Grants Pass Police Benjamin Obadiah Foster is wanted by police in Oregon.
Benjamin Obadiah Foster was an Oregon man who was wanted by the Grants Pass Police Department on kidnapping, assault and attempted murder charges. Foster died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a standoff with police on January 31, 2023, in Grants Pass, KTVL reported.
Grants Pass Police said in a statement Tuesday night, “After a several hour long standoff, Benjamin Foster is in custody. A press conference will be held tomorrow with additional information.”
Prior to his death, police had warned Foster could be using dating apps to avoid capture. Foster was accused of “severely” beating a woman in a home on January 24, 2023, police said in a press release. The victim was identified in a GoFundMe campaign as 35-year-old Justine Siemens.
Foster, 36, was previously arrested in Nevada in 2019 after he was accused of holding his girlfriend captive in Las Vegas for two weeks, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Police said Foster was paranoid that his girlfriend was having him followed, the newspaper reported. The Review-Journal wrote, “the woman’s head had been shaved and one of her fingers burned by lye. By the time she had managed to escape, she had seven broken ribs, two black eyes and bruises on her wrists and ankles.”
In the Oregon case, the Grants Pass Police wrote in a press release, “On Tuesday at 6:52 p.m., Grants Pass Police Officers responded to a residence in the 2100 block of Shane Way regarding an assault. Upon arrival, officers found a female victim who had been bound and severely beaten into unconsciousness. The victim was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.” Investigators then Foster, of Wolf Creek, Oregon, as the suspect.
The Grants Pass Police added they served a warrant on January 29 with the assistance of Oregon State Police SWAT, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and “federal partners” in the 1300 block of Sunny Valley Loop in Wolf Creek to try to arrest Foster on attempted murder charges. “Following a lengthy manhunt, Foster evaded capture and likely received assistance in fleeing the area. Numerous items of evidence, including Foster’s 2008 Nissan Sentra were seized during the search,” police said.
“The Grants Pass Police Department has established a Tip-Line and is offering a $2,500.00 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Benjamin Obadiah Foster,” police said in the press release. “Anyone with information is asked to call the Grants Pass Police Tip-Line at 541-237-5607. Citizens should not approach this extremely dangerous suspect and call 9-1-1.”
Here’s what you need to know about Oregon torture suspect Benjamin Obadiah Foster:
1. Benjamin Obadiah Foster Was Possibly Using Dating Apps to ‘Contact Unsuspecting Individuals Who May Be Lured Into Assisting With’ His ‘Escape or Potentially as Additional Victims,’ Police Said
Grants Pass PoliceBenjamin Obadiah Foster.
Grants Pass Police said in the press release, “The investigation has revealed that the suspect 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.”
Police added, “The Grants Pass Police Department wants the community to be extra safe while this predator is still at large and also advised that anyone assisting Ben Foster with his escape will face potential prosecution.”
According to police, “During the search, investigators arrested 68-year-old Tina Marie Jones of Wolf Creek for Hindering Prosecution. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail.” Police did not release any additional information about Jones, including how they say she helped Foster and what their relationship, if any, is. The Associated Press reported that Jones followed Foster to a remote area in Wolf Creek and after he intentionally drove his car off an embankment, gave him a ride to another property.
2. Foster Was Accused of ‘Intentionally Torturing’ the Oregon Victim & Leaving Her ‘in a Place Where She Was Not Likely to Be Found,’ Authorities Say
Grants Pass PoliceBenjamin Obadiah Foster is trained in mixed martial arts, police said.
According to The Oregonian, Josephine County District Attorney Joshua Eastman wrote in court documents that Foster was accused of “intentionally torturing” the victim and then left her “in a place where she was not likely to be found.”
At a press conference, Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman told reporters Foster and the victim were in a “prior domestic relationship,” but did not provide any additional details when asked about the extent of their relationship. Foster also did not answer when asked if the victim and Foster worked together at a business in Grants Pass.
