PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Police said it’s possible the wanted man who’s accused of torturing a woman he held captive in Oregon could try to change his appearance by shaving his beard and hair or by changing his hair color.
The Grants Pass Police Department issued the update on Sunday and posted several photos showing suspect Benjamin Obadiah Foster’s hair at various lengths.
Foster, 36, is considered extremely dangerous by police and remains on the run.
Police suspect Foster tied a woman up and severely beat her until she was unconscious. Officers found the woman at a home on Tuesday and she was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Since then, officers have been involved in a round-the-clock search for Foster.
On Thursday evening, the Grants Pass Police Department and an Oregon State Police SWAT team served a search warrant in Wolf Creek to arrest Foster.
After a lengthy manhunt, police said Foster got away. They believe someone helped him flee and investigators arrested 68-year-old Tina Marie Jones of Wolf Creek on a charge of hindering prosecution. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail.
Police recovered several pieces of evidence including Foster’s 2008 Nissan Sentra during the search.
Investigators said Foster is using online dating apps to contact people and to use them to help with his escape or potentially as additional victims. Police warn people in the area to watch out while Foster is at large. Anyone who assists him will face charges, they said.
Investigators believe Foster is armed. He’s wanted for charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and assault.
Foster has been previously convicted of holding his former girlfriend captive inside her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks in 2019, the Associated Press reported. He was initially charged with five felonies, including assault and battery, but reached a plea deal with prosecutors in 2021.
He pleaded guilty to one felony count of battery and a misdemeanor count of battery constituting domestic violence. A judge sentenced him to up to 2 ½ years in prison in Nevada. Since the nearly two years he spent in jail waiting for a trial counted toward his sentence, and since he had already served his minimum sentence, a spokesperson for the Nevada prison system told The Associated Press that Foster was released the same day he arrived at prison.
The Associated Press reported that Foster’s girlfriend suffered seven broken ribs, two black eyes and injuries from being bound at her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, according to a police report.
Foster’s plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 also settled another 2018 domestic violence case he was facing.
The Grants Pass Police Department is offering a reward of $2,500 for information that leads to Foster’s arrest and prosecution. Anyone with information about his whereabouts should call the Grants Pass Police Tip Line at (541) 237-5607 or call 911.
Grants Pass Police Lt. Jeff Hattersley told The Associated Press that investigators do not think Foster has long hair at this time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.