from www.myfoxla.com – Los Angeles – Authorities searched today for a Canadian man wanted for questioning in the death of a 28-year-old former swimsuit model whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in a Buena Park trash bin.

Ryan Alexander Jenkins, 32, a former reality show contestant, is a “person of interest” in the case and “could be anywhere he chooses to be,” said Buena Park police Sgt. Eileen Jones.

A publicist for Jenkins told TMZ.com late Tuesday that “Ryan is currently speaking to his attorney and will fully cooperate with the police in this matter. He is planning on meeting with them in the near future.”

Buena Park police declined to confirm or deny the TMZ report.

Jenkins was dating or recently married to Jasmine Fiore, who police said was last seen about 8:30 p.m. Friday at her home in the 800 block of Edinburgh Avenue, near Melrose Avenue.

Jenkins reported Fiore missing Saturday evening, Buena Park police Lt. Gary Worrall said Tuesday after the body in the suitcase was identified.

“It’s suspicious that after he reported her missing he is nowhere to be found,” Worrall told reporters.

Buena Park police said Jenkins may be heading for Canada. He was believed to be traveling in Fiore’s car, a white 2007 Mercedes CL S550 with black rims and tinted windows.

Investigators said the car’s paper license plate, which read “Platinum Motors,” may have been replaced by Canadian license plate HLY275 from Jenkins’ black BMW X5 sports utility vehicle, said Buena Park police Sgt. Mike Lovchik.

Fiore’s body was found about 7 a.m. Saturday inside a Dumpster in the 7400 block of Franklin Street in Buena Park. The body was found by a man rifling through the trash for recyclable bottles and cans.

Worrall said Fiore had been strangled.

Jenkins and Fiore may have gone to a poker party in San Diego Friday night, according to published and broadcast reports.

TMZ reported that Jenkins was a contestant on the VH1 reality show “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” a dating show in which men compete for the affections of a woman looking to become a “trophy wife” for a well-to-do suitor.

The show’s star, Megan Hauserman, told TMZ that the pair met in a Las Vegas strip club where Fiore was a dancer, and that they were married two days later.

Buena Park police said Tuesday they were still trying to determine the relationship between Jenkins and Fiore. Fiore’s mother, Lisa Lepore, said she does not believe a legitimate marriage took place.

“I just arrived in L.A.,” Lepore, who lives in Maui and was in Santa Cruz on Tuesday, told City News Service early today. “I haven’t been watching the news. I just can’t handle it. Buena Park police called and told me they identified my daughter’s body. I’m just distraught.”

Lepore said she plans to meet with investigators today.

Jenkins’ profile on the “Megan Wants a Millionaire” Web site states Jenkins is a Calgary investment banker who “claims he has left many amazing women in his life primarily because he wanted more women.” He also claims that he molds “player girls” into “princesses.”

Fiore was from the Las Vegas area and had recently moved to Los Angeles, police said.

Lepore said her daughter was well known in some circles because she appeared as a model in advertising for radio personality Howard Stern and Las Vegas hotels. She also said her daughter has worked for Playboy as a representative and coordinator for “Girls of Golf.”

Fiore was in Los Angeles to start a personal training business, Lepore said, adding that her daughter recently changed her last name to Kinkaid.

from www.latimes.com – A contestant on a reality TV show was named a “person of interest” by police Tuesday in the case of a 28-year-old swimsuit model whose dead body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into a Buena Park trash bin over the weekend.

Buena Park police say they want to talk to a Canadian national who was last seen with Jasmine Fiore last week at her Fairfax district home on Edinburgh Avenue. The man, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a 32-year-old real estate developer from Calgary, reported Fiore missing Saturday.

Jenkins had been dating Fiore at the time of her death, according to the dead woman’s mother. Fiore’s body was discovered Saturday in a suitcase by a man who was searching a metal trash bin for recyclables in the 7400 block of Franklin Street. Police said it appeared that Fiore had been strangled.

Fiore had recently moved to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. She had worked two years ago as a commercial and swimsuit model, but was recently involved in a career transition, said her mother, Lisa Lapore.

