On Tuesday, evidence emerged that Ryan Jenkins' half-sister, Alena Jenkins, could now have the vehicle. A Canwest News Service reporter and photographer spotted a silver PT Cruiser with Alberta licence plates in the parkade of her downtown Vancouver condominium building.
Ryan Jenkins, 32, hanged himself inside a room at the Thunderbird Motel in Hope, B.C., as authorities on both sides of the border hunted for him in connection with the Los Angeles-area murder of his ex-wife, 28-year-old swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore.
Fiore's mutilated body was found on Aug. 15, stuffed inside a suitcase placed in a garbage bin in Buena Park, near Los Angeles.
The former Calgary real estate developer and reality-TV contestant was charged Thursday in California with the murder of Fiore.
That same day, witnesses saw a woman driving a silver PT Cruiser with Alberta licence plates check Jenkins into the Thunderbird Motel while he waited outside in the vehicle.
RCMP have said they know who checked Jenkins into the motel in Hope, but won't reveal the woman's identity. Nor would investigators make any comment about who owns the PT Cruiser witnesses saw the woman driving.
"I won't speak to that at all," said RCMP Cpl. Norm Massie of the federal border integrity program.
However, sources with access to Alberta vehicle records said a silver 2001 PT Cruiser is among several vehicles registered under Dan Jenkins' name.
Neighbours at Dan Jenkins' home in Calgary said the vehicle had been stored in the parkade underneath his condominium for an extended period of time — but had recently been moved.
Although investigators wouldn't officially connect Alena Jenkins to their probe, media reports out of Vancouver Tuesday stated the RCMP had spoken with her.
A woman who answered the phone at Alena's residence Tuesday said she was not home.
An online profile says the 19-year-old is a model, photographer and poet specializing in "beauty, boudoir and fashion accessory photography."
Despite investigators' official reluctance to disclose any more details, a law enforcement source confirmed they are examining whether Dan Jenkins' PT Cruiser was indeed the vehicle seen outside the Thunderbird Motel.
"My understanding is, yes, he (Dan Jenkins) does own one. Whether it's the same one or not, I don't have that information."
It's too early to tell whether additional charges will be laid against the mystery woman who helped Ryan Jenkins check into the motel since police are still gathering evidence and have not taken it to the Crown's office, the source said.
"This investigation didn't end with finding Ryan in the hotel in Hope, it's continuing whether anybody — on either side of the border — assisted him in any way."
The Buena Park Police Department has said Ryan Jenkins was the last person seen with Fiore in the San Diego area.
A manhunt ensued and police laid a murder charge against Ryan Jenkins, a Calgary realtor-turned-California reality TV contestant, as he made his way across the border into B.C.
It's believed Ryan Jenkins drove his boat from Blaine, Wash. to Point Roberts, Wash., a small peninsula community whose only land access is through Canada.
Point Roberts would have been familiar ground to Ryan Jenkins: his father and stepmother, Karen Stanwood, co-owned a home there.
While Stanwood has not commented publicly about the murder or Ryan Jenkins' involvement, his mother spoke to Global Television on Tuesday.
Nada Antic told Global Television of the sorrow she feels for the Fiore family.
"My condolences to Jasmine's family," Nada Antic, who lives in Vancouver, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
"I'm sure they're going through the same thing we're going through. It's heartbreaking," she said in a telephone interview from Vancouver with Global BC.
"It's a nightmare. He's innocent as far as I'm concerned," Antic said.
Calgary Herald, with files from Global BC, Vancouver Sun and Canwest News Service
