A father and his adult son have been arrested and are expected to face federal kidnapping charges after allegedly holding two U.S. Forest Service employees at gunpoint for more than 12 hours in Northern California. The incident occurred in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Mt. Shasta.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz stated that the two employees were conducting routine field operations when they were taken Thursday. They were released safely early Friday morning after being held inside a trailer near Gunboot Lake. Schultz expressed profound gratitude for their safe release, emphasizing that their well-being was the highest priority.
According to authorities, the suspects, a 49-year-old man and his son, approached the employees around 2:30 a.m. Friday. One of the suspects was reportedly carrying an assault rifle and knives, and also claimed to possess grenades. After the Forest Service employees were released, deputies from the Siskiyou County Sheriff's office, who had been alerted and were in the remote area since noon Thursday, used drones to help locate the trailer. The FBI was also called in to assist.
FBI Sacramento acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Tosh commented on the fortunate outcome, noting that crisis situations like this do not always result in everyone leaving the scene unharmed. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant indicated that charges of kidnapping federal employees would be filed against both individuals, though no charges were immediately listed in online court records on Saturday afternoon.