Speaker 1: Hey, folks, did is Friday, January ninth, and the coach
Speaker 1: of an undefeated high school football team goes missing. Days later,
Speaker 1: he becomes a fugitive. But here we are nearly two
Speaker 1: months later, and we still don't know where he is.
Speaker 1: And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Roase.
Speaker 1: This was a fascinating case from the very beginning. A
Speaker 1: lot of it had to do with the fact this
Speaker 1: was an undefeated high school football team in the middle
Speaker 1: of a playoff run and the coach disappears.
Speaker 2: Yes, in the middle of a community where football is king.
Speaker 2: This was a man who had been the head football
Speaker 2: coach for more than a decade, was beloved in his community,
Speaker 2: was a larger than life figure.
Speaker 3: He was a football king. His father was before.
Speaker 2: There was legacy behind this man in a town of
Speaker 2: two thousand Appalachia, Virginia, and poof, he goes missing and
Speaker 2: we still don't know where he is, what condition he
Speaker 2: may be in, and any validity to the charges that
Speaker 2: are now hanging over his head.
Speaker 1: So let's go back then, Robes, to the very beginning.
Speaker 1: This was a case that got national headlines from the
Speaker 1: very beginning, and all we knew at the beginning was
Speaker 1: that he disappeared. Right, there's an undefeated high school football team.
Speaker 1: They're having a great, great run and poof, the coach
Speaker 1: goes missing. Now, from the very beginning, robes there was
Speaker 1: no indication again from the very beginning, that he was
Speaker 1: wanted for anything, but the details as we got them. Initially,
Speaker 1: police were on the way to his house to discuss
Speaker 1: what we don't know, but they made clear to us
Speaker 1: at the very beginning, he is not a suspect. We
Speaker 1: are not after him for anything, and the search begins.
Speaker 3: Yes, they just said that they had questions for him.
Speaker 2: At the same time, we also learned that the school
Speaker 2: where he taught, Union High School put someone on administrative lead. Yes,
Speaker 2: so obviously those dots were connected but not confirmed. And
Speaker 2: even his own family was saying, hey, this is unlike him.
Speaker 2: If there's any sort of insinuation of anything, he will
Speaker 2: be back to clear his name. We trust him, we
Speaker 2: love him. He's not capable of doing anything untoward.
Speaker 1: But the authorities wanted to. It seemed like they made
Speaker 1: a point early on to say he's not wanted for anything.
Speaker 1: And this was a massive search in a very wooded area,
Speaker 1: but they were driving home the point and maybe ropes.
Speaker 1: They were doing this because they wanted to make sure
Speaker 1: the message got to him, and they wanted to make
Speaker 1: sure they got him back in good health. But they
Speaker 1: made clear how many days do you remember it went
Speaker 1: by before they said, actually.
Speaker 3: That five days? Five days he went missing on November twentieth.
Speaker 2: We knew that Virginia State Police had been looking to
Speaker 2: talk to him about something. We knew that someone had
Speaker 2: been put on administrative leave, but we did not get
Speaker 2: official word until five days later that yes, this coach,
Speaker 2: Travis Turner was facing five counts of child pornography possession
Speaker 2: and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.
Speaker 2: That is a long time to go by, they were hoping.
