Kids of German Heiress Reportedly Kidnapped While Watching New Year’s Fireworks with Their Dad

The two children aged 13 and 10 were at a restaurant in Denmark when they were reportedly put into two rental cars

The children of German steakhouse heiress Christina Block were reportedly kidnapped while they were watching fireworks on New Year’s Eve with their father.

According to the German newspaper Bild, Klara, 13, and Theodor, 10, were watching fireworks in the Caféodora restaurant in Gråsten, Denmark with their dad Stephan Hensel when they were kidnapped shortly after midnight local time on Monday.

Hensel is the ex-husband of Block, 49, who is the daughter of steakhouse tycoon Eugen Block, who has an estimated fortune of $330 million according to the German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt.

Per U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, Danish police said a group of men knocked Hensel to the ground before attacking him and fleeing the scene with the two children in two rental cars with German license plates.

It is unclear whether the kidnappers crossed the Danish border.

The publication also reported that Danish police are investigating whether the kidnapping is linked to a custody battle. Block and Hensel, who moved to Denmark after the pair’s split, have been locked in a custody battle since their divorce in 2018. 

Per the publication, a police official said they are investigating “whether there is a connection between the night’s events and the question of parental authority.”

German police are also involved in the investigation. A federal police spokesperson told Bild, "We were involved because of a possible kidnapping."

According to The Telegraph, Block previously told the German media that Hensel “kidnapped” their two youngest children in 2021 after they failed to return to their Hamburg home after a weekend visit to Denmark. Hensel said the children refused to return to Germany.

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A legal battle between the pair then ensued in both Germany and Denmark. Per the publication, the German court system ruled that Hensel should return the children to Block, however, the Danish courts ruled that the children should remain with their father and granted Block, whose current partner Gerhard Delling is a famous TV host, visitation rights.

As of Tuesday, there had been no sightings of the children. The authorities in Germany and Denmark did not immediately reply to PEOPLE's request for further information.

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