Man arrested for murder in case of couple missing from nudist community
(REDLANDS, Calif.) — Police have arrested a man in connection with the search for a couple missing from a nudist community in California.
Michael Sparks, 62, was arrested for murder late Thursday, days after the couple were reported missing, according to the Redlands Police Department. Police had been trying to locate Sparks on Thursday, breaching a home and conducting a search using remote video equipment to find him.
Sparks was not found at the home, but he was the same person who was being sought in the search, police said.
He has been booked murder at West Valley Detention Center.
Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, were reported missing on Sunday, according to police. During a press briefing on Thursday, the Redlands Police Department said foul play was suspected after being tipped off by a source in the couple’s neighborhood.
The location of the couple and their dog remains unknown, police said.
The couple was last seen at their residence on Olive Dell Ranch — a family nudist resort — at around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday. Their unlocked vehicle was found down the road from the residence that day, according to police.
Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their residence along with both of their cellphones, according to police.
The couple’s dog, a white Shih Tzu named Cuddles, was also missing.
(LOS ANGELES) — Multiple people are now facing federal charges in connection with the ketamine death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, ABC News has learned.
The arrests were made in an early morning operation Thursday and include a doctor, according to law enforcement sources.
The charges will be announced at a news briefing later on Thursday with the U.S. attorney for Los Angeles and the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54. He was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
Perry had high levels of ketamine in his blood, likely lapsed into unconsciousness and then went underwater, according to the autopsy report.
He was reported to have been receiving ketamine infusions for depression and anxiety, with the most recent therapy coming 1 1/2 weeks before his death, according to the autopsy report. However, the medical examiner wrote the ketamine in his system at death could not have been from that infusion therapy, as ketamine’s half-life is three to four hours or less.
His method of intake was listed in the report as unknown.
The autopsy report also listed drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects as contributing factors not related to the immediate cause of death. The manner of death was ruled an accident.
Prescription drugs and loose pills were found at his home, but nothing near where he was found dead, according to the autopsy report.
Multiple agencies have been investigating in the months since his death, including the DEA, Los Angeles Police Department, United States Postal Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Perry was known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom “Friends,” which ran from 1994 to 2004.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — One of the two men shot and injured in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has been released from the hospital, officials said.
David Dutch, 57, was discharged on Wednesday, Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh said.
Dutch was shot in the chest and liver and was initially in a medically induced coma after the shooting, according to the Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania.
Dutch is a former Marine who serves as commandant of his Marine Corps League detachment, the organization said.
“David and our entire family are especially grateful to all the first responders and medical professionals who saved his life, including the Life Flight and trauma surgical teams,” his family said in a statement last week. “We also offer our deepest condolences and prayers for the other victims of this tragic event and their families.”
The second man who was shot and injured, James Copenhaver, 74, remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition, according to Allegheny General Hospital.
“Jim would like to especially thank the first responders, medics, and hospital staff who have provided him with initial and continuing care,” his family said in a statement last week. “Additionally, Jim would like to express his thoughts and prayers for the other victims, their families, and President Trump. He prays for a safe and speedy recovery for them all.”
The man killed at the Trump rally, firefighter Corey Comperatore, died shielding his family from the gunfire, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
Comperatore, 50, leaves behind his wife and two daughters.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Veteran sailor Nathan Thomas said he and a friend survived a harrowing close encounter with Hurricane Debby off the Gulf Coast of Florida on Sunday after they lost the main sail of a sailboat he had just purchased and were suddenly adrift in 20-foot-plus waves.
The 69-year-old Thomas described the experience to ABC News on Monday as “like being in a washing machine” as he and his sailing partner, Adrian, waited for nearly three hours to be rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after they made a desperate SOS call.
“I knew that if the Coast Guard didn’t get to us, we had less than a 50% chance of surviving. I knew that,” Thomas said in a telephone interview.
Thomas said he had just purchased the 34-foot sailboat dubbed the “SV Voyager” for $5,000 and picked it up in Marathon, Florida, on Wednesday. He said he was sailing it back to the Tampa area where he lives and thought he could make it home ahead of Debby.
“The storm came across faster than I anticipated. I knew it was there, but I thought I could beat it,” Thomas said. “I played the cards and guess what? I gamble wrong. I lost that hand.”
He said his friend, a retired Merchant Marine, was operating the 40-year-old sailboat, which Thomas described as a racing-style boat that “pivots on a dime.” He said his friend, who was not used to operating such a vessel, overcompensated as he stirred it, causing a steel cable to suddenly snap. The main sail was then rendered useless, causing the men to be set adrift in 20-foot-plus seas.
“You can’t panic. That’s the last thing you can do,” Thomas said. “If s— goes wrong, maintain it. Be in control. Even though it goes wrong and stuff, you still have to maintain what’s going on. The minute you panic, it’s over for you.”
Thomas said when they lost their sail at about 8 a.m. Sunday, he and Adrian were in the Gulf of Mexico about 35 miles northwest of Clearwater, Florida, and 35 miles southwest of Tarpan Springs, where they were headed. At the time, Debby was a tropical storm picking up speed as it approached the Florida Panhandle area.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said they had already launched rescue aircraft by the time Thomas was able to reach them on his radio on Sunday.
A friend of Thomas’ contacted the Coast Guard station at St. Petersburg around 5 p.m. on Saturday to report the boaters had missed their check-in while sailing up from the Florida Keys to Tarpan Springs.
“Some of the most important factors in any rescue case is accurate information and safety equipment,” said Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hooper, a search-and-rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard District Seven in Florida. “We received an updated satellite position from the boaters’ friend, which led us to them being successfully located.”
The Coast Guard confirmed to ABC News Monday that the two stranded boaters were found adrift in 15- to-20-foot seas and 50-knot, or about 60 mph, winds.
While visibility at the time was only about a half-mile, a fixed-wing rescue aircraft sent to search for the men was able to find them, according to the Coast Guard. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter arrived and completed the rescue.
“The fixed-wing found us and circled us until the helicopter snatched us out of the water,” Thomas said.
As his friend was being hoisted to safety, Thomas said he went below deck and opened the seacock, or a valve on the hull of the vessel, to sink the boat, adding that it had diesel tanks and oil aboard, as well as about $10,000 worth of electronic equipment, including sonar. He said he sank the boat to prevent it from running aground in a protected nature preserve.
“I scuttled my own boat is what I did,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to have my boat run ashore in some protected area.”
Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds around 7 a.m. Monday in Florida’s Big Bend region.
“I never thought I would ever have to be rescued,” said Thomas, who has been sailing since he was 17 years old. “When I was rescued, I told the Coast Guard, ‘I never thought I’d be rescued by you guys. I’ve been through too many storms, and this storm actually got me.'”
Thomas said the ordeal has not dampened his love for the sea.
“I’m getting another boat, trust me,” Thomas said.