Speaker 2: I really do think you're correct. They didn't want to
Speaker 2: scare him off. They didn't want him to know what
Speaker 2: they knew or what they were potentially going to charge
Speaker 2: him with. They wanted to make it comfortable for him
Speaker 2: to return.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it was five day. That is a
Speaker 1: long stretch that they were telling the public. They were
Speaker 1: absolutely repeating that that he wasn't wanted for anything. So
Speaker 1: here we go. People started piecing it together. Now when
Speaker 1: robes did we get how soon do we get the
Speaker 1: information from his family that he had walked out, walked
Speaker 1: into the woods, was only wearing a hoodie, and was
Speaker 1: carrying a weapon.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how long later we learned that he
Speaker 2: had a firearm. And that was a big exclamation point
Speaker 2: because to know that he was last seen within a
Speaker 2: few days by his family with a firearm, disappearing into
Speaker 2: what they describe as thick, mountainous woods behind his home
Speaker 2: only wearing a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, clearly not dressed
Speaker 2: in November twentieth for the Appalachian Mountains, which obviously can
Speaker 2: have notoriously difficult weather, so he wasn't prepped. And we
Speaker 2: also got more information within the weeks to come from
Speaker 2: Turner's family attorney, and this was even more alarming. Apparently
Speaker 2: Travis Turner. We talked about what he left with. He
Speaker 2: left with a firearm, but he left behind his car,
Speaker 2: his keys, his contact lenses, his glasses, his wallet, his license, cash.
Speaker 2: He also left behind daily medications, which his family says
Speaker 2: he needs. So they added, it's not like Travis to
Speaker 2: disappear or stay away from home, and that is when
Speaker 2: you really ca a clearer picture of perhaps what Travis
Speaker 2: Turner's intentions were when he left his home.
Speaker 1: And there we go November twentieth. We're talking about so
Speaker 1: he wasn't dressed obviously for any of the conditions out there.
Speaker 1: He has no way of getting food, no shelter, no nothing.
Speaker 1: So unfortunately, this paint's a very grim picture. But they
Speaker 1: are still holding out hope. Do you remember, Robes, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think along the way, I'm trying to remember
Speaker 1: all the timing here as it went about, they had
Speaker 1: to come out and make a point that the woman,
Speaker 1: the wife, did not help him try to escape. They
Speaker 1: had to make that a part of the story as well.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, they made that very very clear that she
Speaker 2: had no idea any of this was going on. In fact,
Speaker 2: a lot of people have now looked back, they've peeled
Speaker 2: back a couple of days before he went missing, before
Speaker 2: we knew that there were any sort of allegations against
Speaker 2: this coach. They talked about how he had just done
Speaker 2: an interview with a local reporter. He was up beat,
Speaker 2: he was excited about his team. He was talking about
Speaker 2: what they needed to do to win this semi final round.
Speaker 2: That was just days away and he was in great spirits.
Speaker 2: That's how the reporter described him. They also pointed to
Speaker 2: the fact that his wife was posting on social media
Speaker 2: pictures of the team and football forward and just excited
Speaker 2: about where their team was headed and what they were
Speaker 2: going to be doing this weekend. She also she put
Speaker 2: out a Facebook statement when he went missing, saying, you know,
Speaker 2: please come home.
Speaker 3: My husband's done nothing wrong.
Speaker 2: Everything she did and all of her actions were in
Speaker 2: line with someone who was deeply concerned about where her
Speaker 2: husband was and these being like wanting to fight these
Speaker 2: allegations against him. And it was very clear, and they've
Speaker 2: made it clear she was in the dark about the
Speaker 2: allegations and about any intentions on his behalf to leave
Speaker 2: and never come back. The family actually issued a statement
Speaker 2: to Travis and it's you can just you can hear
Speaker 2: in their tone, like just the genuineness. This isn't a
Speaker 2: family that was trying to cover something up.
Speaker 1: What are I'm sorry I put you on the spot. I
Speaker 1: don't remember. They were young kids that he and his
Speaker 1: wife have.
Speaker 3: He has three children and two boys and a girl.
Speaker 3: I don't have their ages right.
Speaker 2: Now, but young, I mean they're old enough to know
Speaker 2: what's going on, and certainly young enough to miss their dad.
Speaker 2: The family statement says, if Travis has the ability and
Speaker 2: is able to respond to his family's wishes, your wife
Speaker 2: and children are in distress. Leslie pleads for you to
Speaker 2: come home and face the allegations by defending yourself in
Speaker 2: a court of law. Don't leave your family to fight
Speaker 2: this battle without you. They love and miss you. They
Speaker 2: want you to know they are your support.
