Oregon Police Warn Public Man Accused Of Torture Is Using Dating Apps To Lure New Victims

Oregon police have warned the public to be on the lookout for a man accused of torturing and attempting to murder a woman in her home after he used dating apps to lure new victims.

Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, of Wolf Creek, located 60 miles north of the California border, is being wanted by police for allegedly tying up and nearly beating Justine Siemens, of Grants Pass, to death on Tuesday.

Siemens’ name has not been released by the Grants Pass Police Department, but his identity was confirmed by friends on Facebook and GoFundMe. Siemens, who was also a bodybuilder, remains in the ICU in critical condition.

Foster, who is still at large, allegedly ‘tied up and severely beat’ Siemens until he was knocked unconscious inside his home on Shane Way. Police believe that she was abducted between Monday and Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, a friend came to Siemens’ home after he was unable to contact her and ‘interrupted’ the torture, according to The New York Times.

Lt. Jeff Hattersley told the Times that Foster then fled in his 2008 Nissan Sentra and then “escaped into the desert” on foot. Foster’s car was found at Tina Marie Jones’s home in the Sunny Valley Loop in Wolf Creek, which is surrounded by a wooded area.

Siemens’ name has not been publicly released by the Grants Pass Police Department, but his identity was confirmed by friends on Facebook and GoFundMe. Siemens remains in ICU in critical condition

Jones had followed Foster in a vehicle Thursday as he drove to a remote location in Wolf Creek, according to the AP, and then intentionally drove his 2008 Nissan Sentra over an embankment, according to court documents. Jones then took Foster to the property that was raided Thursday night and where Foster had been hiding while police searched for him, according to Josephine County Circuit Court records seen by AP.

The 68-year-old man was arrested Thursday on two counts of hindering prosecution for allegedly hiding Foster.

After serving a search warrant, Grants Pass police, sheriff’s deputies, an Oregon State Police SWAT team and federal agents found Foster’s car at his residence and evidence that he was using dating apps to commit their crimes.

“Investigation has revealed that the suspect is actively using online dating apps to contact unsuspecting individuals who may be enticed to assist in the suspect’s escape or potentially as additional victims,” ​​the Grants Pass Police Department wrote on Facebook.

Jones is currently being held in the Josephine County Jail.

Police dogs had searched the wooded area behind the house but were unable to find him on Friday. Police believe the attacker befriended the 68-year-old man because they lived in a similar area, Hattersley told the Times.

‘We suspected that just by living in the area, he had somehow gained a friendship with [Jones],’ he said.

On Tuesday, a friend came to Siemen’s house after he was unable to contact her and ‘interrupted’ the torture. Foster then fled in his 2008 Nissan Sentra and then “escaped into the desert” on foot. Foster’s car was found at Tina Marie Jones’s home in the Sunny Valley Loop in Wolf Creek, which is surrounded by a wooded area.

Hattersley also believed that if Siemens’s friend had not turned up at her residence on Tuesday, “we would have a completely different investigation.”

“It’s clear that his intention was to kill her,” he told The New York Times. “I’ve been in law enforcement for 32 years, and this is one of the most egregious and horrifying cases I’ve ever seen.”

Siemens’ friend, Jacqueline Frankel, said she saw the couple at Corvette’s Bar and Grill in Grants Pass a few weeks before the alleged attack, even though they were not hanging out. Siemens appeared to work at the restaurant, according to her Facebook page.

Foster is also a bartender in Grants Pass. It’s not clear if he worked at Corvette, but police said he knew Siemens before the attack. DailyMail.com has contacted the restaurant for comment.

Frankel said Foster “seemed like a normal guy” at the time, but did not see him “hanging out” with Siemens.

Police said it was “clear that his intent was to kill her” and that he abducted her sometime between Monday and Tuesday nights.

Police believe that if Siemens’s friend had not shown up at her residence on Tuesday, “we would have a completely different investigation.”

Police sent a search warrant to a residence on the Sunny Valley Loop in Wolf Creek, where his car (pictured) was found. Police also found evidence that he was using dating apps to aid in his crimes.

The home was owned by Tina Marie Jones, 68, of Wolf Creek, (pictured), who was arrested on two counts of hindering prosecution for allegedly helping him hide.

This is not the first time Foster has faced similar charges, as he was convicted in 2019 of holding his girlfriend captive in Las Vegas, where she was attending college.

He reportedly held his girlfriend captive inside his own apartment for two weeks and brutally tortured her.

That victim, whose name has been redacted from court records, received a shaved head, seven broken ribs, two black eyes, and chemical burns from bleach, which Foster also allegedly forced her to eat, over the course of 16 days.

He was initially charged with five felony counts, including assault and battery, and faced decades in prison upon conviction. But, in August 2021, Foster reached a plea agreement with Clark County prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to one felony assault and one misdemeanor assault constituting domestic violence.

A judge sentenced him to up to 2.5 years in a Nevada prison. The 729 days he spent in jail awaiting trial were included in his sentence, leaving Foster with fewer than 200 days to serve in state custody.

Authorities say Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 33, forced his girlfriend to eat bleach while holding her captive in his Las Vegas apartment for 16 days before she escaped in 2019.

Siemens was also a bodybuilder at one point (pictured)

She also worked at a bar, where her friend said she also saw Foster, but they weren’t “hanging out” together. Foster also works as a bartender, but it’s unclear if they worked at the same location.

The woman also told police that she was suffocated to the point of blacking out.

She escaped when Foster lost sight of her during a trip together to a grocery store and a gas station.

After spending several months in prison, Foster returned to Oregon, where “unfortunately, he found another woman to victimize in a very similar way,” Hattersley told The New York Times.

Siemens’ friend said Foster “seemed like a normal guy” at the bar just weeks before the beating.

She was found inside her home (pictured) in Grants Pass

Court records show Foster was out of custody at the time with a suspended prison sentence for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. She was also awaiting trial in another 2018 case involving domestic violence. But Foster’s 2021 plea agreement with prosecutors settled the domestic violence case, a copy of the agreement shows, and he was “sentenced to credit for time served.”

Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman told the AP on Thursday that it is “extremely concerning” that Foster went out and was able to take advantage of other women instead of remaining behind bars for Nevada crimes.

Grants Pass police are now warning the town of 40,000 that Foster is believed to be armed and “extremely dangerous.” Foster is “trained in mixed martial arts,” according to Siemens’ friend Ashley, who started the GoFundMe, which has raised more than $700 of her $100,000 goal.

“We are using all available technology to locate this man,” Hensman said.

Police are offering a $2,500 reward for anyone with information on the case and have set up a tip line at 541-237-5607.