Danish heiress’s two children, 10 and 13, ‘are kidnapped’ when their father is attacked during New Year’s Eve firework display amid bitter custody battle
- Two children of Stephen Hensel and Christina Block were kidnapped
- The attackers fled from a small Danish town in two German rental cars
- Danish police said this could be related to an ongoing custody battle
The two children of a Danish heiress were kidnapped by several men who attacked their father during a New Year's Eve fireworks show.
On January 1, just after midnight, several men knocked 49-year-old Stephen Hensel to the ground as he watched the fireworks with his children, 13-year-old Klara and 10-year-old Theodor, in the small Danish town of Gravenstein.
The men who have not yet been arrested put the children, born to the Danish socialite and steakhouse heiress Christina Block, in two German rental cars: a Citroën DS7 Crossback with license plate DN-AV 9551 and a Mercedes A-Class with license plate WI-W 6481 E – before you escape.
Police told Bild they are investigating the kidnapping, with German Federal Police assisting in the ongoing hunt.
Federal police told the newspaper that several patrol cars had been stationed at the border with Denmark, 16 kilometers away from where the children were taken, although the investigation was handed over to state police in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.
On January 1, just after midnight, several men knocked 49-year-old Stephen Hensel (pictured, left) to the ground as he watched the fireworks with his children
Danish police said the incident may be related to an ongoing custody battle between Block and her ex-husband
Danish police said the incident may be related to an ongoing custody dispute between Block and her ex-husband.
Hensel kept both Klara and Theodor with him in Denmark during a 2021 visit.
Hensel and Block's eldest daughter, 17-year-old Johanna, would voluntarily live with Hensel in Denmark, while 15-year-old Greta lives with Block in Hamburg.
Block, who has been in a relationship with German TV presenter and sports journalist Gerhard Delling since 2021, and her family are not allowed to see Klara, Theodor or Johanna.
When Block's mother Christa died of cancer in July at the age of 82, the three children were unable to say goodbye.
Block has been in a relationship with German TV presenter and sports journalist Gerhard Delling (photo, right) since 2021.
Christina Block and Gerhard Delling attend the Ein Herz Fuer Kinder Gala 2023 at Studio Berlin Adlershof
“I have sent gifts and letters to all three of them, but I don't know if they will arrive,” Block previously revealed.
“And then I wonder what words my ex-husband will use to give the gifts to my children.
'Does he accept it sympathetically or does he trivialize the content? I don't know and that hurts.'
Eugen Block, Christina's father, is now worth €300 million, local media report.
His three children, Dirk, Christina and Philipp, each have an eight percent share in his company Eugen Block Holdings, which itself has interests in several of Eugen's companies, including the steakhouse chain Block House and the burger restaurants Jim Block.