What we know about the alleged kidnapping in the Block case
Two children are possibly abducted in Denmark on New Year's Eve. They are Klara and Theodor Block, the grandchildren of the well-known restaurant entrepreneur Eugen Block. The background is unclear. What is known is that the children's parents have been involved in a bitter custody dispute for years.
Is this the culmination of an unpleasant custody dispute? Or is there something else behind the story? At the turn of the year, unknown persons abduct the grandchildren of "Block House" founder Eugen Block from the care of their father, Stephan Hensel. The whereabouts of the children are unclear, but the police assume that they are now with their mother, steakhouse heiress Christina Block. A look at the facts of a complicated family history:
What we know:
- On the night of January 1, Stephan Hensel is with two children in the Danish town of Gravenstein/ Gråsten, population 4000: At the "Caféodora" restaurant, Christina Blocks' ex-husband wants to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks with two of their children, 13-year-old Klara and Theodor, her brother who is three years younger.
- According to the Danish police, several men attack the father shortly after midnight and beat him up. They then force the children to get into a rental car and speed off (in two cars). The Danish police received an emergency call at 0.17 a.m. and immediately launched a manhunt. It was not until 1.07 a.m. that the German Federal Police were called in and two patrol cars were parked at the border. The federal police assume "a possible kidnapping". Later that night, the Schleswig-Holstein state police take over, and the Hamburg police are now investigating.
- The hijackers' cars are registered in Germany: A Citroën DS7 Crossback with the license plate DN-AV 9551 and a Mercedes A-Class with the license plate WI-W 6481 E.
- The authorities are investigating assault and deprivation of liberty.
- The main focus is on finding the two children and ensuring their safety.
- Christina Block (Block House restaurant chain) has been fighting with her ex-husband for years over custody of their children. In summer 2021, Stephan Hensel kept the two children, who have now been abducted, after visiting them in Denmark. The 17-year-old daughter Johanna is said to be living with her father voluntarily. The daughter Greta, who is two years younger, lives with Christina Block in Hamburg.
- In 2021, Hensel said that the children did not want to return to their mother in Hamburg, while Block said that the children were being kept from her.
- In February 2023, there was a ruling on custody, the Danish court awarded the children to the father and Christina Block is said to have been granted supervised access rights (every two weeks).
- Christina Block is in a relationship with former sports presenter Gerhard Delling.
What we don't know:
- Where the children are and how they are doing. Presumably, however, both children are with their mother. "The prosecution authorities are currently assuming that they are in the care of their mother," said a spokeswoman for the Hamburg public prosecutor's office. "There are currently no concrete indications that the children are in danger." The Hamburg police, who are also involved in the case alongside the Danish authorities, have also stated that the facts of the case are known and are the subject of ongoing investigations. "Further information cannot be provided at present due to the fact that the investigation is only just beginning," they say. Neither the German nor the Danish authorities are aware of the matter.
- Stephan Hensel does not wish to comment, Christina Block did not respond to an inquiry from the "Bild" newspaper.
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The international police are now involved in the investigation, as the hijackers' cars are registered in Germany. This abduction case involves a custodial dispute between the children's parents, Eugen Block's grandchildren Klara and Theodor, and Stephan Hensel and Christina Block. Despite the custody ruling in February 2023, awarding the children to their father, the children's whereabouts remain unknown, leading to concerns that they may still be in custody against their will.
Source: www.ntv.de
