A man accused of kidnapping and torturing a woman for days before fleeing into a wooded area in southwestern Oregon turned to dating apps to avoid police capture or possibly find more victims, authorities warn.
Man tortured woman he held captive and uses dating apps to avoid capture, police say
The search for Foster began Tuesday after police found a woman, who has not been named, tied up and severely beaten at her home in what the police chief described as an “evil act.” Police said on Sunday that the woman was hospitalized in critical condition.
About two years ago, Foster was released from a Nevada prison where he was accused of holding another woman captive for weeks and convicted of lesser charges, the Associated Press reported. Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman told the AP that it is “extremely troubling” that Foster is not behind bars.
“We are using every technology available to law enforcement to locate this man,” Hensman said at a news conference Thursday. “And I’ll leave it at that.”
Foster may be armed with a handgun, police say.
On Thursday, police served a search warrant at a property in Ore. in Wolf Creek, Ill., where Foster is believed to be hiding, about 18 miles from where police found the abused woman. Authorities located her 2008 Nissan Sentra, arrested 68-year-old Tina Marie Jones and charged her with hindering prosecution.
Police say the woman first followed Foster in another vehicle when he drove his car over an embankment. He then took the man to the property, AP reported. It’s unclear if Jones and Foster met through a dating app. Grants Pass police on Sunday declined a request for an interview about the incident.
Foster faces multiple charges in the Oregon attack, including attempted murder, kidnapping and assault, according to court records.
In Nevada in 2019, he was charged with one count each of domestic battery by strangulation; domestic violence battery; coercion and kidnapping by threat or force; and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, the Las Vegas Sun reported at the time. Police say he tied up and beat his girlfriend for two weeks. At the same time, a separate charge was brought against him for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, as well as in 2017 for domestic violence and strangulation.
After striking a deal with Clark County prosecutors in 2021, Foster pleaded guilty to one felony count of domestic violence and one misdemeanor count, the AP reported. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, but served less than 200 days after sentencing as he spent time awaiting trial.
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