Speaker 1: This is, I mean, this is the allegations are as
Speaker 1: bad as it gets in terms of community, community shame,
Speaker 1: community fear. This is some awful stuff. Now, there's no allegation,
Speaker 1: I think in here of actual molestation, right at least
Speaker 1: no charge. There's none, but solicitation of a miner using
Speaker 1: a computer to do so, and then possession of child pornography.
Speaker 1: What that means I don't know, but just the sound
Speaker 1: of that. How do you walk into this community again
Speaker 1: and keep your head up with that hanging over you?
Speaker 1: I mean, in rogues for them to get to this point,
Speaker 1: to go to his house and ready to make an arrest.
Speaker 1: He is a fugitive from justice right now.
Speaker 3: Yes, And this is the same man who was named
Speaker 3: coach of the year twice.
Speaker 2: Actually in his community where as we pointed out, football
Speaker 2: is king, he had a.
Speaker 3: Big article written about him.
Speaker 2: I mean, he really was this big man on campus
Speaker 2: sort of personality in that area of Appalachia, Virginia. They
Speaker 2: talked about a recent profile of him by the local
Speaker 2: paper describing him as listening this is interesting, emotionless and unflappable,
Speaker 2: with like focus. So they talked about him, praising his leadership,
Speaker 2: praising his coaching abilities, and this he was a football
Speaker 2: star in his own right, so was his father. This
Speaker 2: is a man who's not only known in this community,
Speaker 2: revered in this community, but his entire family was.
Speaker 3: This is hard to walk back into.
Speaker 1: And he and you hate to. I mean, who knows,
Speaker 1: who knows what he where he could be if he
Speaker 1: found some way to survive with the signs are just
Speaker 1: there of a man who didn't plan on ever coming
Speaker 1: back and didn't plan on frankly being around that long.
Speaker 1: He left everything he needed. They say, this is medication
Speaker 1: that was necessary for him to keep going type stuff.
Speaker 1: Yes he didn't, he never plans on coming back.
Speaker 2: Yes, that is what the fear is by the family.
Speaker 2: And you can hear by that family statement that they
Speaker 2: certainly are concerned. Coming up, we're going to talk about
Speaker 2: how this mysterious disappearance got even more mysterious right around
Speaker 2: the holidays, and we will tell you the very latest
Speaker 2: information about where he is, the terrain he might be facing,
Speaker 2: and what folks feel like the ending maybe And welcome
Speaker 2: back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We
Speaker 2: have been all week going over some of the very
Speaker 2: mysterious crimes that happened in twenty twenty five, high profile,
Speaker 2: made tons of headlines and then nothing, And there have
Speaker 2: been several of them that we have gone over this week.
Speaker 2: If you're interested at all in what the latest is
Speaker 2: with singer David and the investigation into his girlfriend's body,
Speaker 2: or at least reported girlfriend's body that was found in
Speaker 2: his tesla, what's the latest on that, We ask about
Speaker 2: what's going on in the Martha Nolan case, the woman
Speaker 2: who is mysteriously found dead on a yacht in Montalk.
Speaker 2: We have the Anna Kepner case on the Carnival Cruise
Speaker 2: line and why her stepbrother who's been named to suspecting
Speaker 2: court documents hasn't been arrested. And yes, today we are
Speaker 2: talking about the mysterious disappearance of a revered high school
Speaker 2: football coach in Virginia. His name is Travis Turner, last
Speaker 2: seen on November twentieth. It took days before we realized
Speaker 2: that he was a wanted fugitive on child porn and
Speaker 2: solicitation charges, and what happened in December made things even
Speaker 2: more mysterious. A judge on December ninth ordered all records
Speaker 2: connected to the Travis Turner investigation sealed, including the order
Speaker 2: that sealed them. So why is that? That is an
Speaker 2: interesting twist that a lot of folks are asking questions
Speaker 2: about why the secrecy?
