LOS ANGELES — Authorities in the United States and Canada intensified their search Wednesday for a reality TV show contestant named by police as a “person of interest” in the case of a 28-year-old swimsuit model whose body was found stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into a trash bin.
The dragnet is centered on Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a 32-year-old real estate developer from Calgary, Alberta. A source close to the investigation said Jenkins married swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore in Las Vegas a few months ago and reported her missing Saturday. He then disappeared.
Jenkins operates Skyhomes in Calgary, which sells million-dollar-plus apartments and homes. He is listed as the chief executive on the company website. A spokesman for a property company affiliated with Skyhomes said Jenkins has not been seen in Calgary for three months.
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. Jenkins was described as an “investment banker” on the program. Sources said Jenkins had recently signed on with a second reality show.
Police in Buena Park, Calif., say they want to talk to Jenkins, who was last seen with Fiore last week at her home in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles.
Fiore’s body was discovered Saturday in a suitcase by a man who was searching for recyclables in a metal trash bin. Police said it appeared she had been strangled.
Fiore recently had moved to Los Angeles from Las Vegas.
VH1 announced Wednesday that it was postponing any future airings of “Megan Wants a Millionaire.”
