Being part of the wealthy Oetker dynasty, he was kidnapped by Dieter
Zlof, in the parking lot of his university near Munich on 14 December
1976. After his family had paid a ransom of 21 million Deutschmark, he
was set free some weeks later, but he has suffered from the injuries of
his imprisonment to date. In 1978, Zlof was caught and sentenced to 15
years in prison, but only a part of the ransom has been found.
