By Denisse Salazar and Peter Larsen

The Orange County Register

(MCT)

LOS ANGELES — The manhunt for Ryan Jenkins, the reality TV contestant suspected of killing his wife, ended when he apparently hanged himself inside a Canadian motel room, authorities said. But the investigation into who may have helped him while he was on the run continues.

Authorities are now looking for a woman who checked Jenkins in at the Thunderbird Motel in Hope, British Columbia, where he was found dead Sunday afternoon. Hope is a small town of less than 10,000 about two hours east of Vancouver, known by most as a stopover on the Trans-Canada Highway.

On Sunday, the manager of The Thunderbird Motel and his nephew said they found a man hanging from the bar of a coat rack by a belt.

Sgt. Duncan Pound of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the man in the motel room was Jenkins.

A Buena Park, Calif., police investigator is in Canada working with the RCMP, said Buena Park police Sgt. Bill Kohanek, who said the investigation is ongoing even though Jenkins was the only murder suspect.

“We would hate to close this case off and find out later that there might have been someone else who either aided him in concealing evidence or aided him in escaping,” Kohanek said.

The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported late Sunday that the Thunderbird Motel manager said Jenkins apparently checked into the room on Thursday. A woman in her 20s paid for the room in cash while a man waited outside in a PT Cruiser, the manager said.

Jenkins, 32, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, had been at the center of an international manhunt after he was charged with killing his wife, swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore. Her dismembered body was discovered Aug. 15, stuffed in a suitcase and tossed in a trash bin at a Buena Park apartment complex. Her body was found by a man looking for recyclables.

Fiore, 28, had apparently been strangled, police said. Her teeth and fingers had been removed before she was found, in an apparent attempt by the killer to stymie authorities’ efforts to identify her body. Fiore’s body was identified by the serial numbers on her breast implants, prosecutors said.

Fiore’s family were notified of Jenkins’ death on Sunday evening.

On Monday, Fiore’s mother, Lisa Lepore, said that she had mixed feelings about Jenkins’ death.

“It’s a relief to know that this man is not out there with the possibility of causing harm to other people,” Lepore said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “That was a dangerous person, and now we don’t have to worry about him.

“But I feel like he was a coward and he took the easy way out. He didn’t want to face the consequences of his actions, and that’s how he dealt with it.”

The Calgary Herald newspaper reported Sunday night that Jenkins’ mother, Nada Jenkins, said she still believes her son did not murder Fiore.

“I think he panicked, my little boy, and we had to protect him, even now that he’s dead,” Nada Jenkins told the paper.

Kohanek said investigators have been in contact with Jenkins family.

“They are going through an awful lot of shock as well, but we are not looking at them as suspect,” Kohanek said.

Nick Runeare, identified as Fiore’s former fiance, also appeared on “Good Morning America.” When asked about a possible motive for the killing, he said: “She never did anything to make anyone feel animosity toward anything. She was just a beautiful girl, and he took her from us.”

Buena Park police are still eager to locate Fiore’s car, a white 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL S550 with a black top and black rims. Lt. Steve Holliday said it’s a key piece of evidence.

Jenkins, who was a contestant on VH1’s “Megan Wants A Millionaire,” may have fled by boat and on foot into Canada, his native country.

Earlier Sunday, Canadian television network CTV also reported that Jenkins’ father, Dan Jenkins, would not say whether he had had contact with his son. Dan Jenkins added his lawyers encouraged him not to comment on his fugitive son, CTV reported.

The Orange County District Attorney’s office had filed felony murder charges against Jenkins and issued a $10 million warrant for his arrest. Spokeswoman Farah Emami said the district attorney does not believe anyone else besides Jenkins was involved in Fiore’s death, and so the murder case will be closed.

Emami said the Buena Park Police Department, however, will continue its investigation into whether anyone committed a crime by helping Jenkins, escape or flee after the murder.

Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Buena Park Police Department Detective Greg Pelton at 714-562-3992.

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(c) 2009, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).

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