Possible suspect identified

HOPE, British Columbia -- Police said Monday they have identified and are investigating a woman who is suspected of helping a former reality television show contestant hide from authorities in his native Canada after his ex-wife was found dead in the United States.

Sgt. Duncan Pound of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not release the identity of the woman who checked Ryan Jenkins into a remote motel in British Columbia days before he was found dead there Sunday in a suicide.

Pound said that the two had a history together and that police were investigating whether she would face charges for helping Jenkins. She is not in police custody, he said.

Jenkins, a contestant on VH1's "Megan Wants a Millionaire," was accused of killing his ex-wife, a model whose body was so mutilated when found in a trash bin outside Los Angeles it had to be identified by her breast implants' serial numbers.

He evaded an international manhunt for days as he crossed from the United States into his native Canada.

Police in California have not located the crime scene and said Monday they think the victim's missing white Mercedes-Benz could be the key.

Jenkins' end came at an isolated motel at the edge of British Columbia's mountainous interior, on the outskirts of Hope.

On Sunday evening, police responded to a call from motel staff about a dead person and then called investigators who were part of the manhunt for Jenkins, Pound said.

The manager of The Thunderbird Motel and his nephew said they found Jenkins hanging from the bar of a coat rack by a belt. They said a young woman had checked him in.

The 32-year-old real estate developer and investor was charged in California with first-degree murder Thursday after the dismembered body of Jasmine Fiore was found in a trash bin in Buena Park, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Fiore's teeth had been pulled out and her fingers cut off to impede her identification.

Buena Park police Sgt. William Kohanek said Monday that Fiore's missing car, a white 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL S550, is part of a "big unsolved puzzle" as they try to determine where she was killed.

Jenkins was recently a contestant on the VH1 reality show "Megan Wants a Millionaire," in which wealthy young men tried to win over a materialistic blonde.

Fiore's mother, Lisa Lepore, said Monday that she had a mixed reaction to news of Jenkins' death.

"It brings some closure to what's been going on," Lepore, who lives in Maui, Hawaii, said on NBC's "Today" show. "We don't have to worry about looking for him anymore or being worried that he is a threat to any other women or men."

Jenkins' mother, Nada, who lives in Vancouver, said in a brief telephone interview that she just cannot believe her son killed his ex-wife and that she is sure the evidence will prove his innocence.

"He was good, he's kind, and we need to clear his name," she said, weeping.

Kevin Walker, who manages the Thunderbird Motel, said Jenkins and the mystery woman arrived Thursday in a Chrysler PT Cruiser with tinted windows and license plates from Alberta, Jenkins' home province.

Jenkins stayed in the car while the woman checked them in, he said.

She was blond, in her early 20s and "naturally pretty, one of those wholesome little ladies," he said.

Walker said the woman paid cash, $130, for three nights' stay.

"He stayed in the car far, far away from the front of the office," Walker said. "I didn't think nothing of it because it's just a couple checking in."

Walker said he never saw the woman or the car again, and another tenant said the woman left after about 20 minutes after check-in.

Pound said Monday said they are investigating whether the woman could face charges of being an accessory after the fact to a border violation and evading police.