By Africa Crime Desk

At the time, it was only a casual warning.

The kind of thing locals say to tourists near Pafuri every day: take care on that road, avoid the quieter route too late, don’t assume the bush is empty just because it looks peaceful.

But after Ernst and Dina Marais were found murdered near Crooks Corner in Kruger National Park, one local driver reportedly could not stop replaying his brief conversation with Ernst.

According to a claim now circulating around the investigation, the driver had spoken to Ernst about safe routes in the Pafuri area before the couple disappeared. He allegedly warned him about one particular road, a remote stretch locals considered risky because of its isolation, weak signal, and proximity to the borderlands.

Authorities have not publicly confirmed this witness account. Police have also not released any confirmed “car CCTV” or in-vehicle footage showing the couple’s final moments.

But if investigators verify the driver’s account, it could become a painful clue in the timeline.

Ernst Marais, 71, and Dina Marais, 73, from Mossel Bay, were found dead near Crooks Corner after disappearing during a sightseeing trip in Kruger National Park. Their bodies were discovered near the Levubu and Limpopo river intersection, and preliminary investigations indicated they had been stabbed. Their green Ford Ranger double cab was missing, and police opened murder and hijacking cases.

The couple had reportedly checked into the park on May 17 and were last seen at the Pafuri picnic area on May 20. A search was launched after camp staff noticed they had not returned.

That timeline gives the alleged road warning its force.

If Ernst spoke to a local driver before leaving the area, investigators would want to know exactly what road was mentioned, what time the conversation happened, whether Dina was present, and whether the Ford Ranger later appeared on that same route.

In a case where the vehicle vanished, the road may be as important as the bodies.

Crooks Corner lies in Kruger’s remote northern section, near South Africa’s borders with Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The park spans more than two million hectares and shares a long border with both countries, making the northern region difficult to secure and especially sensitive after the killings.

Reports have said investigators suspected the killers may have used the terrain to move toward Mozambique. Police were also investigating the missing Ford Ranger as part of a double murder and hijacking case.

That is why any route warning now sounds less like advice and more like foreshadowing.

A dangerous road in Kruger does not always look dangerous. It may be quiet, scenic, and empty. It may pass close to riverbeds, service tracks, fence lines, or places where tourists rarely stop. For visitors, it is wilderness. For criminals familiar with the area, it can become cover.

Several reports have said investigators were considering whether Ernst and Dina may have encountered poachers or smugglers before they were killed. PEOPLE reported that one theory was that the couple may have stumbled upon illegal activity and were murdered to stop them from alerting authorities.

The alleged “car CCTV” detail, if real, would be crucial.

A vehicle camera could show whether the couple were followed, waved down, blocked, or approached by someone they thought was harmless. It could capture a voice, a vehicle, a uniform, a road sign, a sudden stop, or the moment an ordinary drive changed into an ambush.

But without police confirmation, that footage remains only an unverified claim.

What is confirmed is already grim enough: two elderly tourists were killed, their vehicle disappeared, and SANParks said this was the first incident of its kind in Kruger’s 100-year history.

For the local driver, if his account is true, the regret would be unbearable.

He may not have known he was giving Ernst Marais the last warning of his life.

He may not have known that the road he mentioned would later become part of a murder investigation.

And he may now be asking the same question haunting the Marais family:

Did Ernst and Dina take the road they had been warned about — and did someone already know they would?