Speaker 1: Hey, what is that speculation? Why it could? Is it
Speaker 1: a matter of protecting some members of that community, not
Speaker 1: a matter of Travis Turner or his family, But I mean,
Speaker 1: who are possibly victims in that community, potentially correct victims?
Speaker 1: Is that?
Speaker 2: Yes, that is one of the thoughts. The point being
Speaker 2: no one knows who any of these alleged victims are
Speaker 2: or may be. There's been so much speculation about if
Speaker 2: members of the football team, if current and former members
Speaker 2: of the football team were involved, who came forward, who
Speaker 2: brought this up to police? How did the investigation even begin?
Speaker 2: I mean, he has been as we pointed out the
Speaker 2: head coach of this high school for eleven years up
Speaker 2: until his disappearance. That's a long time with direct access
Speaker 2: to a number of children. And so there are even
Speaker 2: people now saying, oh there were rumors. Oh, people used
Speaker 2: to whisper or talk. You do often hear that, but
Speaker 2: it's now starting to circulate. So perhaps that to quiet
Speaker 2: maybe some of the speculation that was done to protect
Speaker 2: alleged victims.
Speaker 1: But again, given where we are, with this being such
Speaker 1: a mystery and the biggest mystery being where is he,
Speaker 1: something like that is obviously going to make people raise
Speaker 1: some eyebrows, But I just where is he?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: And if he is found, when I'm sure many people
Speaker 1: fear dead, yes, then where does that leave everyone? The family's,
Speaker 1: the potential victims, I mean his family in particular, what
Speaker 1: happens then? Does it all go with him? I don't know.
Speaker 2: It's excruciating to have those types of allegations be leveled,
Speaker 2: to leave before they're ever actually discussed and certainly litigated,
Speaker 2: to actually have your day in court. But obviously most
Speaker 2: people would draw the conclusion that if you go and
Speaker 2: you decide to end things on your terms, in your way,
Speaker 2: you weren't prepared to face what the allegations were. You
Speaker 2: weren't prepared to defend yourself in the middle of those allegations,
Speaker 2: and certainly you didn't feel like you wanted Maybe he
Speaker 2: didn't want to put his family through this, but obviously
Speaker 2: his family is going through this regardless. The area that
Speaker 2: he disappeared into. Just in case you're unfamiliar with this
Speaker 2: tri city area of Virginia, right there in the foothills
Speaker 2: of the Appalachian Mountains. But his home apparently was right
Speaker 2: on the border of this mountainous terrain. But it's described
Speaker 2: as rugged topography, carved by rivers and forests with elevations
Speaker 2: that go up into high peaks. And they just said,
Speaker 2: this is one of the most challenging environments you could
Speaker 2: have for search and rescue operations. They had canine units,
Speaker 2: they had obviously folks searching the area on foot, they've
Speaker 2: had drones. They've even suggested getting heat seeking technology of surveillance.
Speaker 2: But this is such a massive and vast area to cover.
Speaker 2: It just goes to show seven weeks of looking for
Speaker 2: this man and there is no trace of him. That
Speaker 2: is certainly significant. And look, they've even offered a reward
Speaker 2: that happened in early December as well. They've offered five
Speaker 2: thousand dollars for any information that leads to finding track
Speaker 2: this turner, but so far that has turned up nothing.
Speaker 1: Well, folks, we are and again this is another one
Speaker 1: of those cases. Were almost literally checking on this every
Speaker 1: single day since November. We will pass along any updates
Speaker 1: as we've got them, but by all means I'm back
Speaker 1: in the feed. Take a listen back to some of
Speaker 1: these other cases that Robot mentioned. We've went through them
Speaker 1: all and we'll keep an eye, but we appreciate you
Speaker 1: all spending some time with us. As always on t
Speaker 1: J Holmes on behalf of my dear Emmy Robot. We
Speaker 1: will talk to you alsoon