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.
Hostage Situation Details
The two employees were conducting fieldwork when two armed people took them hostage early Thursday, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said at a news conference Friday. The sheriff’s office received a call at 10:55 a.m. from a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer reporting that two Forest Service employees were zip-tied and being held at gunpoint inside a trailer at Gumboot Lake, near Mount Shasta, LaRue said.
Authorities identified the person accused of holding them as Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49. “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.
Negotiations started around 4 p.m. and continued until the hostages were released. The first hostage came out alone, followed 15 minutes later by the second, according to the FBI. Then around 2:30 a.m., Henrichsen and his adult son, Phoenix Henrichsen, surrendered and exited the trailer, LaRue said.
The elder Henrichsen was arrested on federal kidnapping charges, LaRue said. Eric Grant, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said his office will charge both men with kidnapping of a federal employee.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
