Blunt force trauma killed California couple who went missing from nudist resort

The Redlands couple who went missing last month before they were found dead at a nudist resort died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to San Bernardino County officials.

Earlier this month, 62-year-old Michael Royce Sparks, pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder in the killings of his neighbors, Daniel and Stephanie Menard.

On Monday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced that the Menards died of blunt force trauma to the head. Officials had not previously released the cause of their deaths.

The couple was reported missing, along with their dog Cuddles, on Aug. 25. They appeared to have left suddenly from their home in the Olive Dell Ranch, with Stephanie Menard’s purse and her husband’s cell phone still in their mobile home. The Menards’ car was found down the street from the resort.

Four days after the couple disappeared, a relative of Sparks tipped off police that he admitted to killing the Menards and was threatening suicide, said police Chief Rachel Tolber. Police found Sparks in a bunker that he had made and also found the Menards’ remains in the same location with the help of cadaver dogs from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Officials have not released a motive for the killing.