Two employees of the US Forest Service were safely released in the early hours of Friday morning after being held captive for over 12 hours, according to law enforcement officials in far northern California.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue told reporters on Friday afternoon that two men were taken into custody in connection with the alleged kidnapping near Gumboot Lake in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
The sheriff said the incident began Thursday morning before 11am, when his office received a call from a US Forest Service law enforcement officer stating that a man had restrained two agency employees with zip ties and was holding them at gunpoint inside a trailer. The suspect was later identified as 49-year-old Joseph Charles Henrichsen.
The report triggered a large-scale response from regional law enforcement, including multiple sheriff’s offices, police departments, and the FBI.
Officials said Henrichsen was armed with an AR-15 rifle and knives and had demanded to speak with the FBI. Negotiations with him began around 4pm, LaRue said.
The hostages were ultimately freed after 2am Friday, and authorities persuaded Henrichsen and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, to leave the trailer, according to LaRue. US Attorney Eric Grant said both men will face charges of kidnapping a federal employee.
“I’m grateful beyond words that both of our Forest Service employees taken hostage on the Shasta-Trinity national forest are home safe,” US Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a statement.
Authorities did not provide details on the negotiation process or Henrichsen’s alleged motives. Officials said the workers were conducting routine fieldwork in the remote area when they were abducted.
LaRue noted that his office had no prior contact with Henrichsen.
Public records and social media suggest the father and son previously resided in Washington state.
In 2022, the Bellingham Herald reported that Joseph Charles Henrichsen had been accused of a hate crime involving the harassment of his landlords. A judge found him incompetent to stand trial, and the case was dismissed due to delays in securing his admission to a state hospital.