Siskiyou County, California — Law enforcement authorities in Siskiyou County, far northern California, announced the arrest of a father and his adult son in the alleged kidnapping of two U.S. Forest Service workers, and they are now safe and free.
The sheriff says they received a call around 10:55 a.m. Thursday from the Forest Service that a man had taken two Forest Service employees hostage in a very remote area.
The 49-year-old suspect tied up two Forest Service workers and held them at gunpoint for about 15 hours in a trailer near Gumboot Lake in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, officials said.
The suspect indicated that he wanted to speak with the FBI, but the reason remains unclear. Officials are still investigating the motives for the kidnapping.
A large force of law enforcement forces moved to the area. An FBI hostage rescue team arrived on a Boeing 757 from Quantico where snipers, SWAT teams, bomb squads and drones were deployed.
Dashcam footage shows armed officers wearing tactical gear riding into a passing pickup truck.
Ultimately, after many hours of negotiations, the two Forest Service workers were released before 2 a.m. and are now safe at home.
The suspect and his adult son came out and were arrested around 2:30 a.m
The father will be charged with kidnapping a federal employee. He had an AR-15-style weapon and knives in the trailer and claimed to be carrying grenades.
It’s unclear whether or not the trailer belongs to him, but it does not belong to the Forest Service.
ABC7 Eyewitness News contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2026 ABC News Internet Ventures.