Canadian authorities have intensified the hunt for the millionaire reality TV star accused of murdering a former swimsuit model and stuffing her naked, mutilated body into a suitcase.
The search for Ryan Jenkins, a 32-year-old property developer from Calgary, was centred on Vancouver and British Columbia, said Peter Van Loan, Canada’s public safety minister.
The Mounted Police are leading the search for Jenkins, who is suspected of strangling ex-wife Jasmine Fiore and then reporting her missing on August 15th 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 been reconciled recently.
Ms Fiore’s body was found in a rubbish bin in Buena Park in Orange County, California, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Her teeth had been pulled out and her fingers cut off. Investigators used the serial numbers on her breast implants to identify her, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office.
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. He said on the show that he possessed assets of $1-2.5 million.
A CV on networking site LinkedIn.com shows he has a licence to fly commercial aircraft and had dabbled in investments since graduating from college in 1999. He was also a participant in an as-yet-unaired competitive reality series, I Love Money 3.
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, he 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 13th, and Jenkins checked out the next morning. Ms Fiore was not seen alive again.