Fiore and Jenkins had left Los Angeles together Thursday and were bound for a poker tournament in San Diego, according to Lapore, who had been staying with her daughter. Fiore left with her suitcase “packed to the gills . . . probably the same one she was stuffed in,” Lapore said.

On Tuesday, Buena Park police said they were still trying to determine the relationship between Jenkins and Fiore, and said there were suggestions that the pair were married in Las Vegas. Lapore said she did not believe that a legitimate marriage had occurred.

Jenkins is believed to be driving Fiore’s 2007 white Mercedes CL S550 with black rims and tinted windows, police said. Buena Park police investigators said the paper license plate that read “Platinum Motors” was replaced with the license plate HLY275, believed to be from Jenkins’ black BMW sport utility vehicle.

Jenkins was a contestant on the VH1 reality show “Megan Wants a Millionaire.” On the show, a woman dates various men, hoping to land a wealthy bachelor. On the show, Jenkins was described as an “investment banker.”

Fiore had recently gotten a real estate license, set up a personal training business with a friend and was pursuing interests that included competing in equestrian events, her mother said.

Lapore said Jenkins had been working on another reality show that was being shot at his home. She said she was unaware of any problems between Jenkins and her daughter.

“They had issues, but I didn’t hear anything extreme,” Lapore said. “I’m worried they had a major blowout. Jasmine is pretty feisty and doesn’t back down easily.”

from www.ocregister.com – BUENA PARK — The nude body found stuffed in a suitcase in a trash bin at a Buena Park apartment complex has been identified as that of a swimsuit model missing from Los Angeles, Buena Park police said on Tuesday.

Jasmine Fiore, 28, of Los Angeles, was last seen Friday night with a friend at a poker game in San Diego, Buena Park police Lt. Gary Worrall said in a news conference.

That friend, possibly Fiore’s boyfriend or husband, is Ryan Alexander Jenkins, 32. Investigators believe he may be headed back to his native Canada.

“We would desperately like to speak to him to find out what his involvement in this thing is,” Worrall said. “We’ve attempted to contact him, but he has not responded to us.”

The body was found just after 7 a.m. Saturday on the 7400 block of Franklin Street. Jenkins filed a missing persons report Saturday night at the West Hollywood station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“We’re not certain of his involvement,” Worrall said of Jenkins, “but he went missing after he made the report.”

Worrall described Jenkins as 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing 195 lbs., with brown eyes and brown hair. Worrall did not know if Jenkins has a criminal record.

Detectives believe Jenkins, a Canadian, might be in Fiore’s car, a white 2007 Mercedes CL S550, or a black BMW X5. The BMW had Canadian license plates – possibly from the province of Alberta. Detectives said the license number was HLY275 but that Jenkins may have removed those plates and installed them on the Mercedes.

The missing Mercedes is white with a black top, and has black wheel rims, police said, adding Jenkins could be driving either vehicle.

The woman in the suitcase, now identified as Fiore, has been described as being in her 20s, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and 120 pounds with dark hair. It was discovered by a Buena Park resident looking for recyclables. Police described the suitcase as being two feet wide by three feet long and two feet tall. The suitcase was unzipped.

The Orange County coroner’s office told detectives Fiore died a couple of hours before her body was found, police said. It hasn’t been determined where she was killed, Worrall said.

A preliminary coroner’s report indicates she died from strangulation, Worrall said. An autopsy performed Sunday revealed Fiore suffered physical trauma, but the cause of death has not been determined pending toxicology testing, police said Monday.

Police declined to say how the body was identified, saying that could jeopardize their investigation.

Fiore is from the Las Vegas area and recently moved to Los Angeles.

Her mother, Lisa Lepore, told City News Service that her daughter had worked for Playboy as a representative and coordinator for “Girls of Golf.”

“She’s not a pinup, but she has worked for them,” Lepore said before her daughter’s body was identified.

Fiore was in Los Angeles to start a personal training business, Lepore said, adding that her daughter recently changed her name from Kinkaid.

On Tuesday, Lepore declined to speak with a Register reporter.

TMZ.com reported that Jenkins was a contestant on a reality show called “Megan Wants a Millionaire” that is currently airing on VH1.