[Smells Like News] The Life and Death of Jasmine Fiore

Jasmine Fiore, the model who was murdered this month (very possibly by husband Ryan Jenkins) was known for her looks, but was really just a small-town girl with a big heart, according to those who knew the Californian best.

But her dreams of stepping away from the modeling spotlight and working in real estate and as a personal trainer in a small town ended tragically after her remains were found stuffed in a suitcase in a trash bin in Buena Park, Calif.

Her husband, Ryan Jenkins, was charged with her murder on August 20 and killed himself Sunday in a motel in British Columbia, having bolted the U.S.

Police are still investigating Fiore's death and who may have aided Jenkins (his former fiance Paulina Chmielecka is now believed not to be involved).

But before photo shoots and Playboy appearances, Jasmine Fiore grew up in Bonny Doon, Calif., riding horses and bagging groceries at a local market.

"People would always say how kind and friendly she was," friend Gwendolyn Beauregard said. "She had a quality a lot of people don't have ... a sincerity."

Others remember Jasmine Fiore as the tomboy in school with wild, blonde hair in a ponytail who liked to rub charcoal under her eyes and play football.

Raised by a single mother, Fiore decided to leave her hometown – where she enjoyed sailing boats and riding motorcycles – for a modeling career.

She went on to book jobs in Las Vegas, where she modeled for restaurant ads and worked as a swimsuit model. It was at a Hawaiian Tropic party last March that she met Ryan Jenkins, 32, who had been a contestant on two VH1 reality shows.

(Both Megan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money 3 have been axed by VH1 in light of Jenkins allegedly killing Fiore and then taking his own life).

The two soon wed, forming a five-month union that friends say was volatile and tumultuous. Fiore told her mom she had married Ryan Jenkins, a Canadian citizen with a history of domestic violence, so that he could obtain a green card.

Fiore's mother, Lisa Lepore, says Jenkins was attracted to the rewards of Jasmine's hard work: "He was desperate to glom onto her because everything my daughter had was for real: She earned her car, she earned her penthouse apartment."

Fiore had doubts about the relationship from the start, but a former love of hers said she just didn't know how to tell Jenkins that "they were done." "She said, 'I'm in over my head' and 'I don't know how I can get out,'" he added.

Now family and friends try to move on without their beloved Jasmine and without the answers they had hoped to get from her suspected killer Jenkins.

"In my opinion, we have lessened the suffering," Beauregard said. "Ryan did us a favor by taking his life. I am saddened and relieved at the same time."

Click to enlarge more Jasmine Fiore photos ...

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 8/25/2009 08:02:00 A
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