After 2 Men Vanish, Police Discover Both Were Tied To Same Hemet-Based Religious Organization

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Two men who mysteriously vanished on separate dates in Southern California share a tie that was announced over the weekend by police.

First, the Redlands Police Department stated Friday it was following "new leads" in the disappearance more than two years ago of Tennessee resident Emilio Salem Ghanem.

Ghanem was reported missing shortly after he visited a Starbucks restaurant on Redlands Boulevard in Redlands on May 25, 2023.

A rented Nissan Frontier pickup that Ghanem was driving was spotted on surveillance video later that day in the nearby city of Grand Terrace, police said.

The truck and evidence were later recovered, but there was no sign of Ghanem, who was 40 at the time.

Ghanem was a member of “His Way Spirit Led Assemblies,” a religious organization based in Hemet; he left the group shortly before his disappearance, Redlands police said.

Ghanem also worked for Fullshield, Inc., a pest control business owned and operated by His Way Spirit Led Assemblies. The company now operates under the name “Maxguard," according to the Redlands Police Department.

Ghanem is not the only missing person with a tie to the religious group.

"Redlands detectives recently learned that another member of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies was reported missing in 2019 and has not been seen since," Redlands police announced Friday.

That person is Ruben Moreno, who was 43 years old when he vanished in August 2019.

"At the time of his disappearance, Ruben was affiliated with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, a religious organization," Claremont police announced over the weekend.

A toll-free telephone number listed online for His Way Spirit Led Assemblies goes to voicemail.

Moreno is described as Hispanic, with brown eyes and black hair, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighing 180 pounds. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the Claremont Police Department at 909-399-5411.

Ghanem is described as white, with hazel eyes and black hair, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 130 pounds. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the Redlands Police Detective Bureau at 909-551-4424 or by email at missingperson_emilio@redlandspolice.org.