Authorities confirmed the bodies that were found beneath a murder suspect’s Redlands home belonged to missing couple Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79.

The San Bernardino County Coroner’s office confirmed the news on Thursday after the couple’s next-door neighbor, Michael Sparks, 62, was arrested and charged with the couple’s murder.

The Menards were first reported missing on Aug. 24 when their friends said they failed to show up for church. 

Inside the couple’s home, located at the Olive Dell Ranch Nudist Resort, their personal items such as cell phones and purses were found. Their abandoned vehicle was parked just down the road from their house with the keys still inside. Their dog, a small white Shih Tzu, was also missing.

On Aug. 29, authorities descended on the nudist ranch and began searching for Sparks who was believed to be hiding on property grounds. 

After police were tipped off about where the couple’s bodies might be located, authorities surrounded Sparks’ home. He had barricaded himself with a rifle inside, prompting police to use a drone and then a battering ram to tear through and destroy the house.  

Sparks was eventually found hiding in a cement bunker beneath his home, in the same location where a cadaver dog alerted officers to bags stuffed with human remains.  

Authorities said Sparks attempted to take his own life moments before he was captured, but his rifle misfired. He eventually surrendered and was taken into custody. 

Neighbors told KTLA that the suspect and the elderly couple had been neighbors for years and had an ongoing feud. One of the disputes reportedly involved a tree between their properties.  

“He was mad because Dan cut some tree limbs on a tree that belonged to him and he has held a grudge ever since then,” said Tammie Wilkerson, a neighbor. “I know he didn’t like the Menards. He said it many times that he hated them. But I never thought he would do something like this.”

Details on how the couple was killed or a possible motive behind their murder remains under investigation.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson and Redlands Chief of Police Rachel Tolber thanked the community for their assistance on the case.

“You have a community that, for all intents and purposes that we’ve seen throughout the week, is a tight-knit community,” Anderson said. “Obviously, people were very concerned about the Menards. There have been vigils that have been held there.”

“I’m very thankful for all of the partners, including our community, that were able to come together to see the investigation through to fruition,” Tolber added.

Sparks was charged with two felony counts of murder. He remains in custody and is expected to appear in court later this week. 

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What led to the death of Oklahoma teen military hopeful Noah Presgrove remains a mystery one year after he was found dead on the side of an Oklahoma highway on Labor Day. His family is still hoping to gain answers about what happened to him.

“I’ve always just thought, I hope that he went fast. I hope that he wasn’t in pain,” Madison Rawlings, Presgrove’s sister, told Fox News Digital. “And I hope that his death wasn’t caused by someone you loved. That’s about the only thing that I hope about his last moments; that he wasn’t in pain, and it wasn’t by someone who he deeply loved, but we don’t really know that.”

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Presgrove, 19, was found dead along a rural stretch of US-81 in Jefferson County on Labor Day in 2023. He was last seen alive at a party he attended with a group of friends that night, but now, a year later, the family says that no one has come forward to tell them how he ended up dead along the highway.

“We are so tired and fed up with all of this already, and I get that a year is a long time, but a year is a short time too. But I know our sympathy for whoever knows something. It’s non-existent. They’ve had plenty of time,” Rawlings said.

OKLAHOMA 911 CALLS RELEASED FROM MORNING RECENT GRAD NOAH PRESGROVE FOUND DEAD: ‘AWFUL ODD’

Noah Presgrove’s body was found along an Oklahoma highway on Labor Day 2023, and the manner of his death is still unknown. (Madison Rawlings/Kristen Smith)

Rawlings, who spoke to Fox News Digital a few months after his death was reported, previously said she just hoped and prayed that whoever knew what happened to her brother would come forward, and they could forgive and move on.

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Now, as a year has gone by with zero answers as to what led to her brother’s death, she has changed her tune.

“I don’t know if they are scared, or they feel like they’re getting away with it, whichever way they look at it. But man, I wish that they would talk now. Because if we have to catch you, you people should realize that our family has worked this hard to find them, that, imagine having to push for them to get the punishment they deserve. So I hope that they hurry up and talk,” Rawlings added. 

Presgrove had recently graduated from high school, three months early, with plans to enlist in the military alongside his cousin. 

OKLAHOMA AUTHORITIES ‘HESITANT’ TO RULE TEEN’S DEATH A HOMICIDE, FAMED PATHOLOGIST SUGGESTS

Oklahoma teen Noah Presgrove’s family is still searching for answers about his death a year later. (Robyn Smith)

“I pray every day that the Lord will just reveal something to our law enforcement so that we can put this behind us, and we can work towards a new goal. I feel like whoever’s done this, they feel like they’re good, they’re fun. No one can touch me. So I’m just ready for that sense of safety to go away,” Rawlings said. 

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The medical examiner released the autopsy results to the Presgrove family in April, which the family shared with Fox News Digital. A medical examiner’s report concluded that the manner of death is still unknown.

“In consideration of the circumstances surrounding the death, autopsy examination, and toxicology result, the death of Noah Alexander Nichols is due to multiple blunt force injuries. The decedent was found naked wearing only a pair of shoes on the side of a highway on the morning of September 4, 2023. There were no vehicle parts or debris observed on the scene. At this time, what transpired on how the body was found on the road having multiple blunt force injuries is unknown. Therefore, the manner of death is deemed undetermined,” the report read. 

