A churchgoer who stopped for a cup of coffee six months ago vanished without a trace leaving his heartbroken family still searching for answers.
Emilio Ghanem, 40, was last seen at a Starbucks outlet while on a business trip in Southern California. The businessman stopped for a drink in a Redlands Starbucks on May 25, 2023, in San Bernardino east of Los Angeles before going missing.
Ghanem, a devout member of the church His Way Spirit Led Assemblies for the last 20 years, vanished later that day, leaving behind all of his belongings in the Airbnb he has rented for his stay in nearby Moreno Valley. His family have been left totally confused by his disappearance.
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Jenny Ghanem, Emilio's sister, told News Nation : "My biggest fear is that he’s dead, right? I mean, who disappears out of thin air?...He was really happy, he was ready to start his new life and turn over a new leaf." Weeks before Emilio vanished, he left both the church and his job, relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, to be with his family.
Emilio had then traveled to California in May to jumpstart his new pest control business, establishing a satellite office in the Sunshine State there and reconnecting with former clients from his previous place of work, Fullshield's pest control.
Police said Emilio's rented white Nissan Frontier was picked up by a license plate reader in the city of Colton, around 10 miles west of Redlands, but never seen again. His sister now suspect the vehicle may have been driventy somebody else when it was spotted.
Ahead of launching his own pest control startup, Emilio had also been served with a cease and desist letter, dated May 8, 2023, from Fullshield's attorney, claiming ge was “competing with Fullshield for business".
The letter read: "From these disparaging derogatory and defamatory actions which are interfering with my clients’ (Fullshield Inc.) contractual and financial relationships. This matter is serious and of the utmost importance and you should take notice before engaging in any of the described behavior activity."
Police say the investigation into Emilio as a missing person is ongoing and are asking anyone with information on Emilio’s whereabouts to call Detective Kyle Hanna at the Redlands Police Department at (909) 788-7580.
KTLA visited a Menifee home where Emilio’s sisters and a former church member said they believe many church members and Fullshield employees currently live. No one answered. There was also no answer at another home in Hemet. “To my knowledge, people in this group have been notified about Emlio’s disappearance. They were his closest friends for the last 23 years and nobody had come forward to help us,” his other sister said.