Police search homes as part of missing person case with ties to Southern California religious group

Search warrants have been executed at at least two homes in Riverside County as part of an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of a Tennessee man with ties to a religious organization in Southern California.

Last week, detectives from the Redlands Police Department searched a home on the 26000 block of Pleasant Street in Hemet known to be affiliated with the religious group, His Way Spirit Led Assemblies.

The search was in connection with the disappearance of Emilio Salem Ghanem, a Nashville man who was reported missing on May 25, 2023, not long after he left the group after two decades.

During that search, detectives recovered relevant evidence in the ongoing case, according to the Police Department. Four people inside the home were detained and later released, police said, but two were eventually taken into custody on unrelated charges.

Days later, on Tuesday, Redlands police detectives, with assistance from the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI, served another warrant at a property in Riverside County, this one in Anza, located about an hour southeast of Hemet.

The search warrant was executed around 5 a.m. at a home on the 57000 block of Forestry Road. Eight people inside that home were briefly detained and then released without arrest.

The Anza property is also known to be connected with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, police said. Evidence was also recovered from that home.

No additional information was released about these warrants, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Ghanem was reported missing in 2023 after he stopped at a Starbucks coffee shop located at 625 East Redlands Blvd. His rented Nissan Frontier pickup truck was seen on surveillance footage later that day in nearby Grand Terrace and was later recovered earlier this month alongside personal items and potential evidence in the case.

Ghanem was both a member of the Hemet-based religious group as well as an employee of a business it owned and operated. The business, a pest control company which operates under the name Maxguard, was previously called Fullshield, Inc., police said.

Ghanem was 40 years old at the time of his disappearance. He is described as a white man with hazel eyes and black hair who stands 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs around 130 pounds.

Information about his disappearance can be submitted to the Redlands Police Department by email or by calling 909-551-4424.

Ghanem is at least the second person associated with the religious group who was reported missing in recent years.

The Redlands Police Department says it is collaborating with detectives from the Claremont Police Department who are investigating the disappearance of 49-year-old Ruben Moreno in August 2019.

Like Ghanem, Moreno was affiliated with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies. Moreno lived with several other members of the religious group at a property it previously occupied.

Moreno was last seen alive in December 2017 at a home on the 3900 block of Swarthmore Court in Claremont. The home, according to investigators, was a place where members of the group regularly gathered.

Ruben is described as a Hispanic man who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair.

Anyone with information about Moreno’s disappearance is urged to contact the Claremont Police Department at 909-399-5411. Tips can be submitted anonymously.

Despite the similarities in their disappearances and their shared connection with the religious group, investigators have not said if the cases are directly related.

“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,” Claremont police officials said earlier this month.