Overview
- Federal charging documents say the elder suspect confronted two female U.S. Forest Service biologists working on frog habitat, zip‑tied their wrists and forced them into a trailer during a July 16 field visit.
- Law enforcement from local sheriff’s offices and the FBI, including crisis negotiators and the Hostage Rescue Team, surrounded the site and negotiated for about 12–15 hours before both victims were released early July 17 and the suspects surrendered.
- Affidavits and released audio allege the elder suspect carried an AR‑15‑style rifle, used a victim’s phone to leave a voicemail saying he had taken “fed biologists” hostage, and at one point claimed to possess grenades, which investigators have not yet confirmed finding.
- Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and his son Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, have been arraigned on federal kidnapping charges, ordered detained and face possible life sentences; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3 in Sacramento.
- The remote, rugged terrain of the Shasta‑Trinity National Forest complicated the response and the motive remains unexplained, leaving investigators to focus next on evidence about explosives claims and why two Forest Service workers were targeted.