Oregon torture suspect utilizing relationship apps to lure new victims, police warn

Oregon police have warned most people that an tried murder suspect accused of holding a woman hostage is utilizing relationship apps to most likely lure new victims.

Benjamin Obadiah Foster, the subject of a multi-agency manhunt, can be utilizing the apps to recruit others who will help him evade seize, the Grants Pass police division talked about Friday.

The look for Foster, who was convicted in Nevada of conserving one different woman in captivity, comes after he allegedly certain and severely beat a woman into unconsciousness shut to Grants Pass, Oregon on Tuesday, police talked about.

On Thursday, Grants Pass police, sheriff’s deputies, an Oregon State Police SWAT workers and federal brokers raided a property throughout the unincorporated group of Wolf Creek — about 20 miles from Grants Pass — the place they believed Foster was hiding. Foster’s automotive and completely different proof had been seized, cops talked about.

After a “lengthy manhunt,” police say Foster, 36, evaded arrest with the help of 68-year-old Tina Marie Jones of Wolf Creek, who was arrested and charged with hindering prosecution. It’s not clear exactly how he escaped, nonetheless the realm is carefully wooded.

Jones had adopted Foster in a vehicle earlier Thursday as he drove to a distant location in Wolf Creek then intentionally drove his 2008 Nissan Sentra over an embankment, in line with court docket docket paperwork.

Investigators discovered that the convicted felon was utilizing on-line relationship apps to lure unsuspecting people to help him escape or most likely as further victims.

“The Grants Pass Police Department wants the community to be extra safe while this predator is still at large and also advises that anyone assisting Ben Foster with his escape will face potential prosecution,” the division talked about in a press launch.

Police in Grants Pass, a metropolis of some 40,000 in southwest Oregon, talked about Foster is believed to be armed and “extremely dangerous.” Officials talked about they’re utilizing all experience accessible to discover him.

Foster is required by the police for kidnapping, tried murder, and assault. Police have supplied a $2,500 reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.

In 2019 sooner than transferring to Oregon, Foster was convicted in Nevada of holding his girlfriend captive in her private residence for higher than two weeks the place he threatened to kill her and compelled her to eat a sandwich with lye because of he was glad she was having him adopted.

Foster — whom regulation enforcement officers talked about is a talented martial artist — allegedly used zip ties and duct tape to bind the woman on the wrists and ankles, shaved her head and beat and choked her until she was unconscious. He threatened to kill her with a knife and handgun, officers talked about.

At one stage, Foster pressured the woman to eat a sandwich with lye — a strong chemical typically used for cleaning — that burned her palms and throat, the Las Vegas Sun research.

Foster moreover allegedly prevented the woman from utilizing the bathroom and solely untied her at night. Still, he held onto her as they slept, she suggested police. The woman managed to flee after convincing Foster that the couple wished meals and water. He took her with him to a gas station, the place she fled and positioned help.

He was initially hit with 5 felonies, along with assault and battery, and confronted a very long time in jail. However in August 2021, Foster made a plea address Clark County prosecutors that allowed him to plead accountable to not less than one felony rely of battery and a misdemeanor rely of battery constituting residence violence.

He served two and a half years in Nevada jail, nevertheless the 729 days spent in pre-trial detention had been put in course of his sentence and he lastly solely served decrease than 200 days.

At the time of his arrest in 2019, Foster was free on a suspended jail sentence in reference to a 2018 weapons conviction and was awaiting trial in a single different residence violence case.

Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman suggested AP he didn’t have time to criticize how Nevada handled Foster’s prosecution.

“Whatever happened in the past,” he talked about, “we can talk about those situations later.”

With Post wires