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Police seeking two men in burglary, slaying at model Christina Carlin-Kraft’s apartment

Police are looking to question a suspect in a burglary reported at the victim's apartment just days before her death.

Days after Christina Carlin-Kraft's violent death inside her Main Line apartment, police across Southeastern Pennsylvania continue their search for two men connected to her in the final days of her life.

On Monday, investigators released surveillance images of an unidentified man they believe spent time with the 36-year-old model before she was strangled in her Ardmore condo-apartment building Aug. 22. Another man was being sought by investigators as the suspect in a burglary that was reported at Carlin-Kraft's apartment days before her death, according to law enforcement sources.

>>READ MORE: Slain Ardmore model's father says she was the 'brightest light that ever lived'

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Monday that Carlin-Kraft was with an unidentified man early on Aug. 22. The two met near Broad and Locust Streets in Center City, and may have taken a ride-share to Carlin-Kraft's apartment, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Law enforcement sources said last week that surveillance video from Carlin-Kraft's building shows her and a man entering early on Aug. 22 – hours before police found her body – but does not show him leaving. Investigators believe he jumped from the balcony of Carlin-Kraft's second-floor apartment.

Meanwhile, investigators have issued an arrest warrant for Andre Melton, 31, of Southwest Philadelphia, in connection with a burglary that Carlin-Kraft reported at her apartment on Aug. 18. As of Monday, Melton was not considered a suspect in her death, according to law enforcement officials.

Last week, police in Lower Merion put out an alert for a vehicle reportedly tied to Melton, a burgundy Kia Sorento with Virginia plates. On Friday afternoon, police in Upper Darby spotted that vehicle after an automatic license-plate reader mounted on a police vehicle scanned the Kia's plate, said Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

The officer who spotted the Kia was traveling in the opposite direction, Chitwood said, in the area of Clearbrook Avenue and Garrett Road. By the time the officer was able to turn around, he had lost sight of the vehicle.

No additional sightings of Melton or the Kia were reported.

In reporting the robbery last week, Carlin-Kraft told police in Lower Merion that she had taken a ride-share to dinner at the Sofitel hotel in Center City on Aug. 18, but couldn't remember how she returned home, according to a law enforcement source.

Surveillance video from her building shows Carlin-Kraft returning early the next morning, propped up by a man investigators believe is Melton, sources said. The man is seen later that morning leaving the building with bags believed to be filled with Carlin-Kraft's belongings.

On Aug. 22, Philadelphia police helped Lower Merion officers serve a search warrant at Melton's home in the 6500 block of Theodore Street in Southwest Philadelphia's Elmwood section, sources said.

There, they took another man and a woman into custody for narcotics possession, and discovered items reported missing by Carlin-Kraft, including designer purses, jewelry, and a Gucci belt, the source said.

They also found evidence that the credit cards Carlin-Kraft had reported stolen in the burglary had been used in Philadelphia and Delaware County by people at the Theodore Street address.

Hours later, when investigators went to speak with Carlin-Kraft about the burglary, they found her body.

As investigators continued their search Monday, Carlin-Kraft's family continued to mourn her loss.

In an obituary published Sunday in the Atlantic City Press, the family described her as a "small-town girl" who found success in New York City as a budding model. Her death, the obituary states, "brought expressions of grief from family members, friends and former design and fashion colleagues from Manhattan to Los Angeles," as well as her native South Jersey.

Carlin-Kraft had lived at Cambridge Square, 120 Sibley Ave., for about a year, according to a close friend. The unit was owned by Alexander Ciccotelli, whom she had been dating for several years. He was identified as her fiance in her obituary.

A relative who answered the door at Ciccotelli's family home in Wynnewood declined to comment Monday.

"Whether spending time with loved ones, caring for animals, or lending her talents to design, Christina carried herself with warmth and grace," her obituary states.

Carlin-Kraft's funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Holy Trinity Parish: St. James Church, 6415 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor, N.J. Burial will follow at Laurel Memorial Park Cemetery, Egg Harbor Township.

Anyone with information on either suspect is asked to call  Montgomery County detectives at 610-278-3368 or Lower Merion police at 610-649-1000.