Hensman said at the January 26 press conference, “We are laser-focused on capturing this man and bringing him to justice. This is an all-hands-on-deck operation. … We are using every piece of technology available to locate this man, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Hensman added, “This is a very serious event, a brutal assault of one of our residents that we take extremely seriously. And we will not rest until we capture this individual.”
3. Benjamin Foster Was Accused of Beating & Holding His Then-Girlfriend Captive for 2 Weeks in Las Vegas in 2019 & Served 2 1/2 Years in Prison After Taking a Plea Deal
Grants Pass PoliceBenjamin Obadiah Foster in a mugshot released by Grants Pass, Oregon, police.
According to Clark County, Nevada, court records viewed by Heavy, Foster was charged in October 2019, with first-degree kidnapping resulting in substantial bodily harm, coercion with force, assault with a deadly weapon and domestic battery with strangulation.
The Review-Journal, citing court documents, reported in 2019 that Foster was accused of holding his then-girlfriend in their apartment against her will from September 16 to October 2, when she escaped during a trip he allowed her to accompany him on to the grocery store. The newspaper wrote:
Over the next two weeks, according to the report, Foster — at times armed with a knife and other times armed with what the woman described as a small brown handgun — threatened to kill her. She told police she was beaten, forced to eat lye, choked to the point of unconsciousness and bound at the wrists and ankles with a combination of zip ties and duct tape. Her hands at times went numb, she said, from her wrists being bound so tightly.
The woman also told police after her escape that half of her head was shaved one day during her captivity and the other half was shaved the next day. When she wasn’t tied up, she claimed, Foster required her hands to ‘stay in constant contact with Foster’s body,’ according to the report, and she was not allowed to freely use the bathroom.
According to court records, Foster pleaded guilty in August 2021 to felony battery and a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, but had already served more than two years in jail awaiting trial, records show. He was released from custody on April 3, 2021, according to Nevada Department of Corrections records obtained by Heavy.
4. Foster, Who Has Trained in MMA, Was Also Arrestd on a Domestic Violence Charge in 2018 & Was Serving a Suspended Jail Sentence on a Weapons Charge When He Was Arrested in the Las Vegas Case
Grants Pass PoliceBenjamin Obadiah Foster in surveillance video photo released by Grants Pass, Oregon, police.
Foster was also arrested on domestic violence charges in 2015 and 2018, according to Clark County court records. The 2018 case, a strangulation charge, was combined with his 2019 case, according to court records. The 2015 misdemeanor domestic violence case was released.
Foster was charged in November 2018 with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, a gross misdeeanor, and was given a suspended sentence in January 2019 of 30 days in jail along with community service and an order to “stay out of trouble,” court records show. He was still serving that sentence at the time of the 2019 kidnapping case in October 2019, records show.
According to the Review-Journal article from his 2019 arrest, Foster has trained in mixed martial arts. The newspaper did not provide any other details about his MMA training or background. Foster is originally from Oregon, according to public records.
5. The Victim Remains in the ICU With a Broken Neck & Multiple Fractures to Her Face, According to a GoFundMe Set Up to Help Her
According to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up to help the victim, Justine Siemens, “Justine a beautiful woman and force in this world, and our community was Brutally beaten nearly to death on Tues night 1/24/23 by a sick very disturbed human being by the name of Benjamin Obediah Foster 36, he is as of now on the run while our beloved Justine is clinging to life on life support with a broken neck and multiple fractures to her face and other areas in Medford.”
The GoFundMe adds, “Justine has a mortgage and multiple bills and now an EXTENSIVE hospital bill building as we speak, and this point her cognitive abilities are unknown and her healing time may be upwards of years. So much is left uncertain at this point.”
The campaign says, “All we can do is pray that we all get to see Justine’s smile and can do attitude light up the room again someday… she is always so positive and full of fun. What was done to her is unspeakable please spare what you can even if only a dollar every single cent can help her.”