Father and son accused of zip-tying Forest Service workers, holding them hostage face new charges

U.S. newsFather and son accused of zip-tying Forest Service workers and holding them hostage face new chargesJoseph Charles Henrichsen and his adult son, Phoenix Henrichsen, allegedly held the two U.S. Forest Service biologists at gunpoint inside a trailer in Northern California, officials said. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00The camping trailer inhabited by Joseph and Phoenix Henrichsen parked on a road near Gumboot Lake Campground in Calif.U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of CaliforniaShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 31, 2026, 11:22 AM EDT / Updated July 31, 2026, 11:22 AM EDTBy Matt Lavietes, Mirna Alsharif and Emanuella GrinbergA federal grand jury indicted a father and son in the kidnapping of two U.S. Forest Service employees who were held hostage in Northern California, and the father faces new charges related to the 15-hour standoff, officials said Thursday.Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, had already been charged with two counts each of kidnapping a federal employee, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, announced in a news release.Joseph Henrichsen now faces additional charges of assaulting a federal employee with a deadly weapon, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer, the release said. The alleged kidnapping took place on July 16 in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which is roughly roughly 115 miles south of the Oregon border and 150 miles north of Sacramento, according to officials.Officials have not named the two U.S. Forest Service employees, who were biologists, and have not said if they’ve identified a motive for the kidnapping. The two U.S. Forest Service employees were conducting routine environmental work near the forest’s Gumboot Lake Campground when Joseph Henrichsen approached them with an AR-10 semiautomatic rifle, officials said.The elder Henrichsen bound their hands, and with his son’s help, forced them into a r...