Police: Wanted reality TV star found dead

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A reality show contestant wanted for murder in the gruesome death and mutilation of his ex-wife was found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide after hanging himself in a secluded Canadian motel, authorities said.

Sgt. Duncan Pound of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police border integrity unit says police responded to a call about a dead person in Hope, east of Vancouver, and then called investigators who were part of the massive manhunt for Jenkins.

The real estate developer and investor was wanted in California on first-degree murder charges after the mutilated body of his ex-wife Jasmine Fiore was found in a trash bin in Buena Park, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

Jenkins apparently hanged himself, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office in California, which is contact with Canadian police.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are "now able to confirm that a deceased person that was found in a motel in Hope, British Columbia is, in fact, Ryan Jenkins," Pound said.

"At this present time the investigation into the circumstances of his death is continuing, but preliminary evidence suggests that he took his own life. Any further details will not be released at this time as this investigation remains in its infancy."

Pound said police don't yet know how long Jenkins was at the motel before his body was discovered. Jenkins was identified through fingerprints, he said.

Jenkins' body was found in The Thunderbird Motel on an isolated road on the outskirts of Hope, B.C. at the entrance to the western province's mountainous interior. His body was found in a room at the out-of-the-way motel.

The Thunderbird was surrounded by police with a coroner's van, said Marc Lojeski who works at the nearby Lucky Strike Motel.

Jenkins, 32, disappeared last week but his boat was found Wednesday at a marina not far from the U.S.-Canada border south of Vancouver.

Fiore's teeth had been pulled out and her fingers cut off, apparently to impede her identification. Investigators used the serial

Comment on "Police: Wanted reality TV star found dead"