Ryan Jenkins Charged in Model's Murder

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - This story about Jasmine Fiore's murder has been updated with a new version. Click here for the latest information on this story.

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An international manhunt is under way today for a 32- year-old Canadian suspected of killing a swimsuit model whose mutilated body was found in a suitcase in a Buena Park trash bin.

Police held a news conference about the Jasmine Fiore murder case and the manhunt for Ryan Jenkins on Thursday afternoon. You can watch the news conference here in its entirety.

Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a former VH1 dating show contestant, was charged Thursday with the murder of 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore. Until then, he had been described only as a person of interest in the slaying.

Orange County prosecutors recommended that Jenkins be held in lieu of $10 million bail once arrested. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted.

The search for Jenkins went international amid reports he may have crossed the Canadian border from a remote area in Washington state with assistance from family members.

"This message goes out to the family, his mother and father, and to the friends that are helping him try to leave this country," Fiore's former boyfriend and family friend Robert Hasman told reporters at Buena Park City Hall Thursday.

"Ryan Jenkins is an animal. What he has done to Jasmine is unspeakable," Hasman said.

A man searching for recyclable bottles and cans found Fiore's badly beaten body inside a Buena Park Dumpster in the 7400 block of Franklin Street about 7 a.m. Saturday. Her nude body was stuffed into a large gray blood- stained suitcase, prosecutors said.

The coroner put her time of death a few hours before the body was found, according to police.

Police said Fiore had been strangled and her fingers and teeth removed, presumably to make identification more difficult, although investigators would not comment on the mutilation.

"Mr. Jenkins is considered dangerous, possibly armed, and has the financial means to hide anywhere in the world," Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said.

Early Thursday, authorities in Washington state said a man matching Jenkins' description was seen boarding a boat bound for a remote area where people can walk across the Canadian border. The boat, which belongs to Jenkins, was later found abandoned in Point Roberts, Wash., near British Columbia.

Jenkins' black BMW X5 sport utility vehicle and an empty boat trailer were also found in nearby Blaine, Wash. Authorities are still looking for Fiore's white Mercedes-Benz CLS 550.

Tom Hession of the U.S. Marshals Service said that although there was no official confirmation that the suspect was in Canada, local officials were preparing paperwork to send to law enforcement agencies across the border so an arrest warrant could be issued there.

Authorities believe Jenkins has crossed into Canada, and Hession warned that anyone assisting him would be charged with aiding, abetting and harboring a fugitive.

Jenkins was a contestant on "Megan Wants a Millionaire" -- a VH1 dating show in which men compete for the affections of a woman looking to become the "trophy wife" of a well-to-do suitor. VH1 is no longer airing the show in light of the investigation.

Jenkins and Fiore lived together in Los Angeles after marrying in Las Vegas in April, a wedding that was soon annulled, according to her mother.

Prosecutors said the pair checked into the L'Auberge Del Mar hotel in San Diego Aug. 13, left the hotel the next morning and went to a poker party later that day.

Jenkins reported Fiore missing Saturday night, telling investigators that she left their Fairfax Village home in the 800 block of Edinburgh Avenue, near Melrose Avenue, about 8:30 p.m. Friday to run errands, but that she never returned, police said.

Anyone with information on the case should call Buena Park Detective Greg Pelton at (714) 562-3992 or supervising district attorney investigator Ed Barakovich at (714) 347-8492.


See also:

DA: Slain Model IDed by Breast Implants (8/21/2009)

$25K Reward for Ryan Jenkins' Arrest (8/21/2009)

Cops Give Graphic Details on Fiore Case (8/20/2009)

Ryan Jenkins Set Off by Text Message? (8/20/2009)

Ryan Jenkins Charged in Model's Murder (8/20/2009)

Police Seek Dead Model's Ex-Husband (8/19/2009)

Fiore's Marriage to Jenkins Had Been Annulled (8/19/2009)

TMZ: Ryan Jenkins 'Done' With Jasmine (8/19/2009)

Missing Model's Body Found, Suspect Sought (8/18/2009)

Body Found Inside Suitcase in Dumpster (8/15/2009)