Model murder fugitive 'found dead'
Police in Canada say a man accused of murdering a former swimsuit model has been found dead in a motel, according to reports.
Detectives had been searching for 32-year-old Ryan Alexander. They believe he strangled Jasmine Fiore. Her naked, mutilated body was found in a suitcase about 32 kilometres south of Los Angeles.
Jenkins, a former Calgary real estate developer and reality show contestant was wanted on charges of first-degree murder.
Authorities believe Jenkins fled via car, boat and on foot to enter Canada.
It's not clear how long he had been at the motel before his body was found.
Photos of Jasmine Fiore and Ryan Jenkins
Meanwhile, last night, celebrity gossip blog TMZ.com reportedly pulled a picture from their site, titled "Jasmine Fiore Death Photo".
It was apparently taken down after a backlash from users.
Jenkins and Fiore met in Las Vegas in March and they married a few weeks later. The couple separated shortly afterward, but had reportedly recently reconciled.
When police found the model's body, 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.
Both Jenkins and Fiore were involved in the outer circles of the entertainment business.
Fiore was a model who worked mainly in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, doing gigs such as being body painted at parties, said Andrea Guevara, a friend who worked with her about five years ago coaching "margarita wrestling" teams - young women tussling each other in swimming pools of green-coloured water.
Fiore was also an aspiring actress. She had a bit part in a small 2008 horror science-fiction movie, "The Abandoned," according to the Internet Movie Database.
Jenkins was recently 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 Friday.
The 32-year-old said on the show that he possessed assets of $1 million to $2.5 million, said Tom Hession, chief inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service's regional fugitive task force.
Jenkins also was a participant in an as-yet-unaired competitive reality series, "I Love Money 3." A VH1 spokesman said no decision has been made on whether or not to run the show.
Jenkins and Fiore's relationship reportedly turned violent in June.
Court records show Jenkins was charged in Clark County, Nevada, with a misdemeanour count of "battery constituting domestic violence" for allegedly hitting 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.
In Calgary, Jenkins' former fiancé Paulina Chmielecka said she was engaged to him for more than two years and never saw a violent side.
"The guy was a great guy, as far as I knew he was very happy," she told the Canadian TV network CTV. "In our relationship, we had our fights - everyone does - but I would never say, 'Well, he could have murdered someone.' There's no way."
The manhunt has claimed widespread attention in Canada where some media carried an erroneous report late Friday that Jenkins had been escorted off a plane arriving at Toronto from Vancouver.
Yahoo7 with The West Australian
