Private In-N-Out heiress, 31, who controls family's billion-dollar burger empire opens up about kidnapping attempts as a child and her strong faith (but don't ask her about her kids or three ex-husbands)

• Lynsi Snyder, 30, is president and owner of the West Coast burger chain In-N-Out and is worth more than $1billion
  
• The fast food heiress is notoriously secretive and for a reason- she was the target of kidnapping attempts when she was 17 and 24 years old
• Revealed that her father created a private Christian school for her to go to as a child in Northern California
  
• She is in the midst of her third divorce, this time from a drag racing star
  
• Is believed to have three children: twins from her second marriage and a son from her third 'who was born before her second divorce was finalized'
  

By Meghan Keneally and Katie Davies

Published: 18:06 EDT, 30 January 2014 | Updated: 09:52 EDT, 31 January 2014

Low profile: Lynsi Snyder, (pictured in 2012) has only just started giving interviews about her role in the company

The reclusive heiress to the In-N-Out fortune has revealed that she has purposefully remained hidden for years because she was the subject of two kidnapping plots.

Lynsi Snyder is the thrice-married 31-year-old who is now the head of the burger chain, making her the youngest female billionaire in America.

That kind of wealth makes it understandable that she was the target of criminals trying to extorte the family for a fortune.

She told Orange Coast magazine that the first kidnapping attempt took place when she was only 17-years-old and still in high school- just months before her father Guy Snyder died from an accidental drug overdose.

The second took place when she started working in the family business full time at age 24- the same year that her grandmother Esther died after taking over the company following her son’s death.

Ms Snyder told the magazine that she escaped the second batch of kidnappers by running across an expressway near the In-N-Out headquarters in Baldwin Park, California.

She said that she was able to sense something off about the men because 'they had a van with boarded-up windows'.

With such viable threats lurking at every turn, Ms Snyder is taking extreme precautions to protect her own children just like her father did before her.

Ms Snyder grew up in Northern California where her father had a ranch.

The family is extremely devout and vocal in their beliefs, so much so that Guy Snyder founded a private Christian school with the sole purpose of Lynsi having a religious education while also being kept shrouded in privacy.

Refusing interviews: On a rare public occasion Lynsi Torres attended the opening of an In N Out Burger in Allen, Texas, pictured in 2011. She said she didn't want to be interviewed but was 'ecstatic'

Different kind of businesswoman: Lynsi Snyder is rarely seen unless it is to do with drag racing (left) but she has just started to give interviews relating to her family business, In-N-Out Burger (right)

Snyder is the only biological heir to the In-N-Out fortune, but she grew up with two half-sisters (pictured) from her mother Lynda's (bottom left) previous marriage

They have purposefully kept their name far from the public records about the school, and while there are about a half-dozen Christian schools near where she grew up in Shingletown, California, the only one that was founded after her birth is Redding Christian School.

On the school's website, they discuss the foundations of the school- without naming any names.

'On October 11, 1990, twelve people met in a home for prayer about the possibility of founding Redding’s first independent nondenominational Christian school. These same people committed to meet once a week for the purposes of prayer and planning,' the site reads.

MailOnline's calls to the school about the identity of those 12 people went unturned.

In spite of his best efforts to protect his daughter, Guy could not stop tragedy from following her.

High school sweetheart: Lynsi first married Jeremiah Seawell (pictured) when she was age 18

Education: Her parents are believed to have been the ones behind the creation of Redding Christian School, pictured, since it was the only non-denominational independent school in the area that was founded around the time she would have started school

The family business was founded by her grandparents, Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948, and they ran it until his death less than 30 years later in 1976.

At that point, it was handed down to his younger son Rich- Guy’s brother- because he was seen as the more responsible one since Guy had a drug problem.

Lynsi was just 11 years old when her uncle Rich was on board a private jet in 1993 and it crashed near Los Angeles. The company was then handed to his brother Guy who died of a drug overdose six years later.

‘I was a daddy’s girl,’ she told Orange Coast.

‘Because of my dad’s struggle with drug addiction, I have a great love for addicts… I see that you can have a really smart, great person, who is dealing with an addiction that makes him an entirely different person.’

Second husband: Lynsi met Richard Martinez (pictured) when they were both working at In-N-Out and they got married in 2005

She was only 17 when that occurred in the winter of 1999 but had expressed an interest in the family business and had spent the summer working at the Redding branch of In-N-Out and did the regular tasks given to first time employees which included peeling potatoes and slicing onions.

Her grandmother was given control of the company until she died in 2006, at which point Lynsi was 24 and already divorced.

Her first husband was Jeremiah Seawell, her high school sweetheart, and they married when she was only 18.

The marriage only lasted two years, but by the time she was 25 she remarried Richard Martinez, a man who was working at In-N-Out at the time.

They had twins before their marriage ended in 2011. She and Martinez shared their Christian faith, and he went on to work as a minister in a Christian ministry that they are both still very closely involved with called Healing Hearts and Nations.

Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Lynsi is deeply involved with a Christian charity called Healing Hearts and Nations, and in the latest interview she confirmed that both she and her second husband work with the group.

Martinez is listed as a pastor for the group, and just recently returned from a lengthy trip to India on the group's behalf.

Martinez, 32, has pictures of he and Lynsi on a trip to Africa with Healing Hearts and Nations in 2009. He is currently listed as president of the group.

Shared passion: Both became involved in the Healing Hearts and Nations Christian ministry, and are seen here on a trip with the group to Africa in 2009

Mission: Lynsi, seen here with two other people associated with the ministry group on the 2009 trip, has spoken proudly about her involvement and is happy that they are now in 18 countries

Timeline: Though she and Martinez (pictured left and right) formally got divorced at some point in 2011, and she gave birth to Valentino Guy Torres in July 2011. She married her third husband, Val Torres Jr, at some point in 2011 and now they are getting divorced

Their shared religious beliefs is something that they both have held on to for years, and she revealed that the two tattoos that she has feature religious phrases- one in Aramaic and another in Hebrew. Both are paraphrased from a Bible verses.

Though she had the foresight to demand a prenup before marrying her second husband, she still pays him child support.

Radar Online reports that she pays $18,000 in child support on a monthly basis to Martinez.

He has broken away from the fast food culture that permeates in the Snyder family, Martinez also recently launched a self-help company called You-nification in Los Angeles that extolls the virtues of healthy eating and exercise.

Shared interests: Her third husband, Val Torres Jr, is a professional drag racer and they are currently in the process of getting a divorce after getting married in 2011

Her family has long been interested in drag racing and apparently her time behind the wheel started during her second marriage. In a 2010 Facebook post, Martinez shows his support for his wife's new endeavor: 'Nice my wife is racing & just won first round!!! Go lynsi!!'

Multiple reports state that Lynsi and Richard split in 2011 and she then went on to marry drag racer Val Torres Jr a few months later that same year.

The timeline becomes slightly more complicated, however, based on the revelation that she gave birth to a boy named Valentino Guy on July 15, 2011.

She has never mentioned this son in interviews- and in the most recent sit down, she flat-out said that she is keeping the number of children she has a secret for fear that they too could become targets of kidnapping schemes- but her mother was not as quiet.

The proud grandmother posted updates about her grandson's birth, telling friends on Facebook that 'Lynsi and baby Guy... are doing well and are grateful for all of your prayers'.

'Lord God you have blessed me with such a wonderful and loving family. I thank you and praise you for the gifts you bestow on us here on earth. May I live a long life in order to see them multiply and serve You in Your Kingdom,' she wrote around that time.

Lynsi's mother Lynda posted photos of Lynsi and Val along with her two half sisters and their husbands in Bora Bora in 2012.

In the photos, Lynsi is wearing a form-fitting white dress, proving that she had shed any baby weight from the year before.

Family time: Lynsi's mother Lynda (third from left) posted this family photo from a trip to Bora Bora in 2012 while Lynsi (second from right) was still married to her third husband Val (right)

One of the rare stories which emerged about Lynsi – who legally changed her name to Lynsi Torres but is now being referred to as Snyder once more – was her reported purchase of a $17.4million home in Bradbury, California last year.

According to Realestalker.com she bought the 7 bedroom, 16 bathroom, luxury home from former L.A. dodgers player Adrián Beltré.

It seems that she she will now have the place all to her self as she and Val are now in the process of getting a divorce.

She is a huge fan of her ex-husband’s sport, a dangerous hobby inherited from her father, a huge drag racing enthusiast who left his only child a collection of 27 cars.

She has raced and won herself many times and is a member of the National Hot Road Association.

'I’m a lot like my dad, a little bit of a daredevil. I like an adrenaline rush. My dad took me to the racetrack for the first time when I was 2 or 3... Anything with a motor, that was in my blood,' she told Orange Coast.

Can I have fries with that?  Last year she bought a $17.4million mansion after becoming In-N-Out president

'Burger Princess': Lynsi Torres reportedly bought her home from former L.A. Dodgers player Adrian Beltre. It is one of the few stories to emerge about the mystery heiress

In a rare public comment she spoke to Dragracecentral.com about her love of the sport when launching the company’s sponsorship of a new car last February.

‘I am so excited that In-N-Out Burger is back in drag racing,’ she said.

‘My father had a passion for drag racing and that passion lives in me. Drag racing has played a big role in In-N-Out's history and it is also an important part of my family history.’

She is often seen watching from the sidelines.

She also made a rare appearance at the opening of a North Texas In-N-Out outlet in 2011.
The company has expanded to 280 stores and a billion dollar value according to the latest analysis by Bloomberg Businessweek.

With trademark shyness, however, she failed to advertize her presence.

She told the one local reporter present: 'I'm ecstatic but I don't know if I want to do an interview'.

Family history: The West Coast burger chain has been family-run since the first restaurant was opened in Baldwin Park in 1948 by Torres' grandparents Harry and Esther Synder