Here’s a tip from InDesign Secrets on how to get rid of the numbers in a list you’re trying to format with automated numbering.
GREP is a way to use codes to find text (and then do things to it). You can incorporate it into a paragraph style or use it within the find/change function in InDesign. For more on GREP, see David Blatner’s 10 Things to Know About GREP at Lynda.com