Continuity mistake: In the 08:00 - 09:00 episode on DVD (and during the previous few hours) you see Kim Bauer's feet and she is wearing sandals with no socks. At 08:36 when Terri has just been taken from the room where they are being held captive you see a shot of Kim sitting down and you can see that she is wearing pink leather slipper style shoes and black socks.
Chosen answer: Nobody knew, not even the writers, until at least halfway through the season when they were writing the end. They wanted to keep all options open.
Nick N.