CA CA - Emilio Ghanem, 40, from Nashville, TN, disappeared on trip to Inland Empire - 25 May 2023

[imstilla.grandma]

Moreno is not the only person with ties to the religious group that has allegedly gone missing. In May of 2023, Emilio Ghanem vanished without a trace while on a business trip in Southern California, ABC7 reported.

Redlands police said Ghanem was a former member of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies and worked for their pest control company, per ABC7. He left the group before his disappearance and moved to Nashville, according to ABC7.

Police said Ghanem had plans to meet a potential client at a Starbucks restaurant on the day he disappeared, ABC7 reported.

“A short time later we did get video surveillance of a rental truck he was driving in Grand Terrace, but then that truck also disappeared," Redlands Police Department spokesperson Karl Baker told ABC7.

In a press statement on Aug. 6, the Claremont Police said the department was “aware of public interest in possible connections between this case and a separate missing persons investigation out of Redlands. At this time, the only known similarity between the two cases are the individuals’ ties to His Way Spirit Led Assemblies. The cases are being investigated separately by their respective agencies.”

Calif. Man Vanished in 2017 Under Odd Circumstances — Was His Disappearance Linked to a Religious Group?

Ruben Moreno was 41 when he was last seen in Dec. 2017

people.com

 

[Knox]

On Tuesday, Aug. 12, a second home affiliated with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies was searched in connection with Ghanem's disappearance.

Redlands police, assisted by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, said officers served the search warrant in the 57000 block of Forestry Road in Anza at approximately 5 a.m.

Eight people at the home were briefly detained, but were later released. Redlands police said no arrests were made, but evidence was recovered.

Redlands police confirm they're treating Ghanem's disappearance as a potential homicide, but didn't disclose what evidence they recovered in Hemet and Anza or details of the group's connection.

Anyone with information about Ghanem, his disappearance or his whereabouts is urged to contact the Redlands Police Detective Bureau at (909) 551-4424 or by email at [email protected].

2 Inland Empire homes searched in connection to man's disappearance 2 years ago

Both homes reportedly have ties to His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, a Hemet-based religious organization that the man once belonged to.

abc7.com

 

[Danaya]

I wonder what the motive was, if this is a homicide.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Leaders of Hemet religious group arrested in connection with former member's disappearance

The leaders of a Hemet religious group have been arrested in connection with the disappearance a Nashville man who was last seen more than two years ago.

abc7.com

August 27, 2025

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) -- The leaders of a Hemet religious group have been arrested in connection with the disappearance a Nashville man who was last seen more than two years ago.

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Darryl Muzic Martin, 57, and his wife, Shelly Bailey "Kat" Martin, 62, were arrested earlier this month on illegal weapons charges after police served a search warrant at the Laguna Hills Lodge in Laguna Hills.

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A week before that, Rudy Franco Moreno, 43, and Kelvin Lee Mackey, 58, were also arrested on charges related to felons in possession of firearms after investigators searched homes in Hemet and Anza.

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More in article.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Recently-arrested leaders of IE religious group were suspects in boy's 2010 death, police say

The leaders of the group were recently arrested in a Redlands missing persons case, but new details connect them to the case of a 4-year-old boy who died in 2010.

abc7.com

New details have been released about the death of a 4-year-old boy and the case's connection to a religious group in the Inland Empire.

The leaders of the group have been arrested in a missing person case -- and investigators are looking into the disappearance of another man. Meanwhile, the leaders of the group also have ties to a boy who died in 2010.

Over 15 years after 4-year-old Timothy Thomas was found dead at his home in Colton, detectives have now reopened their investigation.

Continued in linked article.

 

[dulcinea]

This story just gets crazier by the day. How many more victims will they uncover or never discover?

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1999953825373802745

 

[JMapes]

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-cult-leaders-murder-charge-21248048.php

The arrests of leading members of what authorities are calling a “religious high-control group” named His Way Spirit Led Assemblies are connected to the alleged murder of Emilio Ghanem, 40, who went missing in 2023, and the alleged murder of 4-year-old Timothy “Timo” Thomas.

The case went quiet for two years until August 2025, when Redlands police announced that new leads were being followed in light of another missing member of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies. Investigators now say that they found evidence of a homicide when Ghanem’s rental vehicle was discovered in the Mojave Desert; authorities have not disclosed whether his body has been found.

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In addition to Mr. Ghanem, there are multiple missing persons linked to this high-control group. I expect we'll hear more information in due time, and will continue to see mention of 4 year old Timo Thomas, and 43 year old Rudy Moreno, another alleged "missing" member, however I wasn't able to find websleuths threads for them.

 

[mlhenn]

Emilio Salem Ghanem – The Charley Project

Casefile added Dec 19 2025

Details of Disappearance​

Ghanem was last seen at a Starbucks in the 600 block of Redlands Boulevard in Redlands, California on May 25, 2023. His family last heard from him at 6:40 p.m. that same day, by phone. He was driving a white Nissan Frontier pickup truck with the California license plate number 74890G3, which he had rented in Las Vegas ten days earlier. A photo of the truck is posted with this case summary. He has never been heard from again.

In August 2025, the truck was found abandoned and burned in the Mojave Desert. There was unspecified evidence inside which indicated a homicide.

In December 2025, Darryl Muzic Martin and Shelley Bailey "Kathryn" Martin, a married couple who led a religious group in Hemet, California called His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, were charged with Ghanem's murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A high-ranking member of the group, Rudy Moreno, was also arrested for Ghanem's murder and gun charges.

Photos of Darryl, Shelley and Rudy are posted with this case summary. Investigators stated Ghanem left His Way Spirit Led Assemblies and California in April 2023, moving to Nashville, Tennessee. He had been a member of the group for two decades.

Members of the group worked at a pest control company called Fullshield Inc., now known as MaxGuard. When Ghanem moved to Nashville he started his own pest control company, and he went back to California to open a satellite office there. Earlier in the month Ghanem disappeared, Fullshield had sent him a "cease and desist" letter accusing him of competing with them for business.

Another member of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, Ruben Moreno, is also missing. He disappeared in 2017 but was not reported missing until August 2019. It's not clear whether he is related to Rudy Moreno or if his disappearance is connected to the religious group.

The Martins were also charged with the murder of a four-year-old boy, Timothy Thomas. Timothy's father, Andre Thomas, was also charged with murder. The child's parents had relinquished custody of him to the Martins one month before his death from appendicitis in 2010, and authorities stated he died because the Martins and Andre prevented him from getting medical treatment for his illness.

The suspects are awaiting trial. Emilio's body has not been found, but foul play is suspected in his case due to the circumstances involved.