Two US Forest Service employees were held hostage for over 12 hours before being released early Friday morning, July 17th, 2026, in far northern California. The incident occurred near Gumboot Lake in Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue reported that the situation began Thursday morning before 11 a.m. when a USFS law enforcement officer alerted authorities that two employees were restrained with zip ties and held at gunpoint inside a trailer. The suspect was identified as 49-year-old Joseph Charles Henrichsen, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and knives and demanded to speak with the FBI.

Negotiations with Henrichsen started around 4 p.m. Thursday. The hostages were released after 2 a.m. Friday, and law enforcement successfully persuaded Henrichsen and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, to exit the trailer.

Both men were arrested and will face charges of kidnapping federal employees, according to Eric Grant, the US attorney for the area.

Background reports from 2022 by the Bellingham Herald indicated that Joseph Charles Henrichsen had previously been accused of a hate crime related to harassment of his landlords.

Sources