OKLAHOMA TEEN MILITARY HOPEFUL’S FAMILY ‘CAN’T IMAGINE’ HE WAS MURDERED, OFFERS THEORY ABOUT HIS LAST HOURS

What led to the death of Oklahoma 19-year-old Noah Presgrove is still unknown a year later. (Madison Rawlings/Kristen Smith)

“Further investigation revealed that the decedent was at a house party and drinking on September 3, 2023. Then he rode an ATV ranger vehicle with several men that had a roll over incident. The decedent was alive following the incident and returned to the party where he got into an argument with his girlfriend. The decedent left the house party and was not found until the morning of September 4, 2023, on the side of the highway,” the report continued.

Fox News Digital obtained two 911 calls from motorists reporting what they first believed to be a deer lying on the side of the road, which was later determined to be human remains.

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“It looks like someone got hit, like someone walking down the highway, they are lying on the shoulder in the road,” a caller told the police dispatcher in one of the recordings. “Yeah, like on the shoulder, like maybe they were walking and somebody hit them. I thought it was a deer, but it looks like a body.” 

CAUSE OF DEATH DETERMINED FOR OKLAHOMA TEEN MILITARY HOPEFUL FOUND ON SIDE OF ROAD

A medical examiner’s summary report obtained by Fox News Digital said that Noah Presgrove died of “multiple blunt force injuries,” but the cause of those injuries remains unknown. (Kristen Smith)

The caller then told dispatch that the scene looked “awful odd.” 

Jefferson County Undersheriff Jimmy Williams issued a statement to Fox News Digital and shared his condolences with Presgrove’s family. 

“I, as Sheriff and the entire Sheriff’s Office, offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Noah. This case has rested heavily on our hearts throughout the year. I am confident that OHP and OSBI will find resolve and answers for Noah. My office has been working with OHP consistently as information has surfaced throughout this year,” he said. 

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The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation initially described Presgrove’s death as “suspicious,” though his official manner of death is “undetermined.” 

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which has taken over the investigation, told Fox News Digital the investigation is ongoing and would not comment further.

“You kind of get to wondering like how much longer? And with that, it’s when or if it will come together,” Rawlings said. “And we all are so hopeful, and we know that someone knows something, something has to happen. We want it to be solved so badly and as quickly as possible would be best. But we are thankful for any progress that we see.”

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(NEXSTAR) – A woman who used the semaglutide drugs Wegovy and Ozempic to lose weight and treat diabetes says the drugmaker didn’t adequately warn her, or other patients, of the serious side effects she ended up experiencing.

Juanita Gantt told CBS News she was found unconscious on the floor last October. When taken to the hospital, doctors realized “parts of her large intestine had died and needed to be removed,” CBS reports.

She now has an ileostomy bag in place because her colon was removed.

The medical emergency prompted her to file a lawsuit against Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that makes Wegovy and Ozempic. (The drugs work the same way, but Wegovy is approved for weight loss and Ozempic is for diabetes.) Gantt claims Novo Nordisk doesn’t warn prominently warn patients of the life-threatening side effects like the ones she experienced, such as stomach paralysis or bowel obstruction.

“We are aware of the health challenges this patient has experienced and are sympathetic to her health journey. Patient safety is our top priority at Novo Nordisk, and we work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medicines,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson told Nexstar in a statement.

These types of medications, which imitate the GLP-1 hormone to slow down digestion and reduce feelings of hunger, have been on the market a long time to treat diabetes, the spokesperson continued. There are known risks, as well as benefits, the company said. Those risks are outlined in Ozempic and Wegovy’s full prescribing information documents.

The spokesperson said Novo Nordisk believes the lawsuit allegations are “without merit” and the company plans to “vigorously defend against these claims.”

What are the known side effects of Wegovy and Ozempic?

While Ozempic and Wegovy have been hailed in recent months as weight loss and diabetes miracle drugs, they have known side effects – from the aesthetic (“Ozempic face”) to the puzzling (“Ozempic babies”).

But there are more common side effects. Many of them are gastrointestinal: nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, vomiting, constipation, bloating, belching, heartburn. Other common side effects are headache, fatigue, dizziness, low blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes, stomach flu, runny nose and sore throat.

The drugs also have more serious side effects, such as:

• Thyroid tumors, including cancer
• Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancras)
• Gallbladder problems and gallstones, which may require surgery
• Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar
• Kidney problems and kidney failure
• Increased heart rate while you are at rest
• Change in vision for people with type 2 diabetes
• Depression or thoughts of suicide
• Serious allergic reactions

While other gastrointestinal issues are mentioned in the 15-page prescribing guidelines for each of the drugs, stomach paralysis and bowel obstruction (the issues alleged in the lawsuit) aren’t referenced.

A study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at 16 million people who were prescribed GLP-1 drugs between 2006 and 2020. When compared with those using another weight loss drug called bupropion-naltrexone, those who used the GLP-1-type drugs had a four times higher risk of bowel obstruction or stomach paralysis.

The study’s lead researchers said that these serious effects are rare, affecting only about 1% of patients, but people should still be aware of them and talk to their doctors if they have concerns.