Members of a nudist resort outside Los Angeles say their once idyllic community has turned into a “nightmare” after a neighbor of a California couple was charged with murder.
“It's a nightmare,” Tony Wylie, 69, told People magazine. “You hear things like this on the news, but you would never imagine in your lifetime that it would be one of your friends, and in such a strange way.”
Laurie Riffel, 69, told Outlet residents she was “alarmed” after the double murders.
“There are dark clouds hanging over us,” she said. “There's a sense of constant vigilance and fear that it's not safe here.”
California nudist resort neighbor charged with murder after couple disappears
Concerns arose after Redlands police announced the arrest of 62-year-old Michael Sparks in connection with the Aug. 30 murders of Stephanie Menard and Danielle Menard at Olive Dell Ranch in Colton. . He was later charged with two counts of murder.
Police said the Menards were last seen on August 24th. (Redlands Police Department)
At a press conference after Menard's body was discovered, City of Redlands spokesman Carl Baker said Sparks was found hiding under his home Thursday night after failing to respond to police for several hours. said.
Police said the man was hiding in a 5-foot-deep concrete space beneath the house, forcing officers to remove the front wall of the house.
Baker said the suspect had attempted suicide when police first found him hiding.
“He did have a rifle and attempted suicide when police found him, but the rifle misfired,” Baker said.
The next morning, cadaver dogs searched Sparks' home for the couple's bodies. “The dog was alert and indicated there was a body somewhere under the house,” Baker said.
Michael Royce Sparks, 62, was charged with two counts of murder. (Redlands Police Department)
Members of the clothing-optional community told People that tensions between the Menard and Spark families reached a breaking point over the pruning of a shade tree on their property.
Tony Garrett, 63, told People magazine: “I've talked to them and I know they've had issues with trees being cut down because branches have washed into the Menards.” . “But I can't say it's all. I can't say it's the only one.”
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“When I first got here, he told me which neighbors he liked and which he could do without, and then pointed in their direction. He said, 'And… I hate those neighbors,” Tammy Wilkerson, 61, told People magazine.
“I'm like, 'Damn, Sparky, that's kind of hard.'” That's when he told me about the tree, and I was like, it's hard to hate someone, I I don't know.
“I don't know if that's what caused it, or if it just snapped one day. I really don't know.”
Redlands Police say the Menards' dog, Cuddles, has not been found. (Redlands Police Department)
Residents remembered the couple's warm personalities.
“They had a wonderful little house for them and their dog,” Michelle Ann Archambault Rees, a friend of the couple, told People magazine. “They had a beautiful outdoor patio area that was perfect for relaxing. They were just the kind of people you'd want to hug. They were just really great people.”
Neighbors said Sparks seemed to have a rather solitary personality.
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“I would see him every once in a while, but mostly he liked the hot tub,” Garrett said. “He wasn't a bad person. He was no different than the other residents, just a little quieter, a little more reserved.”
“He said he hated the 'textile world' and had been a nudist for as long as he could remember,” Wilkerson told the magazine.
