Virginia Football Coach Travis Turner Goes Missing Just as Authorities Investigate Him

When a member of the community goes missing, especially a high-profile sports figure such as a coach, it can be jarring for the people left to search. Questions breed faster than answers, leaving the community members scrambling to make sense of things.

But when the person who goes missing may be under investigation, it casts a dark pall over the entire situation.

A Virginia high school football coach named Travis Turner went missing, sending his loved ones on a frantic hunt to find him. But there may be more to the story than people initially believed, adding a layer of mystery and urgency to their quest to find him.

Here's what we know about what happened.

On Thursday Nov. 20, 2025, life changed in a big way for the loved ones of Virginia high school football coach Travis Turner. Turner, who works as head coach for Union High School in Wise County, Va., suddenly went missing just as his family was gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday.

He was officially reported missing on Sunday, Nov. 23, and a search began in earnest, but there's a little more to the story than an unfortunate family member who went missing.

It was discovered that Turner was missing when authorities arrived at his house as part of an investigation, according to The New York Post.

According to the outlet, they were there to look into a complaint but not arrest him. When they arrived, he was not there. It's unclear exactly what the complaint might be.

As the internet is wont to do, there are conspiracies and theories abounding everywhere, even as the Union High School football team forges ahead with a winning season despite the hopefully temporary loss of their head coach.

On TikTok, people are theorizing why exactly he went missing. One user mused, "My opinion is he was tipped off, he’s holed up somewhere, wife probably knows where. He’s either figuring out a plan or already gone. Football is king in SWVA so nothing is surprising as far as coverups lol." To which another user added, "I looked his wife up and a few years back she made a post about how they had several close friends in the police force..... definitely was tipped off."

But another user theorized, "From what I’ve gathered from multiple posts, a friend saw pictures on her friends phone, told her parents, the parents reported it. Rumor was he 💀 himself. Wife made a fb post and said he was just missing. She has since deleted that post. So, at this point, who even knows."

And there are multiple theories about what exactly the coach may have allegedly done that prompted the investigation to begin with, although they are all unsubstantiated rumors, with local reports suggesting it may have had to do with inappropriate contact with students. But again, these are merely rumors at this time and do not reflect any official allegations.

When he was seen last, 46-year-old Turner was wearing gray sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt. He stands 6-foot-3-inches and weighs around 260lbs. He has brown eyes and brown hair, and anyone who sees him or who knows his whereabouts is encouraged to contact the police.