Father, son charged with kidnapping 2 U.S. Forest Service biologists at gunpoint

U.S. newsFather, son charged with kidnapping 2 U.S. Forest Service biologists at gunpointJoseph and Phoenix Henrichsen were charged with kidnapping a federal employee. “I’ve taken two fed biologists hostage,” the father is accused of saying in a voicemail.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 California.U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of CaliforniaShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 20, 2026, 11:07 PM EDTBy Andrew Blankstein and Dennis RomeroA man and his adult son have been charged with kidnapping two federal biologists at gunpoint in a Northern California forest last week, leading to an hourslong standoff with law enforcement. Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, appeared in federal court in Sacramento on Monday but did not enter pleas to charges of kidnapping a federal employee and aiding and abetting. An affidavit filed in support of the charges alleges that on Thursday morning, Joseph Henrichsen approached two U.S. Forest Service staff biologists who were on the job near Gumboot Lake Campground in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The pair, who have not been identified, were conducting research for a study on frog habitats. Joseph, carrying an AR-15-style rifle, went up to them in a remote section of forest about 290 miles north of San Francisco and zip-tied their hands behind their backs, the affidavit says. He then ordered them to a nearby trailer, where Phoenix joined them, according to the document.The two were mostly held there, though Joseph is alleged to have put one, described only as a woman, in the Forest Service Nissan the biologists were originally riding in and driven her several miles away, using her phone to make several calls and leaving a message for a federal forest ranger.“I’ve taken two fed...