Forest Service workers have been kidnapped, held at gunpoint in NorCal, sources say
Two US Forest Service workers working in a remote area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest were kidnapped, zipped and held in a trailer for more than 17 hours before being rescued Friday morning, authorities said.
The strange hostage crisis unfolded like a scene from a movie.
Law enforcement teams from across Northern California, even as far away as Virginia, converged Thursday on a trailer at the end of a narrow one-lane road, where a father and son held the workers at gunpoint, according to FBI Sacramento Special Acting Agent Brian Tosh.
The father, identified as Joseph Charles Hendrickson, 49, told authorities he was armed with an automatic rifle and grenades and wanted to speak with the FBI, according to Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue.
The situation was tense, as tense negotiations continued into the early hours of Friday when two employees safely surrendered, and Hendrickson and his grown son, Phoenix, were taken into custody, LaRue said.
Both were charged with kidnapping government employees, according to Eric Grant, the US attorney for the eastern district of California.
The workers, heavily injured but not injured, were returned to their families. Their names have not been released.
“I want to say how grateful and relieved we are that our two workers were released safely,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “We stay close to them and their loved ones, making sure they get the support and space they need after what they've been through.”
Crews were completing routine work near the beautiful waters of Gumboot Lake when things took a frightening turn.
At 8 a.m., the Forest Service received a report that the two workers had been kidnapped, Schultz said.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office was notified of the abduction crisis before 11 a.m. and sent drones to investigate the area where the workers had been taken, LaRue said. Deputies found the vehicle around 1:00 p.m. and began negotiating with the elder Hendrickson for his release around 4:00 p.m.
The Shasta County Sheriff's Office sent a SWAT team, a sniper unit, a hostage negotiator and a trailer bomb unit to the Gumboot Lake campground. The FBI also dispatched crisis negotiators and even flew in a hostage rescue team from Quantico, Va.
Additional assistance was provided by personnel from the Forest Service, Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Homeland Security Investigations.
Greater local, regional and federal cooperation has paid off. At 1:50 a.m. Friday, the two hostages were released, and at 2:30 a.m. the Hendricksons got out of the car.
Authorities did not publicly disclose the nature of the abduction or the abduction until Friday afternoon, after the two workers were rescued.
“Situations like this rarely lead to everyone getting out of the scene safely,” said Tosh. “We are proud of the work that everyone did today.”
Authorities are still working to understand the motive for the kidnapping. LaRue said the Hendricksons had no history of involvement with his office. The FBI is asking anyone with information about the father and son to call (800) 225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.
