Benjamin Foster — January 2023 Grants Pass kidnapping and manhunt

Overview

The case of Benjamin Obadiah Foster is one of the most harrowing accounts featured in the Netflix true crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever. On January 24, 2023, police in Grants Pass, Oregon responded to a report of a woman held captive at a residence. Officers found Justine Siemens alive but in critical condition, bearing injuries consistent with days of sustained physical torture. Her partner, Benjamin Foster, had fled the scene before law enforcement arrived.

What followed was a nine-day statewide manhunt led by Oregon State Police — one of the largest in the state's recent history. During the search, investigators discovered the bodies of two additional homicide victims in the Grants Pass area, both later linked to Benjamin Foster through forensic evidence. The manhunt ended on January 31, 2023, when a tactical team located Foster hiding in a crawlspace beneath a home in Grants Pass. He shot himself with a firearm; he was transported to a hospital where he died later that evening.

The Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever dedicates its premiere episode, "Dating the Devil," to this case, drawing on interviews with Siemens and law enforcement officials who participated in the manhunt across southern Oregon.

Background

Benjamin Obadiah Foster had a documented history of violence against intimate partners spanning multiple states. Court records show that Foster accumulated domestic-violence convictions in at least three jurisdictions prior to the 2023 Grants Pass attack. Most significantly, in 2019, Foster was convicted in Nevada for holding another woman captive — a crime with striking parallels to the attack on Siemens four years later.

Despite these prior convictions, Foster was able to relocate to Grants Pass, Oregon and establish new relationships. According to reporting by NPR and The Washington Post, Foster used dating applications to meet women in the weeks leading up to the January 2023 attack. Law enforcement officials later confirmed that Foster was actively using dating apps even during the manhunt itself, prompting police to issue a public warning on January 30, 2023 that Foster was attempting to contact potential new victims online.

The true crime community and legal analysts have pointed to Foster's case as an example of systemic failures in interstate tracking of convicted domestic abusers. His ability to move freely between states without triggering alerts to local law enforcement or potential partners highlights gaps in the national domestic-violence registry system.

The attack and manhunt

On or around January 23, 2023, Benjamin Foster began a sustained assault on Justine Siemens at a residence in Grants Pass, Oregon. The attack lasted multiple days. When police responded to the scene on January 24, Siemens was hospitalized in critical condition with injuries to her head, face, and body.

Oregon State Police assumed lead jurisdiction and launched a statewide manhunt on January 25, 2023. The search involved multiple agencies across southern Oregon, including the Josephine County Sheriff's Office and the FBI. During the course of the manhunt, law enforcement discovered two additional bodies in the Grants Pass area. On February 1, 2023 — the day after Foster's death — police publicly disclosed that both homicide victims were linked to Foster.

The manhunt concluded on January 31, 2023, when officers located Benjamin Foster in a crawlspace beneath a Grants Pass residence. Upon discovery, Foster discharged a firearm, inflicting a fatal self-inflicted wound. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital that evening.

Legal status

Because Benjamin Foster died before any case reached indictment, the charges that would have been filed — attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, and multiple homicide counts — were never adjudicated in court. The per-charge status on related pages of this Worst Ex Ever wiki therefore reads "charged, not convicted." No trial took place, and no formal verdict was rendered.

The two additional homicide cases discovered during the manhunt were also closed without prosecution due to Foster's death. Investigators stated publicly that forensic evidence linked Foster to both killings, but the cases were administratively closed rather than prosecuted.

Aftermath

Justine Siemens survived the attack and has spoken publicly about her experience, including in the Netflix Worst Ex Ever docuseries. Her account forms the narrative backbone of the episode "Dating the Devil."

The case prompted significant media coverage and policy discussion in Oregon regarding interstate tracking of convicted domestic abusers. Legislators and advocates pointed to the Grants Pass case as evidence that existing systems failed to flag Benjamin Foster as a danger when he relocated to Oregon. The case also renewed scrutiny of dating-app safety systems and whether platforms bear responsibility for screening users with violent criminal histories.

The true crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever presents the Foster case as its opening episode, establishing the show's focus on intimate-partner violence and the systemic failures that allow repeat offenders to find new victims. The Grants Pass, Oregon community was deeply affected by the events of January 2023, and local reporting continued for months after Foster's death as the full scope of his crimes became clear.

Timeline

1. 2023-01-24

   Grants Pass, Oregon police respond to reports of a woman held captive at a home; Justine Siemens is hospitalized in critical condition.

2. 2023-01-25

   Oregon State Police launch a statewide manhunt for Benjamin Obadiah Foster.

3. 2023-01-30

   Police warn that Foster is using dating apps to contact potential new victims.

4. 2023-01-31

   Foster shoots himself during a police raid on a Grants Pass home; he dies at a hospital that evening.

5. 2023-02-01

   Police disclose that two additional homicide victims were discovered during the manhunt, both linked to Foster.

People involved

• Benjamin Obadiah Foster — Perpetrator. Benjamin Obadiah Foster (1986–2023) was an Oregon fugitive wanted for the January 2023 kidnapping and torture of his partner Justine Siemens. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a police standoff on January 31, 2023.
• Justine Siemens — Survivor. Justine Siemens is the Grants Pass, Oregon survivor whose January 2023 rescue from her partner Benjamin Foster's captivity triggered a 9-day multi-state manhunt.

Legal proceedings

Benjamin Obadiah Foster

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