We heard this story yesterday but none of us really wanted to cover it. Ryan Jenkins, 32, a contestant on the VH1 reality show Megan Wants a Millionaire, is wanted for the murder of his new wife, 28 year-old Playboy playmate Jasmine Fiore. Fiore’s body was found Saturday apparently strangled and stuffed in a suitcase in a dumpster in a suburb of Los Angeles. Jenkins married Fiore in Las Vegas on March 18 after knowing her just a few days. It’s hard to tell if Jenkins was married while he was on the dating show, or if he got married immediately after being eliminated. VH1 states that production was completed on Ryan’s show at “the end of March”.

Jenkins is a millionaire real estate executive from Calgary, Canada, and is said to be worth $2.5 million. He’s now a fugitive. Federal agents were monitoring the US/Canada border near Washington trying to prevent him from fleeing the country, but it’s thought that he’s already escaped to Canada on foot.

To make this story even stranger, Jenkins reportedly won the $250,000 grand prize in the VH1 meta reality-competition “I Love Money 3” in which contestants from various VH1 reality shows go to a tropical location and compete Survivor style. That was also filmed in March, and hasn’t aired yet. The show Ryan stars on, Megan Wants a Millionaire, premiered on August 2, but VH1 has decided to pull all future episodes due to the murder investigation. People Magazine has the most complete explanation of this sad story, below.

Nearly five months ago, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a contestant on Megan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money 3 – and a real-life millionaire from Canada – impulsively married Playboy model Jasmine Fiore in Las Vegas.

Their move to Los Angeles, with the blond and buxom Fiore, 28, hoping to work in real estate or as a personal trainer while Jenkins, 32, traveled North America competing for money and another woman’s attentions, could have been a reality show of its own.

But now the story has taken a deadly turn from escapist television fare: Fiore has been murdered, the Millionaire show has been pulled off the air, and Jenkins is an international fugitive.

“Her death is a tragedy,” Buena Park, Calif., police Lt. Gary Worrall tells PEOPLE. “Our investigators have been working around the clock. Many of them haven’t slept in a while.”

Body in a Dumpster
It began, police say, when a nude female body was found stuffed in a suitcase in a Dumpster behind an apartment complex in Buena Park, an Orange County suburb south of Los Angeles, on Saturday, Aug. 15. That night, Jenkins called the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to report Fiore missing, and by Monday the Orange County coroner confirmed the victim as Fiore, apparently strangled.

Now, police in the United States and Canada are scrambling to find Jenkins, a Calgary real estate salesman considered a “person of interest” in the murder.

“We are aware that he is from Canada and there’s a potential for him to go there,” says Worrall. “We’re concerned he might flee the country.”

Worrall says that he was aware of some media reports that a representative for Jenkins promises he’ll turn himself in; however, the police have received no such offer.

Although not a familiar face, Jenkins does live on the fringes of fame. Worth over $2 million, he appears in the current season of VH1’s Megan Wants a Millionaire, in which wealthy suitors compete for the affections of Megan Hauserman a young lady with expensive tastes who has appeared on previous VH1 series Rock of Love 2, Charm School and I Love Money.

Show Goes Off the Air
In last weekend’s episode, Jenkins won a one-on-one date with Megan, drove her in an Aston Marin DBS Coupe to an intimate dinner – and picked up the $1,500 tab. The pair also shared a passionate kiss. A “battle royale” between the finalists was scheduled to air this weekend.

But on Wednesday, VH1 had shut down most of their Web content connected with both shows, and pulled Megan Wants a Millionaire off the air.

“Given the unfortunate circumstances, VH1 has postponed any future airings. This is a tragic situation and our thoughts go out to the victim’s family,” says a statement from the network.

According to some media reports, Jenkins won $250,000 on I Love Money, in March. At around the same time, Jenkins met Fiore at a strip club, and the two were married two days later – on March 18, according to the Clark County, Nev., Recorder’s Office (although Fiore’s mother told reporters she doesn’t believe a legitimate marriage took place.)

A Plea for Public’s Help
Fiore, who also goes by the name Jasmine Kinkade, has modeled for radio personality Howard Stern, for Las Vegas hotels and for Playboy. Her mother told reporters her daughter also was interested in selling real estate and starting a personal training business.

Jenkins and Fiore were living in Los Angeles at the time of the murder. Worrall says he knows little about the nature of their relationship – only that they were last seen together Friday evening at a poker tournament in San Diego.

According to TMZ, Fiore texted an ex-boyfriend that evening, offering to meet him in Las Vegas. Later that evening, the ex got another text from Fiore’s phone that said: “Suck it.” The site also reports that Jenkins was convicted in 2007 of assaulting his girlfriend at the time.

For now, though, the case is a manhunt, with police calling for the public’s help in finding the reality star fugitive or a luxury car he may be driving: Fiore’ white Mercedes CLS550, with custom black trim including a black logo, or Jenkins’s own black BMW X5.

[From People]

Jenkins has a history of domestic violence that was easily uncovered by TMZ. The incident prior to his reality show stint happened in Canada, which may be why he passed whatever background check VH1 does. He was convicted of assaulting a girlfriend in 2007 in Calgary and sentenced to 15 months probation, counseling, and sex addiction treatment. He was also charged with misdemeanor battery in Las Vegas in June for hitting Jasmine, but that was after the show had wrapped.

Does this mean that VH1 and all the other networks are finally going to tone it down with the outlandish reality shows or are they just going to do more thorough background checks and make sure all their legal ducks are in a row? There was a huge scandal in 2000 when it came out that the guy on Fox’s one-off competition “Who Wants To Marry a Millionaire?” had a restraining order against him for domestic violence. The fact that a reality show contestant probably committed a murder should make some executives question whether these types of shows are exploitive and unsafe. We can safely assume that significant changes aren’t going to happen unless they’re legally mandated, though.

Here are some photos of Jasmine Fiore in 2006. These are described as “Drivers Richard Rawlings, Jasmine Fiore and Keith Pervite – After party for the Bull Run cross-country rally held at the social club” LA, California, 7/28/06. Credit: WENN.com