Police Warn That Oregon Torture Suspect Is Using Dating Apps

PORTLAND, Ore. — Authorities said Friday that a man accused of torturing a woman he held captive in Oregon and convicted in Nevada of keeping another woman in captivity is using dating apps to find people who can help him avoid the police or find new victims.

Police have been looking for Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, for 24 hours after a woman was found bound, unconscious, and close to death in Grants Pass, Oregon, on Tuesday. She was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

On Thursday night, police from Grants Pass, sheriff’s deputies, an Oregon State Police SWAT team, and federal agents raided a home in Wolf Creek, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Grants Pass. They took Foster’s car and arrested a 68-year-old woman for obstructing justice.

Foster was able to flee. Authorities didn’t give any more information, but the area is very wooded and mountainous and is close to Interstate 5.

Police Say He Is Using Dating Apps

According to court documents, Tina Marie Jones followed Foster in a vehicle earlier Thursday as he drove to a remote location in Wolf Creek, then intentionally drove his 2008 Nissan Sentra over an embankment. According to Josephine County Circuit Court records, Jones then drove Foster to the property raided Thursday night, where Foster had been hiding while police searched for him.

Foster “is actively using online dating applications to contact unsuspecting individuals who may be lured into assisting with the suspect’s escape or potentially as additional victims,” according to Grants Pass police.

On Friday, police offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to Foster’s arrest and prosecution in the attack on the Grants Pass woman. Foster is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and assault.

Foster’s public defender in the Las Vegas case did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman told the Associated Press on Thursday that it is “extremely troubling” that Foster is free and able to prey on other women rather than being imprisoned for the Nevada crimes.

Suspect Locked Up His Girlfriend For Weeks

Foster locked up his then-girlfriend for two weeks in her Las Vegas apartment in 2019 before moving to Oregon. He was first charged with five felonies, including assault and battery, for which he could have spent decades in prison if he was found guilty. Foster, on the other hand, worked out a deal with prosecutors in Clark County in August 2021 that let him plead guilty to one count of battery and one count of battery involving domestic violence.

A Nevada judge sentenced him to up to 2 1/2 years in prison. Foster’s 729 days in jail awaiting trial were deducted from his sentence, leaving him less than 200 days to serve in state custody.

A police report says that Foster’s girlfriend was held captive for two weeks, during which time she broke seven ribs, got two black eyes, and got hurt when zip ties and duct tape were used to tie her wrists and ankles.

The woman also told police that she was forced to eat lye and choked unconscious.

She got away when Foster let her out of his sight during a trip to the grocery store and gas station with her.

He was Out Of Police Custody At The Time

According to court records, Foster was out of custody at the time on a suspended jail sentence for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. He was also awaiting trial in another domestic violence case from 2018. However, Foster’s plea agreement with prosecutors in 2021 settled the domestic violence case, according to a copy of the agreement, and he was “sentenced to credit for time served.”

Foster is believed to be armed and “extremely dangerous,” according to police in Grants Pass, a town of about 40,000 people in southwest Oregon.

“We’re using every piece of technology to find this man,” Hensman, the police chief, said.

Hensman said he didn’t have time to consider how authorities handled Foster’s crimes in Nevada.

“Whatever happened in the past,” he explained, “we can talk about it later.”

SOURCE – (AP)