When we get a chance, need to look back above to see which outlet reported that and who the source was claimed to be as I don't recall offhand and if entirely false, they need to go by the wayside as a news outlet. Shall wait and see I guess...
It was KtLA.com and they do put this disclaimer right at the very end.

"It remains unclear if the additional human remains found on the property Sunday may be another victim or victims."
 
It was KtLA.com and they do put this disclaimer right at the very end.

"It remains unclear if the additional human remains found on the property Sunday may be another victim or victims."
Yeah, I could not recall who and little time last night just knew it had been not sure which, and additional remains. Since now it is said their bodies were in bags, it would seem "less" likely the additional remains were theirs. Did they name their source, because only them then have we heard such from, and not another word from anyone else or since about such. Whether LE will confirm such to us is debatable since they'd likely have no idea who they belong to at this point... IF such is even a fact.
 

Human remains identified as those of couple killed at nudist ranch​

Human remains found underneath the home of a man suspected of murdering a couple in their 70s at the nudist resort where they lived belong to the missing husband and wife, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

A spokesman for the department confirmed the remains found under the home of Michael Royce Sparks 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.
 
My daughter and SIL are still in Cali but thank God no longer in this neck of the woods. However, I worry about them being out there at all. They have two days left and leave the next and am not going to share where they are.

This is a bit OT but I have an opinion of the state and was wondering how accurate it is... They've seen awesome views, especially to the northern part. They have had absolutely no luck and crap for food in a many dayed trip. Spending even almost $100 per person for a meal, bad, bad food. In various areas,. They are now in their third area. She was happiest with a deli one day with a sandwich and potato salad and the last two nights they have given up and ordered a $50 pizza in that they are happier with than all the places recommended they ate out at to terrible food.

Right now they are in an air BNB i'd call a small efficiency and no longer near where this happened. Yes this is off topic but i've been worried.

She has seen a TON of homeless and a lot of other things I've always hear of. I asked her if even with some of the gorgeous scenery if she'd ever move out there or could imagine living there and I got an instant no. I asked if she saw naked people. I mean seriously, it is a thing there. She hadn't quite but had sent men just pulling their boxers up and then putting their jeans on. She also said the effiiciency they are staying in would be rent of about $4K a month in a living out situation.

It is O/T but I worried from the time I first saw this case as it was right there they were headed. And honestly I am not going to say I consider us hicks but we come from a world that is not anywhere near what bigger cities are like and especially in some states, or areas, I realize this was not not a big city but it is California.

Anyhow this mom is relieved but they aren't home yet, a few more days and while not in that area, they are in a well known ocean front city with a ton of homeless.

It is very off topic except perhaps for where this happened. It is in California, in a nudist colony or resort, and someone KILLED two people for all we know over the trimming of a tree and who apparently had a bunker.. yah, nothing weird or extreme there... I beg to differ.

I used to talk to a man who lived in northern Cali, and when that ended or I lost contact he was quite upset he was finding that the b.s. was reaching their area. I also worked with a man whose wife's parents lived in northern Cali and they went to see them every year and he so loved the area. Not the same.

I am tired, back to work tomorrow and I realize I am wandering BUT I want my daughter and SIL HOME from there. it isn't the same everywhere in the US and while some things can happen anywhere some things are far more likely in some areas..

This case is horrible but we also have a bunker, I guess a tree, and 70 some year old nudists. it's just not in my wheelhouse. That you would murder over any of these aforementioned things.

Do not worry, I am going to bed soon. I am also glad I live in the midwest although I hate our winters and glad my daughter and SIL are inbound soon.

I have seen some beautiful pics and when younger wanted to see Cali and other places in our states but have no desire to any longer. I used to want to see NYC too. Lol. Why I wonder now.

And she is a foodie and couldn't find a good meal there at the highest or prices in more than a week... And they have been to like three different areas hours apart...

I know this is O/T but it's weird. This is a weird case. Has been from the start.

