A custody battle between a German steakhouse heiress and her ex-husband took an unexpected turn when her youngest children were kidnapped over the weekend while celebrating New Year's with their father in Denmark, local authorities said.
Christina Block's two children, Clara, 13, and Theodor, 10, were watching fireworks with their father, Block's ex-husband Stefan Hensel, at a cafe in Gravenstein around 12:15 a.m. Monday. However, a group of men attacked. Bild newspaper reported.
The newspaper quoted Danish police as saying that the men pushed Hansel to the ground and forced her children into the car before fleeing at high speed in two separate cars.
The newspaper added that the car used to kidnap the children was registered in Germany.
Gravestein is about 16 miles from the German border, and federal police had patrol cars at the border by 1:07 a.m.
A German Federal Police spokesperson told Bild: “We received a report regarding a possible kidnapping.”
Hamburg police are currently investigating the incident, the paper said.
Block, 49, is the daughter of German entrepreneur Eugen Block, whose Hamburg-based empire includes the popular steakhouse chain Blockhaus.
According to a report in Bild newspaper, Block has been fighting with Hansel, 49, for custody of Clara and Theodor since the summer of 2021, and Hansel left the two children in Denmark after visiting Denmark. It is said that
The couple's eldest daughter, 17-year-old Johanna, is living with Hensel voluntarily, while their second daughter, Greta, 15, remains in Hamburg with Block.
Danish police told Bild that the kidnapping may be related to a custody dispute.
Neither Bloch nor Hensel have publicly commented on the abduction.
