Authorities in Oregon are searching for a man who was convicted in Nevada of holding a woman captive after finding another woman bound and unconscious in Grants Pass earlier this week.
Police warn that Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, is using dating apps to find people who can help him elude police — or possibly to find new victims, Oregon Public Radio reported.
Grants Pass police, sheriff’s deputies, a state police SWAT team, and federal agents raided a property in Wolf Creek, about 20 miles north of Grants Pass, but Foster escaped.
Authorities seized his vehicle and arrested a 68-year-old woman for hindering prosecution. Police identified her as Tina Marie Jones and said she followed Foster to a remote location where he intentionally drove his Nissan Sentry over an embankment, then drove him to the property that was raided.
Grants Pass police said 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.”
Warrants are out for Foster’s arrest on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping and assault in the attack on the Grants Pass woman.
Foster was previously arrested in 2019 and accused of torturing and assaulting his girlfriend while he held her captive for two weeks, as CrimeOnline previously reported. She eventually escaped after suffering broken ribs, black eyes, and being forced to drink lye.
Foster reached a deal with Clark County prosecutors in 2021 and pleaded guilty to one felony count of battery and one misdemeanor count of battery. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, with the time he spent awaiting trial factoring into the time he actually spent.
At the time of that arrest, he was out of custody on a suspended sentence for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and he was awaiting trail on a domestic violence case from 2018. The 2021 plea deal, however, including the 2018 case.
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[Featured image: Benjamin Obadiah Foster/Grants Pass Police Department]
