WISE COUNTY, Va. — Virginia State Police have spent the weekend searching for missing Union High School football coach Travis Turner.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions, while his team presses forward.
State Police said Turner first went missing when they were going to his house for an investigation. State police will not say what the investigation is, but they emphasize they were not going to Turner’s home to arrest him.
Wise County schools said they have suspended an employee with pay but would not confirm if that employee is Turner. Neither state police nor school officials will speak on camera.
On the fourth day of the search, the parking lot where police were staging was noticeably emptier compared to the weekend. State police have used search and rescue teams, drones and K-9s to try to find Turner.
A Flight Aware map showed a state police helicopter going in circles for a time over the area Saturday.
Meanwhile, Turner’s disappearance was the elephant in the room at Saturday’s football game. Students and community members gathered for a prayer circle ahead of kickoff.
Bryan Gunter – Pastor, First Baptist Church of Big Stone Gap #5)
“No matter what’s going on, we can count on our neighbors, and we can count on those God’s put in our life, and we can count on our community to be bigger than the situation we’re facing,” said Bryan Gunter, pastor of First Baptist Church of Big Stone Gap.
The Union Bears pulled out the win, continuing a 12-game winning streak to advance to the region championship.
“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 after the game.
Turner was officially added to the Virginia State Police missing persons list Sunday. State police said he was last seen in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants.
