TPMMuckraker

Report: Sanford Seen In Atlanta Airport

Zachary Roth June 23, 2009, 5:35 PM

That Appalachian Trail story is looking shakier and shakier.

Local news channel WYFF4 reports:

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.

…

News 4 called the governor’s office, and was told again by staffers that they stand by their original statement that the governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail. They did not want to comment on this story.

It had previously been reported that the governor’s cell phone had been tracked to the Atlanta area.

Sanford’s staff put out the word late last night that he’s hiking the Appalachian. Of course, it would be possible for Sanford to have driven from Columbia to Atlanta, boarded a flight to somewhere else on the trail, got off the plane, and embarked on his hike. But it doesn’t seem like the most logical way to do it.

It’s also worth noting that the TV station’s report doesn’t specify what day Sanford was seen.

Earlier today, Sanford’s wife Jenny told CNN she still hadn’t heard from her husband and that “I am being a Mom today.”