BUENA PARK, Calif. -- Police continued the search Tuesday for a car that may contain clues about the grisly killing of swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore, presumably by her one-time husband, who hanged himself a Canadian motel in the face of an international manhunt.

"It's a critical piece of evidence we'd like to have in custody," Buena Park police Sgt. Mike Lovchik told City News Service Tuesday. "Just to tie up loose ends."

In Canada, authorities believe they have located a woman who helped hide Ryan Jenkins, the reality TV contestant who went on the run and apparently killed himself before he could be questioned about the death and mutilation of Fiore, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The 32-year-old Calgary native was found hanging by a belt from a coat rack in the Thunderbird Motel in Hope, British Columbia, on Sunday.

Jenkins was suspected of beating and strangling Fiore, 28, who lived in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles. Orange County prosecutors accused Jenkins of strangling her, stuffing her body in a suitcase, and dumping her in Buena Park trash bin.

When Fiore's body was found on Aug. 15, her fingers had been cut off and her teeth had been forcibly removed, prosecutors said. Authorities identified her with a serial number on her breast implants.

Fiore and Jenkins were married in Las Vegas but the marriage had been annulled.

Jenkins' father, Calgary architect Dan Jenkins, said Monday his son had been corrupted by "the Hollywood lifestyle," the Los Angeles Times reported.

"If my son was guilty, he was crazy. He was not the boy we knew," the elder Jenkins said. "The boy we knew was not capable of anything remotely close to this act."

With Jenkins dead, the focus in Canada is now on a yet-to-be identified woman who helped him while he was on the run. A Mounted Police spokesman said Monday authorities believed they know where the woman was, but police did not disclose whether she has been taken into custody.

Buena Park police still want to find Fiore's white 2007 Mercedes CL S550, hoping the vehicle will shed light on an incomplete death investigation.

The white, four-door Mercedes had a black roof, black grille, black rims, tinted windows, and at one point it had paper plates reading "Platinum Motors," according to police.

Back when Jenkins and Fiore were both still alive, they checked into a hotel in San Diego Aug. 13, where they attended a charity poker tournament. Witnesses said the two quarreled at the event and that Fiore was texting another man.

A security camera recorded Jenkins leaving the hotel the next morning alone, and Fiore was not seen alive again.

Jenkins' black BMW and boat were found later near the Canadian border.

Anyone who helped Jenkins elude capture could be charged with aiding and abetting, authorities said.