GREENVILLE, S.C. — WYFF News 4 has received exclusive information from sources who say they have information about Gov. Mark Sanford’s whereabouts during a mysterious absence over the past several days.
Sanford’s wife Jenny said she last talked to him on Thursday, and though she didn’t know where he is, she said she wasn’t concerned. She said he had left to have time to write. Joel Sawyer, communications director for the governor’s office, then said the governor had been on the Appalachian Trail. Sawyer said staffers heard from Sanford on Tuesday morning and the governor plans to return Wednesday. Sawyer said the governor is surprised by all the attention.On Tuesday, sources told News 4’s Nigel Robertson that a state vehicle is missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Sources told Robertson that a federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane. Robertson was told that the governor was not accompanied by security detail.Sanford has been out of reach for more than four days, including Father’s Day…
Car believed to be Sanford’s found at South Carolina airport
June 23, 2009
From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
The car is believed to be the one Sanford used to leave town.COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – The black Chevy Suburban believed to have been used by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to leave town has been found in the parking lot of Columbia Metropolitan Airport. CNN was alerted to its location by a law enforcement official.
Sanford is expected to return to Columbia tomorrow after a mysterious six-day absence. His office has said the governor, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, has been hiking the Appalachian Trail to clear his head after a tough legislative session.
The SUV is outfitted with blue police lights and two-way radio. Inside the vehicle: A baseball cap, running shoes, sunscreen, a pair of shorts, a canvas bag and a sleeping bag. A parking permit for the school attended by Sanford’s children is visible on the windshield.
The mystery of the missing governor has taken another plot twist.
A South Carolina newspaper is reporting that Gov. Mark Sanford said he has been in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since Thursday, not hiking the Appalachian Trail, as his staff had told reporters.
Mr. Sanford’s staff had been unable to reach him for four days, starting on Thursday, and his wife had told The Associated Press that she did not know his whereabouts on Monday. But a spokesman for the governor told reporters on Monday night that Mr. Sanford had been reached, was hiking an unspecified portion of the Appalachian Trail and would return to the office on Wednesday.
In an interview with The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C., Mr. Sanford said he had taken an unplanned trip to the South American country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over accepting a portion of the federal stimulus funding.
He had considered hiking the trail, he said. “But I said ‘no’ I wanted to do something exotic,” Mr. Sanford told The State. “It’s a great city.”
Mr. Sanford could not be reached for comment, although his spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said the governor would hold a news conference at 2 p.m. today.
The governor was interviewed by The State upon his return from Argentina in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta…
This is all too fabulous…ever so much more stimulating than, say, Wilbur Mills driving his car into the Potomac. Here, a rabid conservative, has an existential crisis and wanders off in search of a Zen moment?!? Bet he was able to find some decent dope down there in the Argentine too.