The disappearance of popular southwestern Virginia high school football coach Travis Turner has now stretched past the two-week mark, and with each new detail shared by his family, the picture grows more chilling.
As we’ve been reporting, Travis (pictured above with his wife Leslie Caudill Turner) walked off into the woods alone in a very rural area back in late November amid an investigation by the Virginia State Police into child pornography and solicitation allegations.
And now, according to a statement released through the family’s attorney just now to Us Weekly, the last known moments before Travis vanished have left his loved ones shaken to their core.
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In the statement to the mag published on Thursday, Turner’s family described their final contact with the 46-year-old as deeply concerning. Basically, Travis walked into the woods behind his home carrying a gun, and leaving behind nearly everything he would normally take with him. In turn, the family’s statement laid out the eerie list of items untouched at the house:
“Travis’ car and keys were left at home. Travis wore contact lenses by day and glasses in the evenings. Travis’ contact lens supplies and glasses were left at home. Travis’ wallet, license, cash, and all its contents were left in the home.”
His family emphasized that the coach’s critical daily medications were also left behind.
“Travis is prescribed certain daily medications which he needs, those were left in the home. It is not like Travis to disappear or stay away from home.”
Within days of his disappearance, the situation took an even darker turn when Travis, the head football coach at Union High School in the small rural southwestern VA town of Stone Gap, was charged with five counts of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. Those charges have left the community stunned and the search effort clouded by a heavy mix of fear, confusion, and disbelief.
Though he was last spotted by loved ones as he walked into the woods, they initially weren’t alarmed. It was something he had done before, they claimed. But as hours passed and he failed to return, dread took over. They said:
“When he did not return to his home that evening, his wife, out of concern, asked for assistance from law enforcement. As directed, she filed a missing person report the following day with the Virginia State Police.”
FYI, Travis and Leslie, his wife of 24 years, share three children. And the rest of the family has remained in cooperation with officials throughout the investigation. Additional charges against Travis are reportedly pending, per multiple outlets. Until he’s located, he is currently considered a fugitive, the VA State Police has said.
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Through it all, authorities are pulling out every resource they can. That includes help from the FBI and US Marshals Service, who have turned Travis’ old high school into their operational base. Their focus remains on the dense woods surrounding his home, where drones, K-9 teams, and aircraft have been deployed in the wide-sweeping search effort.
To that end, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police emphasized the urgency of the case:
“The search remains active and ongoing with the assistance of the US Marshals Service and FBI. We are still asking for the public’s assistance in providing any information that may lead to Turner’s whereabouts.”
A $5,000 reward has been offered, with warnings to the public that Travis may be armed.
And now as the days pass and the unanswered questions multiply, the situation continues to weigh heavily on the region. What an unsettling story all around…
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[Image via Leslie Caudill Turner/Facebook]
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