Missing HS coach wanted on criminal charges

BIG STONE GAP, Va. — A Virginia high school football coach who disappeared days before his undefeated team’s playoff game is being sought on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material and using a computer to solicit a minor, Virginia State Police said Tuesday.

Police said Travis L. Turner, 46, of Appalachia, Virginia, is wanted on warrants obtained Monday for five counts of each charge and that additional charges are pending as an investigation continues. They did not share details about what prompted the charges.

Turner has been missing since Thursday, when state police special agents from a Bureau of Criminal Investigation office were sent to his home, not to arrest him but to talk to him as part of an investigation. As officers traveled there, they were notified that he was gone, police said. The subsequent search nearby has included drones, dogs and rescue teams, police said.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment Tuesday at a phone number associated with Turner. The court did not yet have a case docket that would list any attorney for him, and records connected to his charges were not made available by the court or state police.

Turner is the football coach at Union High School in southwest Virginia’s Wise County. Union has strung together 12 straight wins to remain undefeated this season and advance to a regional final Saturday.

Before coaching Union’s team, Turner was a quarterback at Appalachia High School, which merged into Union High School in 2011. His father, Tom, was also his high school football coach. Tom Turner was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 2005.

Online records indicate Travis Turner was in Virginia Tech‘s 1998 recruiting class alongside future NFL quarterback Michael Vick and went on to play football at University of Virginia Wise in 1999.

Defensive coordinator Jason Edwards stepped in as interim head coach in Union’s victory over Graham last weekend, according to the Bristol Herald Courier, which also reported that Bears players didn’t want to talk afterward about the situation involving Turner.

“We talked in the huddle, and we said: ‘Listen boys, we’re going to have to handle adversity here. We stick together as brothers here, and we should come out with the victory,'” senior running back Keith Chandler said, according to WCYB.

Asked about Turner, division superintendent Mike Goforth told the AP in an emailed statement that Wise County Public Schools is aware of charges filed “against a staff member who has been on administrative leave” and that the person isn’t allowed to be on school property or have contact with students. He didn’t disclose when or why that leave began and said school officials wouldn’t comment further because it’s an ongoing legal matter involving personnel.