BODY IS THAT OF MISSING MODEL FINGERPRINT MATCH CONFIRMS WOMAN'S IDENTITY.

Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer

Officials confirmed through a fingerprint match Friday that the decomposing body discovered in the bed of a pickup truck was that of Iryna Singerman, a married model from the Ukraine believed to have been killed by her boyfriend.

The news formalized what authorities and Singerman's family have suspected since Tuesday afternoon, when the body was found at a Winnetka storage facility with Singerman's purse and other personal items.

``This is exactly what we were expecting,'' said Barry Greenberg, an attorney and friend speaking on behalf of Singerman's husband, Ronald. ``It's an absolute tragic event, and we're just hoping that they find the person who murdered her as soon as possible, and we want to see him brought to justice.''

An autopsy performed Friday could not conclusively determine how the 21-year-old woman died, officials said. Additional tests could take up to three months to complete, Smith said.

Meanwhile, police and the U.S. Marshals Service continued to search for Brian Joseph Cullen, 57, Singerman's millionaire boyfriend and the primary suspect in the case.

``We're putting all of the resources that we can into it,'' Los Angeles police Detective Rick Swanston said.

Police were first drawn to the Singerman case July 26, when a bystander called authorities to say he saw a man transfer two bags of bloody evidence - towels, a baseball bat and documents - from the trunk of a gray Ford Focus to a trash bin in Woodland Hills. The documents bore Singerman's name, and police traced the Focus to Cullen using surveillance cameras from surrounding businesses.

The next day, police found blood and other evidence of a struggle in Cullen's rented home in the 5000 block of Medina Road in Woodland Hills.

Singerman's body was found Tuesday in the bed of Cullen's Ford F-150 pickup, parked at a Public Storage facility. Cullen had reserved the parking space July 26, paying for three months, police said.

Singerman had been married to her husband for about a year, Swanston said. They met in her native Ukraine, and then returned to the United States, where they married.

For months, though, Iryna Singerman was having a secret affair with Cullen, according to police and Cullen's neighbors. She kept a 2005 Mercedes-Benz - which her husband did not know she bought until insurance papers arrived in the mail - at Cullen's house. They were in the process of buying a home together in Northridge, possibly as an investment, Swanston said.

Ronald Singerman knew nothing of the relationship between Iryna and Cullen until she disappeared July 25, according to Greenberg and police.

Cullen might now be in Mexico, possibly traveling with a 14-year-old boy he had identified as his adopted son, police said. Cullen speaks fluent Spanish and has lived in Mexico in the past, Swanston said.

Josh Kleinbaum, [phone]

josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com

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