U.S. Forest Service Employees Held Hostage at Gunpoint for 15 Hours

Two U.S. Forest Service employees have been freed after being held at gunpoint for 15 hours in a Northern California national forest.

The horrifying incident went down Thursday at the Shasta-Trinity National Forest ... with authorities being alerted around 11 AM when a Forest Service law enforcement officer called the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office and reported the two employees -- whose identities have not been released -- were zip-tied and being held inside a trailer at gunpoint, according to Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue.

Authorities say more than two dozen law enforcement officers responded to the situation, including a SWAT team, snipers, hostage negotiators, bomb experts, and more. Deputies located the trailer using drones around 1 PM in a heavily forested campground area near Gumboot Lake.

Footage captured by the drones showed one of the suspects carrying an assault weapon and walking in and out of the trailer.

Officers began negotiating with the suspects -- Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and his son, Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, -- around 4:20 PM Thursday. According to authorities, one of the suspects said in a phone call he had "live rounds ready" to use against anyone who interfered with the hostage situation. Police say the suspects had an AR-15 rifle, knives, and grenades in the trailer.

The suspects eventually released the two Forest Service employees around 1:50 AM Friday, and surrendered themselves less than an hour later. They were taken into custody Friday and face federal charges of kidnapping government employees. They're up against life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

The two suspects are believed to have targeted the park workers because they're government employees.