2 men missing in Southern California were members of same religious organization: officials

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) — New details have been released in the search for a man who disappeared in 2023 after visiting a coffee shop in Southern California, including a potential connection with another man who has been missing since 2019.

Emilio Salem Ghanem, 42, of Nashville, was reported missing on May 25, 2023,

after he visited a Starbucks on Redlands Boulevard in Redlands. He was driving a rented Nissan Frontier pickup truck that surveillance cameras captured later that day in Grand Terrace. However, that was the last time he was seen alive. Loved ones have not been able to reach him since.

“My biggest fear is that he’s dead, right? I mean, who just disappears out of thin air?” his sister, Jenny, told Nexstar’s KTLA in November 2023.

Meanwhile, authorities have been working to find him.

On Aug. 1, 2025, investigators confirmed that his rental truck had been located, along with other personal belongings and evidence. Ghanem, however, remains missing.

Ghanem was a member of “His Way Spirit Led Assemblies,” a religious organization based in Hemet, and had been a devout member for roughly two decades, his sister previously told KTLA.

He also worked for Fullshield, Inc., a pest control business that was owned and operated by the religious group. The business now operates under the name “Maxguard,” according to detectives.

He had left that organization shortly before his disappearance, police said. According to Ghanem’s sister, her brother had left the ministry and the pest control business when he moved to Nashville to reunite with family.

“He was really happy. He was ready to start his new life… turn over a new leaf,” Jenny said, explaining that Ghanem had returned to Southern California “to recapture some of his clients” for the satellite office he was hoping to start for his Nashville pest control business.

KTLA reported in November 2023 that caught Fullshield’s attention. The company sent him a letter on May 8, roughly two weeks before his disappearance, accusing him of competing with their business.

The company’s attorney demanded Emilio “cease and desist from … disparaging derogatory and defamatory actions which are interfering with my client’s contractual and financial relationships.” KTLA reached out to the His Way Spirit Led Assemblies in 2023 about Ghanem’s disappearance, but did not receive a response.

Ghanem is described as a white man who stands 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. He has hazel eyes and black hair. Anyone who knows Ghanem’s whereabouts or has information on his disappearance is asked to call the Redlands Police Detective Bureau at 909-551-4424 or email missingperson_emilio@redlandspolice.org. The public can also call Redlands Police Dispatch at 909-798-7681 ext. 1. Reports can be submitted online here.

Redlands police also learned that another member of the religious group, Ruben Moreno, 49, was reported missing in August 2019 and hasn’t been seen since. He is described as a Hispanic man who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair.

Authorities did not share any additional information about Moreno.

That case remains under investigation by the Claremont Police Department and anyone who knows his whereabouts can call 909-399-5411.

Nexstar’s Addy Bink contributed to this report.