Caroline von Rantzau, 26, heiress to the million-dollar German shipping company DAL, was found mysteriously dead at her family’s luxury safari lodge in Limpopo province in northern South Africa – a day after her friend, the family financial manager, was murdered. The German newspaper Bild reported that on June 1, gunshots were heard at the property and von Rantzau was found suffering from gunshot wounds.Police believe von Rentzau was shot. 357 caliber hunting rifle, the same weapon that her father, Dr. Eberhardt von Rantzau, had in his gun cabinet, the outlet reports.On May 31, Arno Coen, the financial manager of the family estate, was found dead on the property. The 44-year-old employee died from a 9 mm bullet.“The results of the autopsy will provide investigators with information about the actual cause of death and will determine whether investigations will be initiated against other individuals,” South African Police Service spokesperson Malesela Ledwaba told the outlet.
The mystery deepened as von Rantzau’s death was initially ruled an accident.
The mystery of both murders deepened as initial reports claimed that von Rantzau had been killed in a car accident after the shipping company claimed.Bild reported that Koen, von Rantzau’s guardian and foster father, was in charge of bookings and finances at the property. After purchasing two properties in the vast, untouched land of the South African province, near the Mozambican border, von Rantzau began building an impressive real estate portfolio of his own.According to the website, he spends his time caring for the animals on the family property, which is home to antelope, horses, wildebeest, impala, mongoose, monitors and birds. DAL, which sold its container liner business to Hapag-Lloyd in 2022, is a leading brand in chemical tankers across Europe, the company said. Dr. Eberhart von Rantzau is part of the third generation of family ownership of the company founded by John T. Asberger in 1924.Authorities have not yet clarified what exactly happened – and no suspects have been identified. However, no one else is being investigated at present.