Sanford’s car found at Columbia airport

From The Palmetto Scoop:

The mystery into Mark Sanford’s six-day disappearance deepened Tuesday night as new evidence cast further doubt onto the governor’s “hiking” alibi.

CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby tracked down Sanford’s state-issued black Chevy Suburban at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

That information would seem to further contradict Sanford’s spokesman’s claim that the governor spent the weekend hiking along the Appalachian Trail — which is roughly a two hour drive north of Atlanta.

Added Hamby:

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 vehicle was parked in the surface lot at the airport’s main commercial terminal, which Sanford frequently uses to fly out of South Carolina.

For those attempting to keep up, Sanford now apparently hopped on a flight from Columbia, left his cell phone (which was tracked by GPS) somewhere south of Atlanta, then hitched a ride 150 miles to and from the Appalachian Trail to do some writing and hiking, and now he is on his way back to South Carolina.

Something just doesn’t add up here. Anyone who has taken high school philosophy knows the “Occam’s razor” principle and understands that, more often than not, the simplest explanation is often the correct explanation; and folks, the “hiking” explanation is about the farthest from that.

Meanwhile, the state still has no acting chief executive.