officials – NBC Los Angeles

San Bernardino County officials Monday ruled the manner of death for the Redlands couple who went missing before being found dead at a nudist resort to be homicide.

The deaths of Daniel and Stephanie Menard appear to have been caused by “blunt force trauma” to the head, Mara Rodriguez from the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said. 

Nearly a week after being reported missing, the remains of the Menards were found under their neighbor’s house at the Olive Dell ranch in Redlands. 

Their 62-year-old neighbor, Michael Royce Sparks, was arrested on suspicion of murder. 

The remains had been found by a fire department confined space search-and-rescue team in bags in a concrete basement under Sparks’ house following the SWAT operation. A tip from someone at the ranch led authorities to the residence, which was destroyed by an armored SWAT vehicle during the standoff with the armed suspect.

The couple’s dog, Cuddles, also was missing.