3rd Arrest Made In Cult-Like IE Religious Homicide Case

REDLANDS, CA — A third person has been arrested in the suspected murder of a man who left a cult-like religious group in the Inland Empire three years ago.

Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr., 44, was arrested Monday in Nashville, Tennessee and has since been brought to California to face charges in the disappearance and suspected murder of Emilio Salem Ghanem, the Redlands Police Department said on Friday.

Ghanem has been missing since May 25, 2023. He was reported missing shortly after visiting a Starbucks at 625 E. Redlands Blvd. that day. Surveillance video later showed the rented Nissan Frontier pickup he was driving in Grand Terrace later the same day, according to investigators.

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Detectives later found the rental truck burned in the Mojave Desert, along with additional evidence tied to the case, Redlands police said.

Redlands Police detectives traveled to Nashville, where Duran was arrested without incident at his workplace with assistance from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Metro Nashville Police Department and the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.

Duran was booked into jail in Nashville, where he waived extradition. He was transported back to San Bernardino County and booked Thursday into the West Valley Detention Center on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, the department said.

The arrest follows a series of arrests made in December. On Dec. 11, 2025, Redlands police, working with the California Department of Justice, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and the Colton Police Department, served search warrants at two locations in Hemet and Colton.

READ MORE: A Child's Death, 2 Missing Men Linked To IE Religious Group: Police

During those operations, investigators arrested Shelly Bailey “Kat” Martin, 62, and Rudy Franco Moreno, 43, both of Hemet, on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons violations. Four additional people were arrested on related weapons charges.

Martin and Moreno were arraigned Dec. 15, 2025, in San Bernardino County Superior Court on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Authorities said Ghanem had been a member of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, a religious group based in Hemet led by Darryl and Shelly Martin. Investigators said Ghanem left the organization shortly before his disappearance.

Ghanem also worked for Fullshield Inc., a pest control business owned and operated by the group that now operates under the name Maxguard, police said.