The departure of Carole Leigh Hutton as executive editor of the Mercury News seems to be shrouded in mystery. An E&P story today didn’t clear things up much, except that she said she resigned on her own and plans to stay in Silicon Valley.

“I left and I am going to do something else,” she told E&P. “I think it is trying to figure out the right next step. My next step probably has nothing to do with the business.”

Merc staffers were surprised by her departure after seven months as editor of the paper. Guild leader Luther Jackson told E&P he didn’t know what happened. Pete Carey, who wrote the story announcing her departure, called it a surprise. MediaNews hasn’t commented on her departure beyond its initial press release. E&P said Merc staffers were speculating that MediaNews didn’t like her plans to “blow up the paper” when it came to re-thinking the future of the Merc.