Justine Siemens Survivor

Overview

Justine Siemens is the survivor at the center of the Netflix true crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever, Season 1 Episode 1 ("Dating the Devil"). In January 2023, Justine Siemens was held captive and tortured by her partner Benjamin Foster at her Grants Pass, Oregon home. Her rescue set off a nine-day manhunt that ended with Foster's self-inflicted death in a police standoff in Wolf Creek, Oregon.

Life in Grants Pass

Justine Siemens lived in Grants Pass, Oregon — a city in Josephine County in southern Oregon along the Rogue River. According to her testimony in the Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever, she was living independently in Grants Pass when she met Benjamin Foster. The true crime episode establishes the normalcy of her life before Foster's arrival, contrasting it with the horror that followed.

Grants Pass is a community of approximately 40,000 people, and the events that unfolded there in January 2023 deeply affected the city. The Netflix true crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever uses the Grants Pass setting to examine how a small community responded to the revelation that a violent predator had been operating in their midst.

Meeting Benjamin Foster

Justine Siemens met Benjamin Foster after he arrived in Oregon in 2022. According to her testimony in the Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever, Foster presented himself as a charming and attentive partner — concealing a multi-state history of domestic violence convictions that included a 2019 Nevada conviction for holding a woman captive. The true crime episode examines how Foster's ability to move between states without detection allowed him to find new victims in Grants Pass, Oregon.

The Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever uses Justine Siemens's account of meeting Foster to illustrate the broader systemic failures that allow repeat domestic violence offenders to establish new relationships without their partners knowing their history.

The Attack

In late January 2023, Benjamin Foster held Justine Siemens captive and tortured her at her Grants Pass, Oregon home. The attack was prolonged and brutal, lasting multiple days. Foster used physical violence and psychological terror to maintain control over Siemens during the captivity. The Netflix true crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever presents the attack through Siemens's testimony, providing viewers with a harrowing first-person account of the ordeal.

The true crime episode details the conditions of Justine Siemens's captivity and the injuries she sustained at Foster's hands in Grants Pass, Oregon. Her survival was not guaranteed — Foster's history of violence and the severity of the attack made her rescue a matter of life and death.

Her Rescue

Justine Siemens was rescued from Benjamin Foster's captivity when she managed to alert others to her situation. Her rescue triggered an immediate law enforcement response in Grants Pass, Oregon, with Oregon State Police launching a statewide manhunt for Foster. The Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever details the circumstances of the rescue and the relief felt by the Grants Pass community when Siemens was found alive.

The rescue of Justine Siemens marked the beginning of the nine-day manhunt that would dominate Oregon news coverage and ultimately end with Foster's death. The Worst Ex Ever episode presents the rescue as both a moment of salvation for Siemens and the catalyst for a broader public safety crisis in the Grants Pass area.

The Manhunt

After Justine Siemens's rescue, Oregon State Police launched a nine-day manhunt for Benjamin Foster across southern Oregon. The search involved multiple law enforcement agencies and kept the Grants Pass community on edge. During the manhunt, investigators discovered two additional homicide victims whose deaths were linked to Foster — expanding the scope of the true crime case beyond what was initially known.

The Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever covers the manhunt extensively, using it as a narrative device to build tension and illustrate the danger Foster posed to the broader community. The manhunt ended on January 31, 2023, when Foster was cornered and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Recovery

Justine Siemens's recovery from the January 2023 attack has been a long process. The physical injuries she sustained during her captivity in Grants Pass, Oregon required medical treatment, and the psychological trauma of the ordeal has had lasting effects. The Netflix true crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever addresses her recovery as part of the episode's narrative, acknowledging the ongoing impact of the attack on her life.

Testimony in Worst Ex Ever

Justine Siemens has spoken on the record through the Netflix docuseries Worst Ex Ever and in coverage tied to Oregon's response to the case. Her testimony provides the narrative backbone of the true crime episode, detailing the events that unfolded in Grants Pass, Oregon in January 2023. The Worst Ex Ever episode opens the series' first season with her account, establishing the show's focus on intimate-partner violence and systemic failures.

Her willingness to share her story through the Netflix true crime docuseries has contributed to awareness of domestic violence and the dangers posed by repeat offenders who move between states. This page does not publish details beyond her public testimony.

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