At 15, Norma Countryman chewed through her bindings to escape a suspected serial killer.
The case of a man in Washington, Warren Forrest - a convicted double murderer believed to be connected to a series of homicides from the early 1970s - is the focus of a new true-crime podcast by Lemonada Media, "Stolen Voices of Dole Valley."
The series, hosted by Carolyn Ossorio, takes an in-depth look at the case through the eyes of loved ones and investigators. In it, Countryman shares her story in hopes her account will spark new leads for families still seeking justice.
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Forrest has been behind bars since 1974. In 1978, he was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Krista Blake. In 2023, he was found guilty of killing 17-year-old Martha Morrison in 1974. Investigators are reexamining other unsolved cases linked to Forrest, including the 1974 murder of 20-year-old Carol Valenzuela, whose remains were discovered near Morrison's.
"Warren Forrest got away with so much," Ossorio told Fox News Digital. "He flew under the radar for years. The survivors and the victims' families want this reckoning. They want justice."
Countryman's nightmare began on a hot day in July 1974. She was sitting by the side of the road in Ridgefield smoking a cigarette. According to Ossorio, Countryman was "dealing with abuse" at home and needed to get away. As she sat outside, a shiny blue van pulled up. Forrest was at the wheel. He appeared friendly and asked if she wanted a ride.
Countryman declined, recalling how her mother had warned her never to talk to strangers. But the man with piercing blue eyes pressed her, offering to drive her home. Eventually, she relented.
"He just kept slowly pressuring, pushing, manipulating," said Ossorio. "But he didn't appear threatening. And it was a ride that would forever change her life."
Once inside the van, Forrest held a knife to Countryman's neck and drove her to a remote area near Tukes Mountain. As she begged for her life, he punched her in the face and gagged her with her bra. He hogtied her and secured her between two trees. During the attack, he took her glasses, Ossorio said.
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Forrest left Countryman in the woods. Fearing he would return, she gnawed through the ropes until she broke free.
"The first thought that came to me was, if he comes back and finds me like this, he really will kill me," Countryman recalled on the podcast.
Countryman stumbled through the woods and survived the night. A park employee found her the next morning.
"The police were called, and she wasn't believed," Ossorio said. "And if she had been, two other women most likely would not have been murdered. Norma had to live with that."
It would be nearly 20 years before Countryman publicly shared her story, The Columbian reported. One of Forrest's known murder victims was found near where she had been tied up.
"You can really see the damage it caused Norma," Ossorio said. "She lived with it her entire life and was never offered therapy. You can see the layers of trauma."
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Forrest was first apprehended in 1974 - the same year as Countryman's attack - after kidnapping, raping and attempting to kill a 19-year-old woman near Lacamas Lake, the Clark County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital. The woman survived and helped investigators identify Forrest, who at the time worked for the Clark County Parks Department. He was married with two daughters.
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Detectives began linking Forrest to other disappearances and murders between 1971 and 1974 in the years that followed.
"Warren portrays himself as a victim - a victim of Vietnam," Ossorio said. "He claimed he came back differently, though we don't know his full military record."
"Jamie Grissim is believed to be Forrest's first victim in Clark County," Ossorio said. "She disappeared in December 1971 and was never found. Her belongings turned up in Dole Valley five months later. She was 16 and in foster care. She and her sister Starr were inseparable. To this day, Starr has never given up hope of finding her."
"The way Starr tells it to me, she hears Jamie saying, 'Find me,'" said Ossorio. "Starr believes she's somewhere out in Dole Valley."
Despite his conviction, Forrest, now 76, has continued to file parole applications. All have been unsuccessful due to his status as a suspect in multiple violent crimes.
"In the podcast, we play recordings of him speaking to the parole board," Ossorio said. "He can't even fake empathy or remorse."
In 2014, investigators reexamined evidence from several cases, sending an air pistol once owned by Forrest to the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory. A bloodstain was discovered that matched Morrison's DNA. That breakthrough led to Forrest being charged with her murder in 2019.
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In early 2024, Clark County Sheriff John Horch reestablished a cold case team focused on Forrest's crimes. With the help of modern DNA technology, investigators are analyzing trace evidence, including hair and nail samples from Forrest's van.
"The sheriff's office is pressing him to confess to these unsolved cases," Ossorio said. "It's possible there are victims in other states because of his military service. But he insists he doesn't remember. What we know is that he avoids publicity. He doesn't like to talk about his crimes. He's not the kind of serial killer who brags. He just wants silence. But the pressure is on."
Ossorio said loved ones won't stop pushing for answers. The Clark County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital in a statement that it remains committed to bringing justice to the victims and their families.
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"Listening to these stories will make you sad, but they will also inspire you," said Ossorio. "These are people who are fighting for justice, for answers. And through trauma, they've leaned on each other. It's a story of not giving up."
