Two U.S. Forest Service employees rescued after being zip-tied and held hostage at gunpoint

Two U.S. Forest Service employees were rescued with the help of negotiators after being zip-tied and held hostage for nearly 15 hours in Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Northern California, officials said Friday.

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The two employees were conducting fieldwork when two armed people took them hostage at gunpoint early Thursday, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said at a news conference Friday.

The suspect, identified as Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, had used one of the victim’s phones to make a call stating he had taken the two Forest Service employees and he had “live rounds ready to [expletive] anyone who [expletives] with me,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said in a news release.

The sheriff’s office received a call at 10:55 a.m. from a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer reporting that the employees were zip-tied and being held at gunpoint inside a trailer at Gumboot Lake, near Mount Shasta, LaRue said.

“Mr. Henrichsen indicated that he had firearms, ammunition, and wanted to speak with the FBI,” LaRue said.

The sheriff’s office sent deputies and its special response team to the location — described as a rural and rugged area — around noon and deployed drones, he said.

The FBI’s Sacramento field office was contacted at 12:20 p.m. and deployed agents from Redding, a crisis negotiation team and SWAT, as well as a hostage rescue team and assets from Quantico, Virginia, said Brian Tosh, the FBI Sacramento acting special agent in charge.

Just after 1 p.m., drones helped authorities identify a trailer where Henrichsen was. Soon after, local, state and federal resources began to flock to the scene, officials said.

“There’s a lot that transpired between that,” LaRue said. “At about 1:50 a.m., the survivors, the hostages, the two employees of the Forest Service were released, and I’m so incredibly proud of that.”

The first hostage came out alone, followed 15 minutes later by the second, Tosh said.

Then around 2:30 a.m., Henrichsen and his adult son, Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, surrendered and exited the trailer, LaRue said.

At the time, Joseph Henrichsen had an AR-15 and claimed to have grenades, Tosh said.

Both were arrested and charged with kidnapping of a federal employee. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. It was unclear Friday night if they have attorneys.

The employees were not identified. Officials did not detail whether they were injured.

“Both are resting and will need some time to process this experience,” Tosh said.

An investigation into motive is underway. It’s not clear why Joseph Henrichsen specifically wanted to speak to the FBI. LaRue said the men weren’t known to law enforcement.

A slew of agencies aided in the hostage crisis including the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Land Management, California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.