I did not share dates but they were were in the area just as this was going down. This mom was worried.

there is more to this guaranteed. this was not over some tree. for something this extreme. and then there's that irresponsible news thing of more remains but unclear if more of theirs or other people's. when one thinks of serial killers do any states pop into your head first... they do mine...

they stayed in tonight and ordered a $50 (FIFTY WTH??) pizza. Not some gourmet odd thing, just a pizza. She said though best meal they have had anywhere out there in over a week despite going to some major places. And I am relieved they are staying in and coming home soon.

I get this is an odd and long post. And they travel a lot and I worry every time but I really worried when this case hit... And that's pretty much where they were... Not in the resort but in the area.

They take like three to four trips a year. And I am a crime follower... A year or so ago it was Colorado, uhm no, Utah, big no... How about seriously like Rhode Island or Nebraska...

So entirely Off Topic but will wind back, there has to be more to this than we know. Or have heard. Because to do this over the little at least I've heard is beyond extreme. It cannot be only over the trimming of a tree unless we have a totally lost it psycho type. i'd also wonder what else was in this 'bunker"...

yah I've done a wandering long one. And as much as I'd "kill" to live in a warmer climate I think I'lll suffer our northern Midwest and the winters because crime is just not that rampant here stiill and I can only hope it stays that way.
 

Man charged with murder of California nudist ranch couple pleads not guilty​

The Redlands man charged with the murder of his neighbors and whose remains were found under his home pleaded not guilty in court Monday.


"He didn't like them. He hated them, and he told me many times," neighbor Tammie Wilkerson said. "It's such a stupid reason. They had a tree that was on their property line, and Dan used to go trim the limbs and he hated that. That formed his hatred towards them."

Sparks' next court date is scheduled for Oct. 18 at 8:30 a.m.
 
Trimming limbs seems just NOT enough of a reason. It is unhinged imo to kill someone over that or let it bother you so much IF that is the true reason.

Couldn't the park owners determine and state WHO had the right to the tree, why was there even on "on the line". Odd place to draw a property line if a tree is right on it.

And couldn't the perp in this case plant himself and extra large tree on his side blocking view of that one. I mean you an buy them at some pretty big size if willing to pay. Or there are SEVERAL fast growing varieties, I've had some and they are the height it takes other trees five to ten years to reach.

All that's besides the point, I just don't believe the tree was at the root of this man's anger or his losing it. May have been a SYMPTOM of some deeper problem with him...
 

Man charged with murder of California nudist ranch couple pleads not guilty​

The Redlands man charged with the murder of his neighbors and whose remains were found under his home pleaded not guilty in court Monday.


"He didn't like them. He hated them, and he told me many times," neighbor Tammie Wilkerson said. "It's such a stupid reason. They had a tree that was on their property line, and Dan used to go trim the limbs and he hated that. That formed his hatred towards them."

Sparks' next court date is scheduled for Oct. 18 at 8:30 a.m.
There is some serious mental issue with somebody that gets that angry over something like that. Good grief.
 
Trimming limbs seems just NOT enough of a reason. It is unhinged imo to kill someone over that or let it bother you so much IF that is the true reason.

Couldn't the park owners determine and state WHO had the right to the tree, why was there even on "on the line". Odd place to draw a property line if a tree is right on it.

And couldn't the perp in this case plant himself and extra large tree on his side blocking view of that one. I mean you an buy them at some pretty big size if willing to pay. Or there are SEVERAL fast growing varieties, I've had some and they are the height it takes other trees five to ten years to reach.

All that's besides the point, I just don't believe the tree was at the root of this man's anger or his losing it. May have been a SYMPTOM of some deeper problem with him...
I really think the tree is the symptom and not the cause. To me it looked like they lived very close to each other and why I do not know as I thought Ca had loads of space. Anyway, both there all day long and annoying each other constantly. Neighbours can be very nasty. We had neighbours that ended up hating us at the property we ran a business at and they turned the whole village against us at one point. Very small beautiful village only a dozen or so properties, with several other businesses, but not beautiful people. We also had one neighbour where we currently live tried to argue over a small strip of land. Same thing, entitled people thinking they can get/have/buy whatever they like. Feuds are the result and can end up very nasty.

