In an alarming incident in California, a father and son are accused of kidnapping two U.S. Forest Service employees, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Grant during a press conference.

Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, along with his son Phoenix Henrichsen, allegedly took the federal workers hostage inside a trailer in a remote area near Mt. Shasta.

In response, the FBI dispatched a hostage negotiator from Quantico, who worked closely with local authorities. Through several hours of negotiation, they successfully facilitated the release of the hostages.

After restraining the hostages with zip ties, the elder Henrichsen insisted on communicating with the FBI, holding them captive in a trailer near Gumboot Lake within the Shasta Trinity National Forest of northern California.

A Forest Services employee called authorities shortly before 11 a.m. local time on Thursday to notify them of the kidnapping. The FBI secured the release of one of the hostages at 1:50 a.m. on Friday and the second hostage 15 minutes later. The alleged kidnappers surrendered themselves to the FBI at 2:30 a.m. 

“I’m grateful beyond words that both of our Forest Service employees taken hostage on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest are home safe,” Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a statement.

“This was a frightening experience for everyone involved. Their well-being continues to be our highest priority. We’re staying close to them and their loved ones, making sure they have the support and the space that they need after what they’ve been through,” he concluded. 

The FBI does not yet know what the kidnappers’ motivation is or why they requested to speak with the FBI.

“The United States Attorney’s Office intends to charge both men by criminal complaint with kidnapping a federal employee under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1201(a)(5),” Grant said during a Friday press conference.

News Media contacted the FBI and the US Forest Service for additional comment.

Speeding is more than just a risky behavior—it’s largely an exercise in futility.

Research conducted by scholars in Minnesota has debunked the common misconception that driving faster significantly reduces travel time. According to their study published in the prestigious Nature journal Communications Sustainability, speeding typically saves motorists less than a minute.

“Anyone aiming to cut just one minute off their journey would need to embrace speeding,” quipped Professor William Northrop, a study co-author from the University of Minnesota, in a statement. He further noted, “However, if your aim is a safe arrival and efficient fuel consumption, you might consider driving below the speed limit.”

The research team, led by Northrop, embarked on this project to evaluate the repercussions of excessive speed on fuel efficiency, time savings, and environmental emissions.

To test whether speeding actually saves time, scientists meticulously examined data from 120 million car journeys across the United States in 2021. Their analysis drew on comprehensive traffic data, including national road systems, speed limits, and topographical information provided by the US Geological Survey.

They restricted the sample to roads where the speed limit was 45 mph or higher.

The team found that, contrary to what many speed demons would have you believe, driving at or below the speed limit only corresponded to around 54 seconds longer per day when the average daily distance was 28.6 miles.

This extrapolates out to just over 6 minutes per week.

Despite failing to meaningfully expedite one’s car trip, a troubling number of motorists go pedal to the metal. According to the study, 43 percent of the trips included one incident of speeding, while drivers spent 12 percent of their time behind the wheel exceeding the speed limit.

“While internal combustion engine-powered vehicles have become significantly more efficient in the past decades, they have also become much more powerful,” said Northrop. “Driving fast is easier than ever.” 

Unfortunately, wasting time isn’t the only side effect of this pedal crime. Going full-throttle can have your fuel tank gone in 60 seconds, per the study, which found that speeders burn 2.3 to 3 percent more gasoline on average.

Were drivers to comply with posted speed limits, it could save an average of $22 million and 6.7 million gallons of fuel — in other words, the juice is not worth the speed.

Researchers declared that the only thing that gas-holes accelerate is the decline of the ozone layer, estimating that ignoring speed limits wastes 7,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every single day for light-duty engine-powered vehicles.

Ultimately, the study demonstrates that motorists can have their gas-guzzlers and drive them too.

“Our study examines an obvious yet difficult-to-implement intervention for major fuel savings that can be achieved without replacing our cars: driving slower,” concluded Northrop.

