(NewsNation) — The man accused of kidnapping a woman and brutally attacking her in Oregon has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a police stand-off, according to local media.
Law enforcement officers surrounded the home Tuesday in Oregon, where they say the woman was tortured, according to reports.
An operator at the Grants Pass Police Department told NewsNation late Tuesday night that the department was “resuming normal activities.” In a news release, the police department said the suspect, Benjamin Foster, was in custody.
KDRV, a television station in Medford, Oregon, said Foster, was in critical condition. KTVL, which is also based in Medford, said the police informed them Foster died.
Foster, 36, was underneath the house in Grants Pass and authorities tried to get him to surrender Tuesday evening, a Grants Pass police lieutenant told KTVL-TV.
Investigators said they received “credible information” Foster went into the home where the woman was found unconscious, bound and near death on Jan. 24. She remains hospitalized in critical condition.
According to The Daily Courier, officers from four law enforcement agencies saturated the area and assembled a SWAT team. As this happened, some residents in the area were asked to shelter in place.
This occurred after Foster was spotted Tuesday morning in Grants Pass walking a small dog.
Authorities had called Foster “extremely dangerous” and offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution. He is wanted on the following charges: attempted murder, kidnapping and assault.
Police warned that Foster is “actively” using dating sites to potentially find new victims or people who may be able to help him avoid police.
Investigators found Foster’s car Thursday after raiding a property in the unincorporated community of Wolf Creek, around 20 miles north of Grants Pass. While there, they arrested a 68-year-old woman for hindering prosecution. She is accused of following Foster earlier that day as he intentionally drove his car over an embankment and then giving him a ride back to the property where Foster is believed to have been hiding and ultimately managed to escape.
This is not the first time Foster has faced similar allegations. In 2019, before moving to Oregon, Foster was arrested for holding his then-girlfriend captive inside her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks. The woman told investigators she was forced to eat lye and choked to the point of unconsciousness.
According to a police report, she suffered several broken ribs and had two black eyes as well as injuries from being bound at the wrists and ankles. She escaped when Foster let her out of his sight during a trip to a grocery store and gas station.
Foster was initially charged with five felonies and faced decades in prison. But in 2021, he reached a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars with credit for time served.
Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman called it “extremely troubling” that Foster was a free man and able to prey on other women instead of being behind bars for crimes in Nevada.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Grants Pass Police Department.
