(U.S. Forest Service | The New York Times) In an image provided by the U.S. Forest Service, Gumboot Lake in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, where two U.S. Forest Service workers were taken hostage on Thursday, July 17, 2026. Two U.S. Forest Service employees were freed Friday after a man and his son bound the workers and held them at gunpoint for about 15 hours in a national forest in rural Northern California, the authorities said.