Dramatic radio traffic captured the high-stakes moments Friday as the FBI negotiated with a man accused of holding two U.S. Forest Service employees hostage in Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
In scanner audio reviewed by The California Post, a man who initially identified himself over the air as Charles Perry — later identified as 49-year-old Joseph Charles Henrichsen — demanded that FBI agents meet him near Gumboot Lake.
“I have two biologists in my custody right now … I’ve tried to make contact with the FBI through law enforcement … I’m requesting FBI investigators speak to [me] so that I can release these hostages,” he said.
Authorities allege Henrichsen and his 23-year-old son, Phoenix, zip-tied and detained two Forest Service workers inside a trailer in a remote stretch of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest north of Redding. The employees were reportedly conducting fieldwork when they were abducted at gunpoint.
As the situation unfolded over the radio, dispatchers attempted to obtain a direct phone number for Henrichsen. “Do we have a good phone number I can pass along so that they can make contact with you directly?” the operator asked.
“Negative,” Henrichsen replied, insisting that FBI personnel come speak with him face to face.
Several hours after deputies first responded and deployed drones to pinpoint the trailer’s location, an FBI negotiator identifying himself as Russell from the bureau’s Sacramento office could be heard trying again and again to reach the campsite through a crackling radio channel.
Russell’s transmission was difficult to make out, and Henrichsen instructed him to move toward a red Bronco. He then gave the FBI detailed directions as agents approached the remote site.
“You can bring a rifle with you as long as you’re not pointing at me. We can have a conversation. I would suggest coming unarmed, but you know, because if you have one, that might trigger something in me. You never know. Or you have a rifle, and you see me, that might trigger something in you,” he said over the radio.
The FBI agent said they would drive as close as the team would let them. “No one’s gonna point guns at you as we drive in,” Russell said.
Authorities say the standoff, which led to the closure of the Gumboot Lake area in Siskiyou County, drew a massive multi‑agency response: a SWAT team, sniper unit, bomb unit and additional personnel, along with an FBI hostage rescue team flown in from Quantico, Virginia.
One law enforcement official later summarized the risk: Around 1:50 a.m., the two Forest Service workers were released. US Attorney Eric Grant said the father and son are expected to face kidnapping charges involving federal employees.
Henrichsen has been arrested on federal kidnapping charges and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted. Prosecutors say a motive remains under investigation after the suspect stopped cooperating with authorities.
During a press conference Friday, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Tosh, said the situation could have gone either way. “Crisis situations like this don’t often result in everyone leaving the scene safely,” Tosh said.
Henrichsen has previously been described as having a “spiraling mental health condition” in a separate Washington state case in 2022. The Bellingham Herald had reported that Henrichsen had been accused of a hate crime for allegedly harassing his homeowners of Russian and Ukrainian descent. A person with his name also previously owned a mortgage business with licenses later suspended over fee‑collection issues.
His son Phoenix, identified in online records, attended Bellingham High School in Washington. Officials say neither suspect had a prior history with local law enforcement in Siskiyou County.
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