Silver Alert CA - Stephanie Menard, 73, Daniel Menard, 79, & Cuddles, white Shih Tzu, unlocked car found, Redlands, 24 Aug 2024 *arrest*

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"The remains were found in bags." That sounds ominous to me, like there were more than 2 bags. I know, 2 is plural, but there you go.
I had the same thought….however LE if the bodies would have been placed in pieces in many bags, would probably have not recognized that these were human remians via a camera…they must have seen the long body shape
Sorry this is macabre , also neighbours would have heard noise if the poor couple would have been dismembered in that house

I still wonder how the hell he managed to get them tomhis house. Maybe he took the barking dog and they followed
I wonder if the suspect will ever speak
 
Lots of info in this article.


Rodriguez said the Menards complained that management was demanding membership fees from them and restricting the couple’s pool privileges.

”When they would go to the pool someone would harass them for money,” Rodriguez said. “People started poking around their RV and their mobile home, so what we did is we opened up our home to them. They would come every Friday, and if I had extra food, I would share it with them. They were good people. All they wanted to do was sing karaoke and hang out by the pool.”

In March, Storm, the eight-year resident, said management began serving eviction notices and raising rents. Stephanie Menard was one of the more engaged residents, attending meetings they had about the dispute.

In June, residents Wayne and Sandy Marinelli filed a lawsuit against the resort owners, alleging they improperly imposed fees, raised rents and issued eviction notices, said their attorney, Robert Williams of the BWA Law Group in Santa Ana. The next month, a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking evictions of residents at the resort who refuse to pay certain fees, court records show.

The owners’ attorney responded to the request for the restraining order by filing a document with the court that said the fees and evictions were appropriate.
 
For those who can't listen:

Redlands FD certified in confined space rescues removed bags of evidence from the space. Can confirm the presence of human remains. Coroner representative on scene.

People asked why they had to break into the house like they did.

LE was on scene a long time attempting contact "for a great deal of time" and couldn't make contact.

They broke a window and entered with a drone and attempted to look around and make contact that way and couldn't get around in there and confirm.

They had reason to believe Sparks was barricaded and armed.

To protect the safety of the officers they removed the front of the house.

He WAS barricaded and armed.

He was armed with a rifle.

Won't confirm how many bodies or condition. The coroner is on scene.

No confirmation on Cuddles on the dog at this time.

No tunnels that they can tell so far, but a space about 5 feet tall that's like a bunker going under/behind the house. Someone about 5 ft could walk around in the concrete bunker. No info on if that space was furnished, etc. (It sounds like it literally goes the length of the mobile home almost?)

A city crew used a camera to check the space to determine there was evidence (bodies) and to determine it was safe to enter.

PIO doesn't know how many bags there were of remains/evidence. That'll be up to the coroner to determine.

The remains were in the bunker.

Suspect hasn't spoken about motive or anything else. Won't speak to other info (from neighbors)

Media trying to confirm if both Menards were killed. He says he can't verify it's them for sure, but it IS human remains and they ARE sure they are dead (I think media is also trying to see if there could possibly be others?)

Someone asks if they were killed in a gruesome fashion. He says, they were killed, that's gruesome, no?

The weapon (rifle) was fired but didn't go off.

Again not commenting on motive.

Won't comment on whether he said he was going to kill himself.

They came back out to follow up yesterday.

WHILE on scene to follow up THAT is when they got the tip about Sparks being on scene and then went into action to make contact, etc.
Well done, LE and tipster.
 
More on this neighbor IE.


Irene Engkraf, who identified herself as the concerned neighbor who called police, told reporters ahead of the Friday news conference that she and the couple usually attended Sunday church service together.

But last Sunday, the couple didn’t turn up for church and she saw their car sitting “abandoned.”

Using a spare key to enter the Menards’ home, Engkraf saw Stephanie Menard’s purse and both of the Menards’ phones. Then she called 911 and started calling hospitals, searching for news of her friends.

“It felt so odd not to have them sitting right next to me” at their usual Wednesday Bible study, she said. “But I know God’s with them. He’s with them wherever they are.”
Heartbreaking!
 
My thoughts exactly although another post on here says she went missing in 2020 but I suppose he could have been storing a body.
Is this the neighbour that went missing in 2020?
Can you post the reference / article to the information , or was it just a question of a journalist during the press conference ?