Sunny Hostin, co-host of The View, made attempts to dissuade police officers from arresting her son by highlighting her television role and legal experience, as revealed in newly released bodycam footage.

Hostin, aged 57, earnestly urged officers to reconsider issuing a trespassing notice to her 24-year-old son Gabriel, a Harvard alum, after he was found walking on train tracks the previous month.

Arriving at the scene along the Metro-North Railroad tracks in Westchester County, New York, Hostin immediately introduced herself to the police, eager to protect her son.

In the bodycam footage, she can be heard saying, “My name is Sunny Hostin, and I’m one of the co-hosts of The View as well as a former federal prosecutor.”

She continued, “That’s my son. He’s a Harvard graduate and has no criminal record,” emphasizing his clean slate.

Police said Gabriel Hostin was detained by the side of the tracks for ‘criminal trespassing’ around 8pm on June 16, after he was caught ‘on the right-of-way of the active railroad tracks, in violation of the posted no trespassing signs.’

The 24-year-old told officers that he did not intend to trespass, and claimed he ran through an open gate while out on a run. 

His famous mom showed up within minutes after the officers moved to a nearby street, with Hostin quickly telling the cops the incident was an ‘innocent mistake.’ 

Hostin repeatedly informed the officers at the scene that not only was she the host of The View, but she is also a former attorney.

‘I’m a former federal prosecutor,’ she said as she arrived on scene.

‘He knows. He’s a Harvard grad who teaches 4th grade geometry to South Bronx kids.’ 

She described her son as ‘not a kid who’s ever in trouble’, as she implored the officers not to issue her son a citation. 

The cops did not appear impressed by Hostin’s pleading, and told Gabriel he was getting a trespass violation ticket. 

Gabriel then responded, ‘Is this necessary?’ to which the officers replied with a short, ‘Yes.’

‘What happens if you didn’t do it?’ he then asked, seemingly referring to the ticket he was about to receive.

The cops told him that their ‘hands were tied,’ and they had no choice but to give him the citation.

‘Because it is an arrestable offense. I want to make that clear, okay? Where you were on the tracks is an arrestable offense,’ one of the offices added.

The officer said he was not putting Gabriel in handcuffs, and was ‘dimming it down to a trespass violation because you were in the right-of-way, you weren’t in the gauge or anything, which is the middle area where the tracks were on.’

‘And you’ve been very cooperative with us and you have a good background, everything like that.

‘We know you’re not a criminal or anything like that but our hands are tied with cameras everywhere.’

Following the citation, Gabriel Hostin was ordered to return to court in New Rochelle, New York on July 31. 

According to the New York Post, his former federal prosecutor mom is representing him.

Sunny Hostin also penned a letter to Westchester Assistant District Attorney Amanda Greene, the prosecutor in the case, where she asked for the case to be dismissed.

‘My client is a 2025 Harvard University graduate with no criminal history or prior contact with the criminal justice system,’ she wrote in the letter, obtained by TMZ.

‘He is an avid runner and former Junior Olympian track athlete who was in the area training. When jogging, he observed what appeared to be a gravel incline that could be used for hill training,’ she went on.

‘Although there was a gate at the entrance of the gravel incline, the gates were standing open. The only “No Trespassing” sign was affixed to the left gate and, because the gates were open, it was not visible to my client as he entered the property,’ she claimed.

‘He reasonably believed the area was accessible and had no intention of entering private property unlawfully.’

Hostin – who has been a co-host on The View since 2016 – added that her son was facing ‘unnecessary consequences’ for an ‘honest mistake.’

‘Dismissal would avoid imposing unnecessary consequences on a young man who has demonstrated exceptional character and achievement and who poses no risk to the community,’ she added.

Hostin shares son Gabriel and daughter, Paloma, 20, with orthopedic surgeon Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Hostin, 54.

The Daily Mail has contacted Sunny Hostin and ABC for comment.