The wife of missing high school football coach, Travis Turner, has broken her silence and urged people to ‘keep praying that he comes home’.
Virginia State police confirmed Saturday that an active search involving multiple state agencies is underway to locate Travis L Turner, 46, of Appalachia, who serves as the head coach of Union High School.
The state police had been en route to his home on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation – only to learn he was not there, prompting concerns about his safety and wellbeing as his team prepared for a playoff game.
Turner was last seen entering the woods near his home, prompting officers to focus on the area surrounding his home. He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and glasses.
As police continue their search for Turner, his wife Leslie has since posted an emotional update onto social media.
Taking to her Facebook on Saturday night, she wrote: ‘I just wanted to get on here for a second to clear up something, as of right now, 10:25 PM on Friday night, Travis is missing, & that’s all we know.
A massive search effort is underway to locate Travis L Turner, who serves as the head coach of the football team at Union High School in Virginia
His wife Leslie Caudill Turner announced Saturday that he ‘is missing and that’s all we know’
Turner has officially been declared a missing person
‘We love him & need him here with us. Thank you to everyone who has reached out with love & support. It means more than you know. Just keep praying that he comes home’.
Police noted on Friday that they were not going to Turner’s house to arrest him, but wanted to make contact with him as part of their investigation, Football Scoop reports.
The agents from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Wytheville field office were in the early stages of an investigation into a man from Wise County, according to WJHL.
Turner was last seen entering the woods near his home, prompting officers to focus on the area surrounding his home. He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and glasses.
‘We have had the drones up in the air looking, searching,’ Officer Jason Day of the Virginia State Police told WJHL, adding that have also deployed K-9s and tried to deploy helicopters, which were unable to fly on Saturday due to the weather.
Meanwhile, Wise County school officials announced on Friday that an unidentified employee has been placed on administrative leave as part of an external investigation.
Turner was a high school football star himself, quarterbacking three state championship teams from 1994-97.
He has served as the head coach at Union since 2011 and was honored twice as the Southwest Virginia Coach of the Year.
Leslie took to Facebook on Saturday to urge people to ‘keep praying that he comes home’
Turner’s sudden disappearance came after he led Union to an undefeated season and the team ranked among the top in the state within their division
Turner’s sudden disappearance came after he led Union to an undefeated season and the team ranked among the top in the state within their division.
Meanwhile, a friend also posted online that both Leslie and Travis ‘have always been good people.
‘Everybody needs to be looking out for Leslie Caudill Turner and her family, and focus on finding her husband, not put stress [on] her and her kids,’ she wrote.
Writing directly to Leslie, the friend said she is ‘praying for you and your family and that they find Travis’.
In the meantime, Assistant Coach Jay Edwards has taken over the coaching duties as the season comes to an end.
Despite Turner’s mysterious disappearance, the Union football team was able to pull together to win Saturday’s game against Graham High School 12 – 0.
The victory pushed their record to 11 – 0 for the season.
‘I think we were going to play no matter what,’ senior defensive leader Carlos Anderson told the Bristol Herald-Courier following the game.
‘We were ready for this game. We’ve been ready since summer and we just had to go out and execute.’
