So writes Tom Cole in the Albuquerque Journal today, pushing the story about the boat crash at Elephant Butte park marina back into public view and raising still-lingering questions.

In case you’ve forgotten the details of the crash, here’s a short recap thanks to a state incident report. A man later identified as Condit was seen operating “Bloody Mary,” a houseboat owned by Leon “Skip” Fay of Rio Rancho. Condit piloted the houseboat into the marina, but came too close to C-dock, sideswiping a houseboat. Then the “Bloody Mary” accelerated. At this point Fay took control from Condit, but it was too late, witnesses said. The houseboat, thrust by momentum, headed across the slip toward D-dock and smashed into a second houseboat, “The Floating Irish.”

In an interview, the unidentified woman told Cole last week “That was more of an assumption on my part” when asked why she told the 911 operator that the boat drivers were drunk. She declined to comment further when asked why she made the assumption, Cole added.

Condit, who did not talk with investigating officers the same day of the crash, told authorities two days later that he had not been drinking while piloting the houseboat, according to the incident report.

But his statement has not put questions to rest.  And the governor’s office hasn’t exactly been open and sharing about the crash. It waited several days to comment on the crash and pretty much has stayed mum on the issue.

It doesn’t help that an eyewitness told the Independent that the governor, Condit, budget secretary Katherine Miller and security officers were gone within minutes from the scene of an accident.

Or that Condit didn’t talk with investigating officers the same time as witnesses, but waited two days.

Or that Richardson confused matters when he said he and his party stayed around the scene for 30 minutes, only to have a spokesman later tell the Journal that the governor’s party had stayed in the vicinity, not the scene, for 30 minutes. Where exactly in the vicinity is still  unknown.

Or, finally, that it was state budget chief Katherine Miller, and not Condit, who returned to the scene after the accident to make sure everything was OK. Miller was on the houseboat that day.

Why didn’t Condit return to the scene? We still don’t know. The governor’s office hasn’t said despite repeated questions.

After the Sept. 5 boat accident at Elephant Butte State Park involving Governor Bill Richardson, his chief of staff Brian Condit and other staffers, both Richardson and Condit stayed “in the vicinity” for 30 minutes, a gubernatorial spokesman said over the weekend.

One member of the governor’s party that day, state budget chief Katherine Miller, did return to the scene after the accident to make sure everything was OK, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Gallegos’ statement to the Journal expanded on what Richardson told the Independent on Friday — that the governor and his party, which had included Condit and Miller, had stayed 30 minutes.

The accident occurred shortly around 5:15 p.m. Sept. 5, according to an incident report.

Another unanswered question in the Independent’s e-mails was, if the governor and Condit were in the vicinity for 30 minutes following the accident, where were they in relation to the dam site marina, where the accident occurred?

Condit has acknowledged causing the accident. He piloted an 81-foot houseboat that sideswiped one houseboat and then smashed into another. He was cited for operating a vessel in a negligent manner and damaging another person’s property.

Gallegos told the Journal that immediately after the accident “Condit left his cell phone number with (Leon “Skip” Fay, the owner of the houseboat Condit had piloted) and was available for the rest of the evening.”

But unlike many of the witnesses who spoke with investigating officers the same day as the incident, the report notes that Condit didn’t call officer Chris Bolen until two days later, on Monday, Sept. 7.

Bolen writes in the report, “I then asked Mr. Condit if he had been drinking alcohol that day. Mr. Condit stated that he had not been drinking alcohol and was not under the influence of alcohol prior to or during operation” of the “Bloody Mary.”

The exact whereabouts of Richardson and his party following the boat accident has become a source of curiosity.