The Times reporter, Michael Paulson, pulled up an article that had appeared in French newspaper Sud Ouest after the crash. It stated that the driver of the oncoming car was a 46-year-old named Albert Marie, from Sireuil, who was believed to be a Catholic priest.

Paulson's story suggested that by 2007, the priest had since died and that the two passengers who had been in his car could not be located. Paulson wrote that "a priest at the parish in Sireuil confirmed that the church's former pastor, now deceased, was Albert Marie." The rumor among Mormons was that the priest had been drunk, but Paulson could not confirm that. In the intervening years, Leola Anderson's son had become a friend of Romney's and asserted, "Mitt was not in any way at fault."

In one of three recent interviews about the accident, Romney said he believes there was a criminal proceeding against Marie, and that he recalls filling out an affidavit about the accident. His spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, said in an e-mail, "the governor does not have any records from the court case against the driver of the other car in the accident in France." At the local police station in Bazas, officials said they do not have any records because they routinely destroy all documents after 10 years.

Now, the conspiracy theories are coming out.

Last month, a post by someone named "bontemps2012" on the liberal website Daily Kos alleged that Romney caused the crash and that he "recruited a small group of other missionaries to help him put the blame over on the other driver." The post claims that Romney was under pressure to be seen as squeaky-clean because his father was running for president at the time. It uses images from Google maps to show the curve where the crash ostensibly happened.

Yesterday, a (very amateur-looking) website by Joseph Cannon called Cannonfire contains another post that makes this storier even curiouser. It contradicts the New York Times story and says the priest from the other car is not dead -- he's alive and kicking at 90 years old. From that piece:

For what it's worth, the "priest" was then, and is now, a bishop; his name is not Albert Marie. Although Mitt Romney spoke French well, he apparently didn't understand how nomenclature works in France: The final part of a male first name may be a traditionally female name, attached with a hyphen -- and in religious families, that name is usually Marie. As it happens, the full name of the man Romney hit is Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie Vilnet.

Bishop Vilnet, who was at the Second Vatican Council, is still alive at the age of 90.

In January, London's Daily Mail newspaper ran a set of pictures from the 1968 crash scene and the hospital. They were taken by Andre Salarnier. 

The 2007 New York Times story says that only three people who were in Romney's car during the accident are still alive: Romney, Suzanne Farel, and David Wood. 

According to Wikipedia, Bishop Vilnet, pictured left, retired in 1998. 

IMore similar images from Salarnier appear here.