Reality Show Finalist Sought in Swimsuit Model's Murder

LOS ANGELES – Police in California and Canada are looking for a reality show finalist in the strangling of his ex-wife, a former swimsuit model whose body was found dumped in a trash bin.

Jasmine Fiore, 28, was last seen Friday night and was reported missing Saturday evening by Ryan Alexander Jenkins, 32. Jenkins, a Canadian, has since disappeared and is being called a person of interest in Fiore's killing, police say.

The victim's mother, Lisa Lepore, said Fiore and Jenkins got married in Las Vegas in March but her daughter had the marriage annulled in May. Jenkins had since convinced Fiore to take him back, Lepore said.

Fiore's nude body was found early Saturday morning in a Dumpster in the Orange County city of Buena Park by a man rifling through trash for recyclable bottles and cans. Fiore had been strangled and stuffed in a suitcase, according to Buena Park Police Lt. Gary Worrall.

"At this point, he's merely a person of interest, simply because of the suspiciousness of his disappearance. We can't find him," Worrall said.

Worrall said police want to speak with Jenkins, a contestant on a VH1 dating reality show called "Megan Wants a Millionaire." Fiore, of Los Angeles, was last seen alive with Jenkins at a poker game in San Diego.

"It's suspicious that after he reported her missing, he is nowhere to be found," Worrall said.

Jenkins' publicist told TMZ.com 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 wouldn't confirm the TMZ report, according to MyFOXLA.com.

Authorities believe Jenkins could be heading to Canada in Fiore's white 2007 Mercedes CL S550 with black rims and tinted windows, which is still missing. They think he took the Canadian license plate, number HLY275, off his black BMW X5 SUV and put it on Fiore's vehicle.

Click to view Fiore's swimsuit modeling portfolio

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are helping California authorities by executing a "BOLF" order — an advisory to "be on the lookout for" Jenkins, Sgt. Patrick Webb told FOXNews.com.

Webb, a spokesman for the RCMP's Southern Alberta district, said Jenkins' information is in the law enforcement computer system so that he can be tracked and taken into custody if he is spotted.

"If he shows up at the border or his vehicle shows up at the border, then he'll be arrestable," Webb told FOXNews.com.

Similarly, he said, if a report comes in that Jenkins is headed to the home of a friend or relative or another specific location in Canada, the RCMP will be able to follow him. There have been no sightings of Jenkins so far, according to Webb.

Jenkins was a contestant and finalist on "Megan Wants a Millionaire," in which various men compete for the affections of a woman looking to become a "trophy wife" for a well-to-do suitor, TMZ.com reported.

Jenkins, variously described as an architect, real estate developer and investment banker from Calgary, appeared in three episodes of the VH1 reality series.

Jenkins' profile on the show's Web site has been removed. In it, he claimed to be an investment banker worth $2.5 million who "has left many amazing women in his life primarily because he wanted more women." He said he molds "player girls" into "princesses" and listed his nickname as "Smooth Operator."

VH1 did not immediately return a request for comment.

The star, Megan Hauserman, told the gossip site that after Jenkins was sent home, he met Fiore at a Las Vegas strip club where she worked as a dancer, and they were married two days later.

Lepore, Fiore's mother, said she was meeting with investigators Wednesday.

"I just arrived in L.A.," Lepore, who lives in Maui and was in Santa Cruz on Tuesday, told City News Service early Wednesday. "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."

She said Fiore modeled about two years ago but had left the business.

Lepore told City News Service that 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. Fiore had worked for Playboy as a representative and coordinator for "Girls of Golf," according to Lepore.

"She's not a pinup girl, but she has worked for them," Lepore said.

Fiore had just moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to start a personal training business, Lepore said, adding that her daughter recently changed her last name to Kinkaid.

She said Jenkins had his eyes on Hollywood.

"He had stars in his eyes," she said. "He was totally jazzed, like, being a star."

FOX News contributor Dr. Keith Ablow said Jenkins' behavior is strange and suspicious.

"It's an unusual reaction to report someone missing and then go missing yourself," Ablow told FOXNews.com. "If he's completely uninvolved, I'd think he'd want to come forward immediately to be as helpful as he could possibly be."

Click for more on this story from MyFOXLA.com

FOXNews.com's Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this story.