[who knows what evil?]

How new is the Interstate there?

The last nine mile section from Mars Hill to the TN border was opened about nine months ago. The Tennessee side has been done for years. US23 and I-26 are the SAME ROAD from Asheville north. The signage in that area is clear. There is NO REASON in the world to exit off I-26 in Mars Hill onto the "old 23", which is no longer signed, especially if you were headed to Boston. I'm not even sure why they were headed that way...backtrack a bit to 40, head east, and pick up 95. Why head north on 26 to 81? You can get to Boston that way, but it certainly isn't the direct route. In any event...even if they WERE lost, why aren't they co-operating with authorities? Just admit that you're lost, and be on your way. Something else is going on here. They are spending their second night in jail with NO BOND. Pretty stiff treatment for two guys who just "got lost" in the Tennessee mountains.

[TheLurkerX]

40 to 95 is the most direct route. The only time I take 81 is when I'm taking a trip to Jersey during the day, and I want to take a scenic drive and avoid the metro congestion on the eastern route.

[conservative in nyc]

The truck was rented in Mars Hill. If they were coming from Mars Hill, could they have been on old 23 to begin with?

If they were leaving from Mars Hill, it would have been logical to drive up I-26 (U.S. 23, if they had an old map) to take I-81 to I-84 to I-90. If they were leaving from Florida, they might have gotten sick of driving on traffic-clogged I-95 and taken the I-81 back route. I-26 does back track a ways, but it provides the first direct opportunity to get to I-81. A lot of people who drive from New York to the south that prefer to take I-81 to avoid traffic and tolls. They'd logically swing over to I-77 in Columbia, though.

Taking the cops on a high speed chase and throwing a mysterious vial out of the window certainly is mysterious. Not cooperating with the police is also suspicious. If I were the TN authorities, I'd try to keep them as long as I could without bond too under the circumstances --- at least until the tests come back on the samples. I'm just keeping an open mind about it.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Nuthin' stiff 'bout it. Just that they ain't
gonna bother wakin' up the local magistrate or
disturbin' his fishin' time until Monday Morning,
where he'll read them constitutional rights to
all the other weekend drunks..

[eastforker]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fire at the national lab in Oak Ridge the other day? That was a suspicious fire when they reported it, saying it was sodium hydroxide burning. Caustic soda is another name for it and it doesn't burn.