2 kidnapped Forest Service workers safe after being zip-tied, held at gunpoint
Two suspects, a father and his adult son who were allegedly armed with guns and knives, have been arrested, authorities said.
The employees were kidnapped sometime before 11 a.m. local time Thursday while conducting field work in the Shasta Trinity National Forest, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a news conference Friday.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue said deputies received a call from U.S. Forest Service officials that one of the suspects, identified as 49-year-old Joseph Charles Henrichsen, had told authorities that the two employees were zip-tied and being held at gunpoint in a trailer in a rural area outside the small city of Mount Shasta, which is located about 50 miles south of the Oregon-California border.
"Mr. Henrichsen indicated that he had firearms, ammunition, and wanted to speak with the FBI," LaRue said.
Multiple local and federal agencies responded, including the FBI, and using drones, authorities were able to identify the trailer where the two workers were being held, LaRue said. SWAT, hostage negotiators, a bomb squad and snipers were dispatched to the scene as well.
It took authorities until a little after 4 p.m. Thursday to begin direct negotiations with Henrichsen and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, the sheriff said.