Nearly four months have passed since Travis Turner went missing, but virtually no one in his rural Virginia community believes the fugitive football coach is dead.
That is according to a parent who has helped lead the fight for answers since the high school coach and accused pedophile went on the run, just days before it emerged he was wanted by police for ten alleged child sex offences.
Stephen Murray, whose stepdaughter attends Union High School – where Turner coached football – told the Daily Mail that he is installing a security system at his home after speaking out about a mystery that has gripped ‘terrified’ locals and the country at large.
Turner, a married father of three, disappeared when cops were en route to his house back in November. His family said he left armed with a gun and walked into a ‘heavily wooded and mountainous area.’
More than three months later, there have been no sightings of the 46-year-old who is wanted for five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. The football coach allegedly sent photos of his genitalia to a 16-year-old girl.
That is despite a reward of up to $5,000 for information and the efforts of nearly 100 personnel, including those specially trained ‘to locate and assist lost or missing individuals in wilderness and rural environments.’ Police revealed on Monday that they have exhausted 178 national and international leads.
It is claimed no one in his community believes fugitive football coach Travis Turner is dead
Turner vanished from his family home in Appalachia, Virginia, (pictured) on November 20. He allegedly left the property armed with a gun and walked into a ‘heavily wooded and mountainous area’
The high school football coach, 46, and his wife of 25 years, Leslie Caudill Turner
Many outsiders believe he has since taken his own life, with one law enforcement veteran warning that his body may never be recovered.
But around Big Stone Gap, where other school staff members have faced similar charges in recent years, people are calling ‘bulls***’ on suggestions that Turner is dead, with wild theories developing about where he could be.
‘Everyone knows that he’s alive,’ Murray told the Daily Mail. ‘No one believes that he took his own life, and the reason is because he’s too much of a coward and he thinks too highly of himself to take his own life.
‘People [think] he liked himself too much. There’s no way that this brought him to suicide. They think he ran for it.’
Murray claimed ‘the majority of people’ in the local community believe Turner was tipped off and therefore ‘had time to prepare to leave.’
‘There is now building anger around the fact that nothing has happened to the [Union High] principal [Jerred Chandler],’ Murray continued. ‘The general feeling in the community is: “This is bulls*** that the police haven’t found him yet…”
‘People think that he’s in Texas with his sister. I’ve heard people say that he’s out of the country – I find that hard to believe because getting flagged with your passport would be pretty basic police work.’
Virginia State Police (VSP) recently told the Daily Mail it ‘has not received any information to indicate that Travis Turner is in Texas.’ Officers also insisted ‘the search remains ongoing.’
And on Monday, after being contacted by the Daily Mail, VSP released a statement confirming that the criminal investigation ‘remains active’ and that ‘additional charges are pending.’
Turner coached football at Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, before going missing
‘Since his disappearance, VSP has utilized numerous assets, including search and rescue teams, drones and k9s, to assist in the search,’ the statement read. ‘VSP’s main priority is locating Turner safely. To date, there have been no credible sightings of Turner.’
Captain J Daniels said both the criminal investigation and search are ‘worked on every day.’
‘Every single lead has been vetted and followed up on, and all have been unfounded,’ Daniels continued. ‘We need the public to continue providing information. Someone knows something that will lead to his whereabouts.’
The statement continued: ‘VSP is being assisted by the US Marshals Service, FBI and the Black Diamond Search and Rescue team, a nonprofit organization that provides specially trained professionals to locate and assist lost or missing individuals in wilderness and rural environments.
‘There are 27 combined personnel solely dedicated to the Turner case with 50-plus other state, local and federal personnel assisting, including VSP Aviation and Special Operation teams.’
Of the nearly 200 leads, which have spanned seven states domestically, 17 have been anonymous, the statement said.
Still, Murray said locals have been left ‘pretty disappointed’ by the police investigation.
‘It’s not like [Turner] is a woodsman,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘He’s lived a pretty cushy life, getting paid a pretty decent salary for this part of the country. We’re pretty disappointed that there have been no results – even updates… This community is really angry and really fed up.’
As previously reported by the Daily Mail, pressure has also been building on officials at Wise County Public Schools, given at least three other school staff members have faced similar charges in recent years.
‘Oh, we just let another one get away with it – that’s generally what people feel,’ Murray said. He has has become a self-confessed ‘loud, obnoxious voice’ fighting for answers.
Stephen Murray, whose stepdaughter attends Union High School, spoke to the Daily Mail
‘What we do need is just to make sure that the school board and the school system realize this isn’t just going to go away,’ he continued. ‘This isn’t one of those moments where it’s just another fleeting thing. Because that’s all they’ve done… we’re holding their feet to the fire.’
Murry called the local situation ‘a microcosm of what’s happening with the Epstein files.’
‘It’s crazy,’ he added, claiming there is a ‘good old boys club’ that ‘covers up for each other… because they could take their team to state. That’s just disgusting.’
Murray said he is ‘fired up’ to ‘pull back the curtain.’ But, he claimed, ‘a lot of this community is struggling with [the feeling of] “Well, this is just what we do… a young child gets assaulted by a teacher, and then we just sweep it under the rug.”‘
Turner was reportedly still being paid by the school until the end of January and was only officially terminated by the board on February 9.
He had led the football team to an undefeated season and, even after his vanishing, his players continued their pursuit of a championship.
Turner’s alleged victim is said to be in a ‘very depressive state,’ and a family source told the US Sun that ‘brushing this under the carpet is typical – but it’s a disgrace.’
On Monday, the Wise County School Board will hold its monthly board meeting, giving parents a chance to voice any concerns.
‘Every board meeting, I want to shed light on another instance of abuse,’ said Murray, who used a previous forum to speak about an alleged incident in 2023 involving another local coach that he claimed ‘got swept under the rug.’
‘Ideally, we want to see a complete overhaul of the school board,’ Murray explained. He said a group of parents is plotting to recall elections of some board members and pressure officials into introducing better safeguarding policies.
The Turner family’s attorney previously said in a statement that they stand behind the father of three
Murray claimed his inbox is ‘flooded’ by people who are ‘too scared to speak out’ about abuse in a rural, conservative community.
Many anonymous whistleblowers – ‘people that have either been victimized or were aware of the victimization but didn’t have an outlet for it’ – contact him using fake Facebook accounts.
‘I’ve been warned by allies saying: “You need to get a security system for your house…” which I’m working on,’ Murray claimed.
‘It sounds like a bad mafia movie, but if you haven’t lived in Appalachia or southwest Virginia or this part of the country… the culture here is secretive.’
He said he believes those people who warn him to ‘be careful.’
‘White men get this sense of hubris and power and control and that’s just the oldest story in the book, but that’s just what it is here,’ Murray continued.
‘Everyone who writes to me says, “please don’t ever mention my name,” or has a fake Facebook account… they’re terrified.’
He claimed a woman who worked in the school system for nearly three decades discovered her contract would not be renewed after she spoke out about ‘rampant sexual harassment and abuse.’
‘That’s what happens here,’ Murray said. ‘You talk about it and we’ll f***ing fire you.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Chandler and Wise County Public Schools for comment.
