Overview
- Two U.S. Forest Service employees were zip-tied and held at gunpoint inside a trailer near Gumboot Lake, and authorities say the ordeal began on Thursday and lasted about 15 hours before the workers were freed.
- Deputies used drones to locate the trailer around 1 p.m., formal negotiations began in the late afternoon, and the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and multiple local and state units joined the tactical response.
- The first hostage was released about 1:50 a.m. on Friday and the second about 15 minutes later, and the suspects — identified as Joseph Charles Henrichsen and his son Phoenix Henrichsen — surrendered around 2:30 a.m.
- Officials recovered an AR-15-style rifle and knives in the trailer and say the elder Henrichsen claimed to have grenades, though authorities have not confirmed any explosives were found.
- Federal prosecutors plan to charge both men with kidnapping federal employees, the investigation into motive remains active, authorities are seeking public tips, and the two released employees are recovering while the Gumboot Lake area remains restricted.