After four days, citizens of South Carolina have closure on the whereabouts of their missing Governor, Mark Sanford.  Sanford reportedly left the Governor’s mansion last week in his black SUV to go hiking along the Appalachian Trail. 

He told his wife he needed to get away from the children to “go write something” and said he would be hard to reach for a while.  Sanford had not responded to phone calls or text messages since last Thursday. 

In a statement from the Governor’s office recently, “Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session, and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside.  We are not going to discuss the specifics of his travel arrangements or his security arrangements.” 

Sanford’s actions have brought criticism from the S.C. governing cabinet.  It is unprecedented for a state’s chief executive to disappear without security detail.

© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)