Hey, pretty funny, the tree not being at the root of it. I agree LOL.
 
I really think the tree is the symptom and not the cause. To me it looked like they lived very close to each other and why I do not know as I thought Ca had loads of space. Anyway, both there all day long and annoying each other constantly. Neighbours can be very nasty. We had neighbours that ended up hating us at the property we ran a business at and they turned the whole village against us at one point. Very small beautiful village only a dozen or so properties, with several other businesses, but not beautiful people. We also had one neighbour where we currently live tried to argue over a small strip of land. Same thing, entitled people thinking they can get/have/buy whatever they like. Feuds are the result and can end up very nasty.

Hey, pretty funny, the tree not being at the root of it. I agree LOL.
Lol, yah it's deeper than the tree at the root of it all. The only thing that ever drove me nuts in my life was after years of living in a city with close neighbors and never a problem someone apparently moved in nearby or acquired two dogs who they apparently tied or put outside in a kennel or fenced yard all day and they never ever quit barking all day long, not for a moment, until I am guessing eh neighbors/owners got home. I am the type that would never complain about anyone but it was destroying every single day and I could hear this all day with windows shut INSIDE.

Still I'd never kill over it, I was close to calling LE and venting many a time. It takes a lot for me to feel that way. I've had other neighbors dogs that leave their yard and used to potty on mine. Well while not enamored, I am not going to make an issue over that. I mean some things aren't worth it and to me, that was irritating but the person was a good neighbor in all other ways.

Yes, it is a symptom. This guy, this killer of TWO adult older people who trimmed a tree and he hated them doing such, it's not the reason that triggered. The dogs I was listening to were every day all day, and I didn't do anything but was at least tempted to call it in and I never even did do that.

He's disturbed in some way overall or just wanted to kill, who knows. I mean he had the underground spot, Lord knows what the man has been up to overall. So, hope anyone doesn't take me wrong, we have a weird but nudist, disturbed killer with a bunker who will kill if you trim a tree on the property line...

In all seriousness though, I'd like to know how he pulled this off. How did he get two adults into his basement sight unseen in broad daylight? Or did others watch it occur and we just haven't heard that yet. Excuse me, not basement but bunker...
 

Redlands couple whose remains were found under neighbor's home died of blunt force head trauma​

The San Bernardino County coroner confirmed a Redlands couple's cause of death on Monday, nearly two weeks after their remains were found underneath their neighbor's home.

Stephanie and Daniel Menard died of "blunt force trauma to the head," according to the coroner. Their deaths have been ruled as homicides.
 
How horrible. One of them watched the other one die. That always makes me sick to my stomach, even more than the murder itself.
 
and probably made them both watch him killing the dog first, too.
I wouldn't doubt it! He was enraged and filled with so much hate! I mean, he told a new person in the neighborhood how much he hated the couple! That's insanely crazy hatred.
 

Man allegedly admits to killing neighbors at Inland Empire nudist resort over a hot dog​

The man who allegedly killed his neighbors at an Inland Empire nudist resort last August reportedly did so over a hot dog.

Sparks and the Menards did not get along, but as detailed in a court hearing Monday, the final straw was a hot dog, the Press-Enterprise reports.

A fellow inmate at the West Valley Detention Center reported to authorities that Sparks admitted to the killings and disclosed that he brutally beat the couple with a rake, a hoe and a hammer, Redlands police Detective Thomas Williams testified.

“[The other inmate] said Mr. Sparks told him the incident started over a hot dog that Daniel Menard had purchased for him,” Williams said. “He said Mr. Sparks felt that the hot dog was a jab at him, making him feel like he was worth only a dollar hot dog, and that’s what set him off that day.

Sparks also allegedly admitted to the killings in text messages.

When a former coworker checked in on him amid the search at Olive Dell, he confirmed to her that he was the subject of the search and that he planned on killing himself that day. Prosecutors say Sparks tried, but his gun jammed.

“Chopped up my neighbors,” he allegedly wrote. “Didn’t know I had it in me. SNAPPED.”
 

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