Fugitive football coach disappeared into woods with gun, family says

The fugitive Virginia high school football coach who disappeared amid a child pornography investigation was last seen entering a wooded area with a firearm, a family attorney has said.

Travis L. Turner, 46, the decorated head coach of Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, left his residence to walk into a “heavily wooded and mountainous area” on Nov. 20, attorney Adrian Collins said in a statement on behalf of the family obtained by WCYB.

“The last known contact the family had with Travis occurred on or about Thursday, Nov. 20, after he left his residence to walk in the woods with a firearm,” the statement reads, noting that no warrants for his arrest had been made prior to his disappearance.

Travis Turner, a decorated Virginia high school football coach, disappeared into wooded areas with a firearm amid a child pornography investigation. (Leslie Turner/Facebook)

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When he didn’t come home that evening, his wife notified local law enforcement but was told she had to wait 24 hours to file a missing-person report, according to the statement. She submitted the report to Virginia State Police (VSP) the next day.

The family said that they, along with friends, have searched the surrounding woods, though their efforts have been limited by bad weather and the need to avoid interfering with the official search.

On Tuesday, five days after Turner was last seen, authorities announced that they had obtained 10 warrants to charge him with five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. 

Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing and additional charges are pending. Turner is now considered a fugitive, the VSP said.

Virginia State Police are searching for Union High football coach Travis Turner, whose disappearance has stunned the Big Stone Gap community. (Virginia State Police)

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Turner was reported missing on Friday, Nov. 21 — a day after he was last seen — as Virginia State Police investigators were returning to his Appalachia home to speak with him about the case. Police said they had visited the home on Nov. 20, the day he disappeared, and were not seeking to arrest him at that time.

Turner’s wife Leslie Caudill Turner responded after her husband was charged, telling The Daily Mail that “none of that is true.”

“He’s a good dad and a good husband, and we want him home. That’s it,” she said. “I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything. I’m sorry.”

Travis Turner disappeared from his family’s home in Appalachia, Virginia on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. Authorities announced that they have obtained 10 warrants to charge Turner with five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. (Facebook/Leslie Caudill Turner)

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Police have launched an extensive search across Wise County utilizing drones, K-9 units and foot patrols. He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt, sweatpants and glasses, according to Virginia’s missing person database.

Anyone with information about Turner’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Virginia State Police at (276) 228-3131.

Fox News’ Julia Bonavita and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.