I'm really stumped as to what it could be about. But something seems a tad fishy here. Gov. Mark Sanford (R) of South Carolina -- most in the press recently for trying to refuse stimulus aid -- disappeared on Thursday. And until today, no one knew where he was.

Now, 'disappeared' might seem like a loaded word. But listen to how The State described it ...

Neither the governor's office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, had been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion Thursday in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but declined to be identified.

Sanford's last known whereabouts had been near Atlanta because a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said. His office now knows where he is, Adams said.

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press earlier Monday her husband has been gone for several days and she did not know where.

She said she was not concerned.

That sounds like 'disappeared'.

And frankly, even if imagine something totally off the wall happened, why would his wife say that? Now the governor's wife is saying that he needed some time away from their children to write something. And the governor's office just put out this statement ...

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.

Other than making clear that fighting off Obama's stimulus money is more draining than we'd imagined, what does that mean exactly?

And there's this from The State ...

One official familiar with the situation said there was no indication that foul play might have been involved because Sanford occasionally makes trips without his security detail.

No indication? You'd think if they were really in contact with him and everything was on the up and up that they could rule out foul play a bit more unequivocally, no?

Earlier today the governor's office told the Lt. Gov's office that they've made contact with him. But they seem unwilling or perhaps unable to provide any details.