Police officers converged on a Redlands nudist ranch on Thursday, using a battering ram to break into the home of a suspect in the disappearance of a local couple.
The manhunt is part of an ongoing search for Stephanie Menard, 73, and her 79-year-old husband, Daniel Menard, who went missing Sunday.
On Thursday morning, officers arrived at Olive Dell Ranch, where the couple have a home, to conduct an investigation into the missing persons case. While there, they received a phoned-in tip that a man involved in their disappearance was somewhere in the RV park, according to Redlands spokesperson Carl Baker.
Police officers locked down the park and obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s home, which sits next door to the Menards’ property. They entered using a battering ram, then used remote-controlled machines, including a drone and assault vehicle, to search the place, Baker said at a Thursday news conference.
Aerial footage from KTLA showed a police vehicle with an arm aggressively digging through the suspect’s home, nearly knocking over a deck in the process.
Baker said police hadn’t found the suspect but believed he was somewhere on the property — either in his home or elsewhere.
The couple were last seen at the nudist ranch on Saturday. Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their home, and their car was found unlocked down the road from the property. Their dog, a small Shih Tzu named Cuddles, is also missing.
Daniel Menard is diabetic and suffers from dementia, police said.
Tammie Wilkerson, a friend of the couple, told KABC-TV that the Menards lived on the nudist ranch and were very active in the community.
“They’re very sweet people,” Wilkerson said. “There’s not a mean bone in their body at all, which makes this very confusing.”