Police in California to detail findings in search of car belonging to slain ex-model

Police to detail findings in model slaying probe

BUENA PARK, Calif. — Police said Thursday they planned to disclose what they found in the car of an ex-model whose brutal slaying prompted a massive manhunt for the reality TV contestant wanted in her murder.

The information, to be released at a news conference later Thursday, will bring closure to a gruesome and mysterious investigation that has spread over two countries and involved dozens of law enforcement agencies in Canada and the United States, said Sgt. William Kohanek, spokesman for the Buena Park police.

Murder victim Jasmine Fiore’s white Mercedes-Benz was discovered Wednesday in a parking lot in West Hollywood, about a mile from the penthouse she shared with wealthy real estate investor Ryan Jenkins. Investigators spent Thursday combing it for clues.

Kohanek said tests for DNA, blood and other forensics, including hairs, fibers and fingerprints, were conducted on the vehicle. Police had been searching for the missing car for days and hoped it would yield clues as to where Fiore was slain, the timeline of Jenkins’ flight to Canada and if anyone else was involved in helping him make it to the border.

Fiore’s nude body was found Aug. 15 stuffed in a blood-stained suitcase and tossed into a Buena Park trash bin. Her fingers and teeth had been removed — presumably to prevent police from identifying her — and investigators learned her name by tracking the serial number on her breast implants.

Fiore and Jenkins, a contestant on VH1’s “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” were last seen together on Aug. 13 checking into a luxury boutique hotel in San Diego. Jenkins checked out alone the next day and Fiore was not seen alive again.

Hours after Fiore’s body was found, Jenkins walked into a West Hollywood sheriff’s station and reported her missing, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He told a deputy his wife had gone missing after running errands and that he hadn’t seen her since Friday night.

Jenkins, 32, then made a 1,000-mile dash for the border by car and boat before crossing into Canada on foot. He eventually wound up in an isolated motel in Hope, British Columbia, where he was found hanging from a coat rack on Sunday.

An autopsy by Canadian officials indicated suicide.

The motel’s manager, Kevin Walker, told the AP that Jenkins was dropped off at the motel Thursday by a young woman in a Chrysler PT Cruiser with tinted windows and a license plate from Alberta, Jenkins’ home province. Jenkins stayed in the car, Walker said, and the woman paid cash for a three nights’ stay and left about 20 minutes later.

A Chrysler PT Cruiser with Alberta plates was seen parked Wednesday outside the Vancouver, British Columbia condominium complex where Jenkins’ half-sister lives. A message left at the home was not returned and police would not confirm if she was the mystery woman who dropped him at the motel.

Jenkins, the wealthy son of a prominent Calgary architect, moved to Los Angeles earlier this year to pursue an acting career. He found some success on “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” a reality show where wealthy bachelors woo a materialistic blonde. He also completed filming for “I Love Money 3,” but VH1 canceled the show before it aired because of the murder.

Jenkins met Fiore in Las Vegas shortly after he wrapped filming for “Millionaire” the two were married in a quickie Vegas wedding on March 18, according to court documents. Friends said Fiore was a model who worked mainly in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, doing gigs such as being bodypainted at parties.

The two apparently had a stormy relationship: Fiore’s mother, Lisa Lepore, told the AP last week that her daughter had the marriage annulled in May. There were no records of an annulment in Los Angeles, where the couple lived most recently, or in Las Vegas, where they wed.

Kohanek, the police spokesman, said Thursday he believed the two remarried sometime between the annulment and Fiore’s slaying.

Court records from Las Vegas also show Jenkins had been charged recently with hitting Fiore in the arm. In his hometown of Calgary, Jenkins was sentenced to 15 months probation in January 2007 for assaulting a girlfriend.

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Associated Press Writers Raquel Maria Dillon, Bob Jablon and Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles; Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; Jeremy Hainsworth in Vancouver, British Columbia; and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.