Vigil held for aged couple from Redlands nudist resort who’re lacking, presumed dead

A vigil was held Saturday night, August 31 in Reche Canyon in Redlands to mourn Stephanie and Dan Menard, a lacking aged couple who police say have been killed by their neighbor.

Michael Royce Sparks, 62, was arrested on suspicion of homicide Thursday after authorities descended on his dwelling on the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort and tore into it with a battering ram. He was discovered hiding and surrendered, police mentioned.

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Residents of the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort and the neighboring group collect for a vigil in Redlands in honor of Stephanie and Dan Menard, an aged couple who lived at Olive Dell and who police say have been killed by their neighbor, Michael Royce Sparks. on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)

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On Friday, human stays believed to be these of the Menards have been present in a concrete bunker beneath Sparks’ dwelling.

The suspected slayings have left the group shaken.

“We simply wish to be very delicate to everybody that’s going by this … associates, neighbors, you already know, residents that knew the Menards after which simply knew them as their neighbors, and simply didn’t essentially know them personally, you already know, simply heard the story and have been touched,” Michelle Mick, who organized the vigil, informed ABC7 on Saturday evening.

The couple, of their 70s, had lived on the ranch for 15 years.

“It’s been actually onerous,” Chris Hernandez, who attended the vigil, informed the station. “A variety of confusion, quite a lot of questions.”