Edit to note that this lady disappeared after visiting a neighbour and her car was found abandoned somewhere else
Probably the case is not related but what a coincidence

Her case is discussed here if you are interested
She was living 9 mins away from Keissel Road.
 
Last edited:
Lots of info in this article.


Rodriguez said the Menards complained that management was demanding membership fees from them and restricting the couple’s pool privileges.

”When they would go to the pool someone would harass them for money,” Rodriguez said. “People started poking around their RV and their mobile home, so what we did is we opened up our home to them. They would come every Friday, and if I had extra food, I would share it with them. They were good people. All they wanted to do was sing karaoke and hang out by the pool.”

In March, Storm, the eight-year resident, said management began serving eviction notices and raising rents. Stephanie Menard was one of the more engaged residents, attending meetings they had about the dispute.

In June, residents Wayne and Sandy Marinelli filed a lawsuit against the resort owners, alleging they improperly imposed fees, raised rents and issued eviction notices, said their attorney, Robert Williams of the BWA Law Group in Santa Ana. The next month, a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking evictions of residents at the resort who refuse to pay certain fees, court records show.

The owners’ attorney responded to the request for the restraining order by filing a document with the court that said the fees and evictions were appropriate.
Sadly, this sounds like it was as much about affordable housing for seniors as it was about wanting to live in a lifestyle community.

We have the suspect stating that he struggled to afford his electric bill, and the neighbor was giving the Menards their extra food. It sounds like the increased fees made life in the resort feel like a pressure cooker for residents.
 
It’s unclear if Sparks is now cooperating with the investigation. It is also not clear if Sparks has an attorney. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for information.
No motive was mentioned, and the investigation is ongoing. However, friends of the couple say they were involved in a lawsuit against the nudist ranch and recently complained about a neighbor harassing them, KTTV in Los Angeles reported.

 
Sadly, this sounds like it was as much about affordable housing for seniors as it was about wanting to live in a lifestyle community.

We have the suspect stating that he struggled to afford his electric bill, and the neighbor was giving the Menards their extra food. It sounds like the increased fees made life in the resort feel like a pressure cooker for residents.
I think so too. And that is why Stephanie was so fired up to fight the fees. She has a husband with dementia, they are in their senior years, and they had an affordable place for them to stay. She did not want to lose housing. :(

jmo
 
It bothers me that anyone is focusing on the fact that Dan and Stephanie chose to live at Olive Dell Ranch. They had an adorable little home and a fun active community to enjoy their retirement years. The fact that it’s a nudist community is completely irrelevant to the case. It’s so sad and tragic that their lives were cut short by a mentally unstable neighbor. Unfortunately events like this can happen anywhere.
 
Lots of info in this article.


Rodriguez said the Menards complained that management was demanding membership fees from them and restricting the couple’s pool privileges.

”When they would go to the pool someone would harass them for money,” Rodriguez said. “People started poking around their RV and their mobile home, so what we did is we opened up our home to them. They would come every Friday, and if I had extra food, I would share it with them. They were good people. All they wanted to do was sing karaoke and hang out by the pool.”

In March, Storm, the eight-year resident, said management began serving eviction notices and raising rents. Stephanie Menard was one of the more engaged residents, attending meetings they had about the dispute.

In June, residents Wayne and Sandy Marinelli filed a lawsuit against the resort owners, alleging they improperly imposed fees, raised rents and issued eviction notices, said their attorney, Robert Williams of the BWA Law Group in Santa Ana. The next month, a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking evictions of residents at the resort who refuse to pay certain fees, court records show.

The owners’ attorney responded to the request for the restraining order by filing a document with the court that said the fees and evictions were appropriate.

Is this the neighbour that went missing in 2020?
Can you post the reference / article to the information , or was it just a question of a journalist during the press conference ?



Edit to note that this lady disappeared after visiting a neighbour and her car was found abandoned somewhere else
Probably the case is not related but what a coincidence

Her case is discussed here if you are interested
She was living 9 mins away from Keissel Road.
At this point, I'm hoping for two things: (1) That the new owners of the resort did not in any way encourage Sparks in his beef with the Menards and (2) that Sparks had nothing to do with the 2020 disappearance of Lani Uribes.

This case is horrible, it doesn't need to get more so. As for the resort, though this may seem impossible, I hope the treatment of residents improves after this horrific event.

JMO
 

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