California father and son arrested for kidnapping two U.S. Forest Service workers

Two U.S. Forest Service employees were taken hostage on Thursday, July 16, near Gumboot Lake in the Shasta‑Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The suspects, identified as 49‑year‑old Joseph Charles Henrichsen and his adult son Phoenix Henrichsen, zip‑tied the workers and held them at gunpoint inside a trailer for roughly 15 hours.

Law‑enforcement agencies—including the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI’s Sacramento field office, and federal hostage‑rescue teams from Quantico—responded with drones, SWAT units and negotiators. The first employee was released at about 1:50 a.m. on Friday, followed by the second fifteen minutes later. Both workers were unharmed and later said they were “resting” after the ordeal.

The father and son surrendered around 2:30 a.m. and were taken into custody. Federal prosecutors announced kidnapping charges for a federal employee, with potential penalties of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Motive remains under investigation.