CNN: Sanford SUV found at Columbia Airport (Not Atlanta) -- with camping stuff inside. Minnesota?

[dave29]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/23/car-believed-to-be-sanfords-found-at-south-carolina-airport/

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.

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.

and this late from fivethirtyeight.com:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/sanford-to-minneapolis.html

Passing along information from anonymous Wikipedia sources really isn't the best way to build one's reputation. But I noticed that the Wiki for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose whereabouts have been unknown for six days, now contains the following proviso:

A state vehicle, however, was missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. A federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

A report by WYFF-TV in Greenvile, SC claimed earlier today that Sanford had been cited boarding a plane at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. Nowhere, however, in the mainstream (or the non-mainstream) media has the destination of the flight been reported, and there is no citation in the Wikipedia entry. The comment was added by someone at the IP address 24.250.141.144, which traces back to a Cox Communications server in Atlanta. This is either someone with first-hand knowledge of the situation (a fellow passenger, a flight attendant, a federal marshal) or someone trying to play a prank. Ordinarily, the probabilities would weight heavily toward the latter possibility, but since the entry comes from Atlanta and Atlanta specifically the former seems distinctly possible.

[eleny]

1. So he went to the Columbia Airport and then his cell phone went to Atlanta

[dave29]

4. and we already know he got on a plane in Atlanta...

bizarro.

[eleny]

9. Did you ever see the movie, "Husbands"?

Boy, is he ever in trouble at home.

[dave29]

12. based on his wife comments

and the subtext I've gotten from them... I'd say he's lost whatever testicles he has remaining, upon return.

[DemoTex]

2. I'll keep an eye pealed for Mark out here in the Deschutes NF wilderness.

If I find him, I'll send him home with a note for his mother.

[stevedeshazer]

13. You can see everything from there.

He's down there somewhere.

:)

[SidDithers]

26. That was his career going up in smoke...

so there's a good chance you'll see him :)

Sid

[Old and In the Way]

3. "Bye, honey, I'm off for a few days of isolation on the Appalachian Trail!"

yeah, sure.

[FarPoint]

18. That was the most ridiculous bullshit I had heard all month;

as the Appalachian Trail poses an extremely difficult security detail! I never believed that one. Heck, a young college girl was brutally murdered on the trail just a few years ago. Yea, that had to be the lamest excuse since the dog ate my homework.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. You'd need more than that to hike for several days in the wilderness.

You call it hiking but I call it running around, to paraphrase Mose Allison.

[dave29]

7. not if you are hiking naked?

:shrug:

[dmr]

6. Sounds like a planted car

State Police said he borrowed a SLED car Thursday. So, why would his child's school parking permit be on the windshield on a borrowed state vehicle?

It doesn't add up, sounds like a cover-up.

[kentuck]

10. Yep...

An attempt to divert attention away from the vehicle at the Atlanta airport.

[Marsala]

21. By putting another vehicle at another airport?

That doesn't divert suspicion, it only makes the story even more bizarre, since now there are 2 vehicles and BOTH are at airports instead of the Appalachian Trail.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. Isn't it normal to camp & hike in airport parking lots?

We did it all the time growing up!

:sarcasm:

[Old and In the Way]

11. How does this square with the earlier report that he was in Atlanta?

Someone creating a trail of obfuscation? I'm thinking maybe the earlier report was planted to distract from his actual whereabouts.

[dave29]

14. I don't think any of the reports said the SUV was seen in Atlanta

just a reports of him being seen at the airport: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/report_sanford_seen_in_atlanta_airport.php?ref=fpa

and a report that his cellphone was last picked up in the Atlanta area.

Odds are he flew to Atlanta before going wherever else he went.

[Drunken Irishman]

15. So if he flew to Atlanta, why leave the hiking stuff in So. Carolina?

[dave29]

16. that appears to be the question

Maybe he will show up and answer tomorrow

[Old and In the Way]

23. Most likely, for show....nt

[dave29]

17. fivethirtyeight.com speculating the Atlanta flight may have been to Minnesota

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/sanford-to-minneapolis.html

Passing along information from anonymous Wikipedia sources really isn't the best way to build one's reputation. But I noticed that the Wiki for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose whereabouts have been unknown for six days, now contains the following proviso:

A state vehicle, however, was missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. A federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

A report by WYFF-TV in Greenvile, SC claimed earlier today that Sanford had been cited boarding a plane at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. Nowhere, however, in the mainstream (or the non-mainstream) media has the destination of the flight been reported, and there is no citation in the Wikipedia entry. The comment was added by someone at the IP address 24.250.141.144, which traces back to a Cox Communications server in Atlanta. This is either someone with first-hand knowledge of the situation (a fellow passenger, a flight attendant, a federal marshal) or someone trying to play a prank. Ordinarily, the probabilities would weight heavily toward the latter possibility, but since the entry comes from Atlanta and Atlanta specifically the former seems distinctly possible.

[MichaelHarris]

19. First

Big Foot Craig and now Wide Stance Sanford?

[defendandprotect]

20. What is Mrs. Governor saying lately . . . ?? Gov. left w/o telling her he was going or where?

[Marr]

22. He's a Republican. He was probably just heading off for a little Larry Craig style action in

that Minnesota bathroom.

Seriously, this is very weird.

[smalll]

25. Of course. Being Republican, he must also be gay.

Seeing as how both things are basically grossenating and objectionable.

:eyes:

[Marr]

28. Are you kidding me?

Please-- keep searching for ways to take personal offense if you like, but it looks ridiculous.

[MiniMe]

24. Betty Ford

As is Betty Ford clinic

[SidDithers]

27. Delta flies direct from Atlanta to Buenos Aires...nt

Sid