MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Sen. Edward Flanagan might have been trapped upside down in his car for more than 18 hours, six hours longer than thought previously.

The new time frame is based on information that Flanagan left the Statehouse around 7 p.m. last Thursday and said he was headed to Burlington. That would suggest the accident happened roughly around 8 p.m. Originally authorities suggested the accident happened between midnight and 4 a.m. because his tracks had been covered by snow. His car was discovered around 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Michael Chernick, a lawyer on the Legislative Council staff in Montpelier, said he was leaving work at the Statehouse at the same time as Flanagan last Thursday. It was about 6:50 p.m., Chernick remembers. Flanagan offered Chernick, who walks to work, a ride home. When Flanagan left Chernick off at his Montpelier house at about 7:10 p.m., he said he was headed home to Burlington, Chernick said.

Flanagan’s Saturn sedan went off the road sometime that night, leaving Flanagan trapped upside down in the cold until 2:30 p.m. Friday, when a passenger in a passing pickup spotted the obscured car. Flanagan remains in intensive care at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington.

He was taken off a ventilator and is breathing on his own, his organs are functionally normally and he is making progress toward recovery, Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Welch said on behalf of Flanagan’s family.

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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com