The international manhunt for Ryan Jenkins, suspected of killing his former wife and dumping her mutilated body in a Buena Park trash bin, ended Sunday in the woodsy tourist town of Hope, British Columbia. Authorities said the former reality television contestant hanged himself in a motel room.
At a Sunday night news conference, Buena Park police said they were disappointed that Jenkins would not face the first-degree murder charge they had sought.
"The sadness of this all is that Mr. Jenkins will not stand before an Orange County jury for his crimes," said Buena Park Police Lt. Steve Holliday.
Holliday refused to answer questions about whether the fugitive had been aided while on the run, citing the ongoing investigation.
He did appear to have some help, the Associated Press reported. A young woman apparently checked Jenkins into the Thunderbird Motel and paid cash for three nights. According to the motel manager, when the couple failed to check out, an employee entered the room and discovered Jenkins hanging from the bar of a clothing rack.
Jenkins had led authorities on a sprawling chase last week, first driving north in a black BMW SUV, surfacing in Washington state. Jenkins then eluded U.S. and Canadian law enforcement authorities Wednesday night as he raced toward the international border in a speedboat. That boat, called the Night Ride Her, was discovered in a marina across the border from Vancouver, where Jenkins, a Canadian national, was believed to have family.
Jenkins was a real estate executive in Calgary.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police were combing British Columbia for Jenkins, whose notoriety was fanned by the viciousness of the well-publicized crime. Authorities say Jenkins killed 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore and removed her fingers and teeth, evidently to conceal her identity. Police allege that he then stuffed the swimsuit model's body in a suitcase and dumped it in a Buena Park trash bin. It was found by a man combing the trash for recyclables.
Authorities were able to identify Fiore based only on a serial number found on a breast implant, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.
The 32-year-old Jenkins appeared to be leading a glittering life, calling himself an investment banker when he was a contestant on the VH1 reality television show "Megan Wants a Millionaire." But he ended his life in a decidedly less than glamorous setting, in a drab motel that rented rooms by the month.
