Police scour Canada for reality TV star murder suspect
Canadian authorities intensified the manhunt for the millionaire reality TV star accused of murdering a former swimsuit model and stuffing her naked, mutilated body in a suitcase.
The search for Ryan Jenkins, a 32-year-old real property developer and investor from Calgary, was centred around Vancouver and British Columbia, said Peter Van Loan, Canada's public safety minister.
The Mounted Police are leading the manhunt for Jenkins, who is suspected of strangling ex-wife Jasmine Fiore and then reporting her missing on August 15 before fleeing.
Jenkins and Ms Fiore met in Las Vegas in March and married a few weeks later. The couple separated shortly afterward, but had reportedly recently reconciled.
Ms Fiore's body was found in a rubbish bin in Buena Park in Orange County, California, about 20 miles south east of Los Angeles.
Her teeth had been pulled out and her fingers cut off, apparently to impede her identification. Investigators used the serial numbers on her breast implants to identify her, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office.
Authorities believe Jenkins fled by car, boat and on foot to enter his native Canada.
The manhunt has claimed widespread attention in Canada where some media had wrongly reported that Jenkins had been escorted off a plane arriving at Toronto from Vancouver.
Regional police spokesman Adam Minnion said yesterday that the man resembled Jenkins, but was released after tests confirmed he was not the suspect.
Jenkins was a contestant on VH1 reality show 'Megan Wants A Millionaire', in which wealthy young men tried to win over a materialistic blonde. The network cancelled the show on Friday.
Jenkins said on the show that he possessed assets of $1-$2.5m (€1.15-€2.87m), said Tom Hession, chief inspector for the US Marshals Service's regional fugitive taskforce.
A CV posted on the professional networking site LinkedIn.com showed Jenkins has a licence to fly commercial aircraft and had dabbled in several development enterprises and investments since graduating from college in 1999.
Those include Townscape Development, a condominium project in Calgary with his father, prominent architect Daniel Jenkins.
Ryan Jenkins was also a participant in an as-yet-unaired competitive reality series, 'I Love Money 3'. A VH1 spokesman said no decision had been made on whether or not to run the show.
Jenkins' mother Nada lives in a Vancouver condominium. A neighbour said he had not seen her in several days. She did not answer her phone yesterday.
Court records show Jenkins was charged in June in Clark County, Nevada, with a misdemeanour count of "battery constituting domestic violence" for allegedly hitting Ms Fiore.
It was not the first time he had been charged with assault. In Calgary, Jenkins was sentenced to 15 months' probation in January 2007 on an assault charge.
US prosecutors said Jenkins and Ms Fiore checked into a San Diego hotel on August 13, and Jenkins checked out the next morning. Ms Fiore was not seen alive again.
