Leaders of California religious group (His Way Spirit Led Assemblies) arrested after two members go missing

A husband and wife who run an Inland Empire religious group have been arrested and automatic weapons and ghost guns were seized by Redlands police as part of an investigation into how a former follower of the group disappeared two years ago under suspicious circumstances.

Emilio Ghanem disappeared in May 2023 shortly after he left the Hemet-based His Way Spirit Led Assemblies and opened a pest control company; the business was a rival to one run by the religious group’s leaders. Authorities are also searching for a second man associated with the group who vanished in 2017.

Two of the leaders of the Assemblies group were arrested Aug. 14. Pastor Darryl Muzic Martin, 57, of Hemet, and his wife, 62-year-old Shelly Bailey “Kat” Martin, were arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal weapons. The wife, whom the Assemblies described as the prophetess, was later released following an unspecified medical episode, police said.

Earlier in the month, police served search warrants at homes in Hemet and Anza. Two [more] people were arrested on [various gun charges].

During the Hemet and Anza searches, detectives found “several illegal firearms, including converted fully automatic rifles, short-barreled rifles and unserialized ghost guns along with electronic devices and other digital evidence,” according to police.

Recently-arrested leaders of IE religious group were suspects in boy's 2010 death, police say​

As for the Colton case, police said the time of Timothy's death, temporary custody of the 4-year-old had been signed over from his birth parents to leaders of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, according to a news release by Colton police.

He died from appendicitis in January 2010, but police said they sought involuntary manslaughter charges against two people for child neglect for failing to seek medical attention. Ultimately, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office did not file charges because of insufficient evidence.

The two suspects in the boy's death were none other than Darryl and Kat -- the same two church leaders recently arrested by Redlands police.

A child dies. Two men vanish. Police investigate secretive California religious group​

• A 4-year-old boy died in 2010 while in the custody of the leaders of an Inland Empire religious group that police and a coroner report describe as ‘cult-like.’
• Two members of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies have been reported missing since 2019.
• Investigators recently recovered ghost guns and automatic rifles in a raid on the group’s compound.

Not a lot really new here, apart from a wealth of minor details.