5 days ago
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Missing Union High School football coach Travis Turner appeared upbeat about his undefeated team in a resurfaced clip from days before his mysterious disappearance in Virginia's Appalachian Mountains.
'It's going to be a battle here … and our kids will be ready,' the 46-year-old told the Union Sports Network on November 15 about an upcoming opponent. 'Their coaches do a great job. They're very athletic… They're strong up front and they're just well coached.'
At the time, Turner was discussing his Bears' next playoff game against Graham – a contest Union would go on to win, 12-0, on Saturday to improve to 11-0 on the season.
However, that game was played without Turner, who'd gone missing days earlier. State police have since revealed they were en route to his home Thursday to interview Turner, only to learn he wasn't there, prompting concerns about his safety as his team prepared for Saturday's playoff game.
Turner was last seen entering the woods near his home in a grey sweatshirt, grey sweatpants and glasses.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, his wife, Leslie, offered the following update on Saturday: '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.
Missing Union High School football coach Travis Turner appeared upbeat about his undefeated team in a resurfaced clip from days before his mysterious disappearance in Virginia
His wife Leslie Caudill Turner announced Saturday that he 'is missing and that's all we know'
'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.'
Turner was perfectly calm less than a week earlier when discussing his team's November 15 win over Lee.
'I thought we did a good job of adjusting to what they were trying to do offensively,' Turner told the Union Sports Network. 'We had some penalties that I thought were kind of iffy… and we overcame those and got some first downs and got some touchdowns.
'Our kids just played hard.'
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. The details of that probe have not been revealed, publicly.
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
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.
'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 was 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.
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.
Union is back in action this Saturday against Ridgeview in the Region 2D title game. The Bears previously beat the Wolfpack, 42-21, back on October 9.
