(SISKIYOU COUNTY, CA) — Two Siskiyou County men have been charged with abducting two U.S. Forest Service employees.
Joseph Charles Henrichsen (49) and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen (23), kidnapped the female federal employees and held them for 15 hours in a remote Northern California trailer.
This image shows Joseph Charles Henrichsen (left) and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen (right), who were arrested on July 20, 2026, for allegedly kidnapping federal employees.
Prosecutors allege the employees were conducting fieldwork near Gumboot Lake Campground in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest when they were confronted, bound and forced to walk to the trailer.
Photo Credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office, the RV used by Joseph Henrichsen and Phoenix Henrichsen is pictured following their arrests.
Joseph Henrichsen later used one of the employees' phones to announce that he had taken two Forest Service workers hostage. According to prosecutors, he described one employee as restrained and threatened violence against anyone who intervened, during the call.
That call triggered a large response involving the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies.
FBI negotiators ended the 15-hour standoff by securing the employees' release and the surrender of both suspects. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office did not respond to OpGov.News request for comment.
"I am grateful beyond words that both of our Forest Service employees are home safe," Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a statement following their rescue.
Joseph Henrichsen had been previously arrested in 2022 for leaving a pair of zip-ties on his neighbour's porch, looped together like handcuffs. Two dozen guns were confiscated from his house.
Henrichsen had been known to play a loudspeaker that looped allegations against his neighbours, often directly threatening them, and had previously assaulted an elderly man. After a 6-month stint in a county jail and a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he should be committed, Henrichsen was allowed to walk free.
Neighbours said of Henrichsen: “He shouldn’t be on the streets.”
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