A retired married couple’s dream safari trip ended in horror after their bodies were found near a river inside South Africa’s world-famous Kruger National Park.
Ernst Marais, 71, and his wife, Dina Marais, 73, were discovered dead on Friday, May 22, after they failed to return from what was supposed to be a day of sightseeing, according to reports.
The couple, from Mossel Bay on South Africa’s southern coast, had last been seen two days earlier, on Wednesday, May 20, when they left their holiday accommodations inside the park.
At first, officials hoped they may have simply become stranded.
“It was hoped that they had gone off road and broken down after heavy local floods somewhere,” a Kruger National Park source told The Sun. “But then we got a call to say two bodies had been found.”
The discovery was horrifying.
According to reports, Ernst and Dina are believed to have been stabbed. Their hands were reportedly bound behind their backs, and their bodies were found near a river in the Pafuri section of the park.
A park source described the attack as “very brutal” and said the couple’s 4×4 vehicle had been stolen.
The source claimed the bodies may have been dumped in the river “no doubt for the crocs.”
South African National Parks, known as SANParks, confirmed “with shock and sadness” that two bodies were found in the Pafuri area after a search was launched when camp staff noticed the tourists had not returned.
The bodies were reportedly discovered by other tourists near a river in what SANParks called a “gruesome discovery.”
Officials also confirmed that the couple’s vehicle is missing.
Investigators are now trying to determine exactly what happened.
According to The Sun, an anonymous South African police source said authorities are looking into the possibility that the couple may have come across poachers and were killed to stop them from reporting what they had seen.
The source suggested the stolen pickup truck could have been useful for transporting goods and noted that there are unfenced ways to cross the river into Mozambique.
One of the couple’s neighbors told The Sun that police had visited their home in Mossel Bay, hoping Ernst and Dina had somehow returned there safely. But the house was empty.
“They were a lovely couple who loved going on safari, and the residents are all in shock,” the neighbor said.
The killing has stunned officials because of how rare such an incident is inside the park.
“It is the first time in the history of the Kruger National Park that an incident of this nature has been reported,” Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Willie Aucamp said, according to SANParks.
Aucamp said the couple’s next of kin have been informed and that police are investigating.
Kruger National Park is one of the most famous wildlife destinations in the world, drawing visitors hoping to see elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, buffalo, and other animals in the wild.
But for the Marais family, what should have been a peaceful safari getaway has become an unimaginable tragedy.
Two retirees who loved the outdoors vanished during a day trip. Days later, they were found dead near a river, their vehicle missing, and investigators facing one of the most disturbing cases the park has ever seen.
Remember back in the 1980’s when ending apartheid in South Africa was flavor of the week? Indeed, every white liberal, and every American mainstream news media outlet embraced it. Well, they got what they wished for and now South Africa is one of the most corrupt, crime ridden and dysfunctional countries in the world. And you never hear a white liberal or anyone on the American mainstream media say a word about it.