Photos: Lam Kok, Chinese vineyard owner dies in Bordeaux crash

Chinese billionaire Lam Kok (2nd R) and his spouse pose alongside the French former owner of the Chateau de La Riviere, James Gregoire (2nd L), and his spouse in front of the castle in La Riviere, on December 20, 2013. The deal which was concluded on December 19 for Chinese billionaire Lam Kok to buy a Bordeaux vineyard, le Château de La Rivière, turned to tragedy today after the helicopter which the billionaire and the vineyard's French former owner James Gregoire were using to fly over the property crashed into the Dordogne river. This photograph was taken less than an hour before the crash. The French former owner of the vineyard James Gregoire, the new Chinese buyer Lam Kok, and Lam Kok's 12-year-old son are still missing. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525576199 )

Chinese billionaire Lam Kok (R) shakes hands with the French former owner of the Chateau de La Riviere, James Gregoire (L) in front of the castle in La Riviere, on December 20, 2013. This photograph was taken less than an hour before the crash. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525576196 )

In this photo taken Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, Lam Kok, who headed Hong Kong-based company Brilliant Group, second from right, his wife, right, former owner James Gregoire, second from left, and his wife Monique Gregoire, left, pose for photographers after buying the Chateau La Riviere vineyards, near Bordeaux, southwestern France. French authorities say the Chinese magnate, his 12-year-old son and two others, including James Gregoire, died in a helicopter crash on Friday, Dec. 20 as they toured Bordeaux vineyards the businessman had recently purchased. (AP Photo/Marilyn Johnson) ( France Helicopter Crash )

Chinese billionaire Lam Kok (L) and his spouse pose for a photograph on December 20, 2013, in front of the Chateau de La Riviere, in La Riviere. This photograph was taken less than an hour before the crash. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525575974 )

Chinese billionaire Lam Kok (L) and his spouse pose for a photograph on December 20, 2013, in the Chateau de la Rivière vineyard, in La Riviere. This photograph was taken less than an hour before the crash. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525575965 )

A view taken on December 23, 2013 shows the Bordeaux chateau estate of La Riviere. French police launched today a delicate operation to lift a helicopter from a river bed for clues into a crash that is thought to have killed a Chinese tycoon and a French winemaker. Efforts to find the remains of Lam Kok, a 46-year-old Chinese tea-and-property magnate, his interpreter and financial advisor, Peng Wang, and James Gregoire, a French entrepreneur and the pilot of the helicopter, have been ongoing since December 20, when the aircraft fell into the Dordogne river. The crash occurred while they had been on a celebratory aerial tour of a chateau estate that the Chinese businessman had just bought from Gregoire. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACHMEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525618997 )

Rescue firefighters organized a search operation after a helicopter crashed in Lugon-et-l'ile-du-Carnay, France, 20 December 2013. The new owner of the Bordeaux vineyards Chinese Lam Kok, his son and an interpreter were on board of the crashed helicopter. Lam Kok, the 46-year-old head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group, was surveying his new property from overhead in a helicopter piloted by the former owner James Gregoire when the accident happened. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG ( FRANCE CHINESE BILLIONAIRE MISSING IN THE CRASH OF A HELICOPTER )

Rescue workers and divers look out from boats during a rescue operation at the site of a helicopter crash in which a Chinese billionaire, his son, and the French former owner of the Chateau de La Riviere disappeared, on December 20, 2013, in the Dordogne river near Lugon. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK BERNARD/AFP/Getty Images ( 525586127 )

Gendarmes take part on December 23, 2013 in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, in an operation to lift a helicopter from the Dordogne river bed for clues into a crash that is thought to have killed a Chinese tycoon and a French winemaker. Efforts to find the remains of Lam Kok, a 46-year-old Chinese tea-and-property magnate, his interpreter and financial advisor, Peng Wang, and James Gregoire, a French entrepreneur and the pilot of the helicopter, have been ongoing since December 20, 2013 when the aircraft fell into the Dordogne river. The crash occurred while they had been on a celebratory aerial tour of a chateau estate that the Chinese businessman had just bought from Gregoire. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525618642 )

An unidentified relative of the Chinese billionaire Lam Kok, who disappeared with his son in a helicopter crash on Friday, 20 Dec., shouts his name from the banks of the river Dordogne, in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, near Bordeaux, southwestern France, Sunday, Dec.22, 2013. Chinese billionaire Lam Kok was in Bordeaux to buy the 8th-century Chateau de la Riviere and vineyard in a deal that represented the biggest ever Chinese investment in the area. (AP Photo/Bob Edme) ( France Crash China )

Gendarmes take part on December 23, 2013 in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, in an operation to lift a helicopter from the Dordogne river bed for clues into a crash that is thought to have killed a Chinese tycoon and a French winemaker. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH load wreckages of the crashed Robinson R44 helicopter on a truck in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, on December 23, 2013 after they lifted it from the Dordogne river bed. The crash, killing a Chinese tycoon, a French winemaker and an interpreter and financial advisor Peng Wang, occurred while they had been on a celebratory aerial tour of a chateau estate that Lam Kok, 46-year-old Chinese tea-and-property magnate, had just bought from James Gregoire, a French entrepreneur and the pilot of the helicopter. Only the body of Lam Kok's 12-year-old son Shun Yu Kok, has been recovered. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACHMEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525618879 )

Gendarmes take part on December 23, 2013 in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, in an operation to lift a helicopter from the Dordogne river bed for clues into a crash that is thought to have killed a Chinese tycoon and a French winemaker. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH ( 525618878 )

French gendarmes try to locate the wreckages of the crashed Robinson R44 helicopter, on December 23, 2013 in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, during an operation to lift it from the Dordogne river bed. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525618920 )

Gendarmes take part in an operation to lift a helicopter from the Dordogne river bed for clues into a crash that is thought to have killed a Chinese tycoon and a French winemaker.AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH ( 525618836 )

Gendarmes take part in an operation to lift a helicopter from the Dordogne river bed for clues into a crash that is thought to have killed a Chinese tycoon and a French winemaker. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH ( 525618843 )

The wreckages of the crashed Robinson R44 helicopter are lifted by a crane from the Dordogne river bed on December 23, 2013, in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH /AFP/Getty Images ( 525618856 )

Gendarmes load wreckages of the crashed Robinson R44 helicopter on a truck in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, on December 23, 2013 after they lifted it from the Dordogne river bed. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525618858 )

Gendarmes carry wreckages of the crashed Robinson R44 helicopter in Lugon-et-l'Ile-du-Carnay, southwestern France, on December 23, 2013 after they lifted it from the Dordogne river bed. AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images ( 525618785 )