December 2, 2025 • 54 mins
The United States Marshals Service joins the hunt for Coach Travis Turner, who is listed as a "Missing Person" last seen November 20. The Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Turner.
Turner's disappearance days before his undefeated football team's playoff game is now even more shocking; the coach is wanted on charges of possessing child pornography and using a computer to solicit a minor.
Virginia State Police say Turner is wanted on warrants for five counts of possessing child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. Police say additional charges are pending.
In the early stages of an investigation into allegations involving the coach, police head to the family home to interview Travis Turner. While on the way, investigators receive a tip that Turner is no longer at the home.
In a shocking update for fugitive Coach Travis Turner, the family says the last contact they had with the husband and father was as he left the family home on foot, walking into the woods with a firearm.
Turner goes into an area described as heavily wooded and mountainous, as investigators are on the way to his house to interview him about recent allegations.
There is no word on if the former coach was contacted ahead of time and fled the scene, but no charges had been filed against him at the time he left the family home. Turner was gone when investigators arrived.
Travis Turner is a former high school football star quarterback who captured three state titles as a player in the mid-90s, and who is now the head football coach at Union High School in Wise County, Virginia.
Turner has been the football coach since 2011, and this year the team is undefeated heading into the state playoffs. Turner and his paralegal wife, Leslie, have been married for going on 25 years and have three children, two boys and a girl.
The recent accusations swirling around football coach Travis Turner are not the first time Union High School has had to deal with allegations involving a coach/teacher.
Timothy Lee Meador, a teacher and coach at Union High School, was arrested on one count of child solicitation and two counts of indecent liberties.
Meador pleaded guilty to two felony charges of taking indecent liberties with a minor by a person in a custodial or supervisory relationship, and was sentenced to one year and three months in prison.
The same lawyer who represented Meador is also representing the Turner family.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Mark Tate - Trial Lawyer, The Tate Law Group
- Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker: When to work on a relationship and when to walk away” Also featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock, www.drbethanymarshall.com , Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, Twitter: @DrBethanyLive
- Brian Fitzgibbons- Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, Leads a team of investigators specializing in locating missing persons, website: www.uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security, former Marine and Iraq war veteran
- Irv Brandt - Former Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch, Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs; Country Attache, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica. *Author of a new book: "Riding Solo: Remember the Alamo" Available on Amazon. Also “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” also “Forever Solo: Knight of the Dragon” also “Flying Solo: Top of the World”, “Solo Journey: Buddha Knights a Jack Solo Mystery Novel:, “Going Solo: The Gospel of Luke” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor”
- Samantha Allen - Multimedia Journalist from WCYB, website: www.wcyb.com, Instagram: SamAllenSports, Facebook: SamanthaAllen WCYB
- Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, "Crime Stories"
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, the US Marshalls manhunt and
urgent update from the Marshalls coach Travis Turner, the famed
high school football coach vanishes into rugged terrains the mountains
with a gun on Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
(00:24):
I want to thank you for being with US.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia faces turmoil
as head coach Travis Turner mysteriously vanishes days before their
undefeated football team heads to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Why did he say that that the coach vanishes just
before the big football playoff? Correction? The coach vanished into
the woods, we believe, carrying a gun, according to a witness,
as La Lord enforcement was on their way to his
(01:02):
house to talk to him about child porn and about
claims he solicited a child for sex over his computer.
Do you think he vanished into the woods with a
gun in a sweatsuit because of the upcoming football game.
(01:24):
I don't think so. Listen.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Law enforcement headed to the family home to interview Turner.
On the way, investigators are informed Turner is no longer home.
When officers arrived, they're told Turner was last seen going
into a wooded area near his home, wearing a gray
sweatshirt and gray sweatpans.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Joining me an all star panel, including a rep from
the US Marshall's Office who traveled the world looking for fugitives,
as well as an expert in nationwide manhunts. But first
to Samantha Allen, joining US multimedia journalists from w c
y B. On Insta, you can find her at sam
(02:04):
Allen Sports. Samantha, what the hey? Why is every banner
that I read? And you can go ahead and plead
guilty right now? Girl? About the football, the football game,
the undefeated season. I always such a great football coach,
always such a great quarterback when he played football, football football. Hey.
(02:25):
I like football, just like everybody else. But you know
what I hate more than I like football. I hate
child molesters. And I hate people that download child porn
on their computer. All right. I tried to look this
guy up last night and I put in football coach
child porn, and I got all kind of warnings like
I was trying to download child porn. I immediately just
(02:45):
turned off the computer. So what happens, Samantha all Right?
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Well, you know, Virginia is a very tight knit community.
Already so football is already on top of everyone's mind.
This team has gone undefeated, he already is a All
Star player.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Put her up, Samantha, What did I just say? I said,
why is everybody talking about football when this guy, this
trusted football coach, is allegedly downloading child born on his computer,
probably at school? And what did you do? You know what?
(03:24):
I don't trust you anymore, doctor Bethany. What does she
just do? After I said, why are we talking about football?
The football record, the football undefeated, the football, the football
And what does she just do?
Speaker 5 (03:37):
She talked about football, and what she didn't talk about
was the victims. And that is what should be front
and center. I looked it up to last night, Nancy.
It's all about the football. The community. Children are always
underrepresented in our judicial system and in terms of protection,
and I keep thinking about who was he solictening? Was
a somebody in the school? What about the child born
(03:59):
on his computer? Or was he sharing photos with other
child molesters? Is he a part of a child molesting
ring where all these images are shared back and forth?
And because of that, that is really the part of
the story that should be front and center, because victims
could be right in that community, if that community is
so tight knit, they're going to be concerned, hopefully about
(04:21):
the children more than about football.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Well, you know, doctor Bethany Marshall. Now I'm going to
make a very brief cameo appearance as a defense attorney,
and I'm going to defend Samantha Allen after I just
accused her. Samantha, I think part of the shock of this,
of these charges child porn and soliciting a child a
(04:47):
minor for sex over the computer. I think part of
the reason everybody is so shocked is because what you
just said. Because right, if it's true, if the allegations
are true, this guy has been right under our noses
with hi who else, thousands and thousands of children, and
he has been famous. He is famous, he has been lauded.
(05:08):
He's a hero in the school and the community. His
son played football under him and is now on the
coaching staff with him. And I think part of this
is the fact that all this time, when people have
been sending their children to coach, you know, to learn
football sports with him, he's been downloading child porn. So
(05:28):
I'm going to defend you just for a minute there,
and I'm going to rewind Samantha Allen, joining US multimedia
journalist wcy B, what's happening.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
The community is very tight knit, so they're not wanting
to kind of put someone that's so familiar with them
on blast until they have all the facts. And that's
kind of the same thing that we're dealing with as
reporters in this region is trying to get people to talk.
No one wants to talk to us. They want to
defund him, and that's being a big issue. A lot
of us are questioning, why are you trying to defend
(06:03):
him and why is it being kept so hush, and.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
A lot of the like went to the you're right, Samantha.
I mean, it's bedrock in our justice system that this coach,
Travis Turner is innocent. As we're talking tonight, He's innocent.
He is presumed innocent under the law. But that's not
the end of that sentence.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Is it.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Mark Tate, high profile trial lawyer with the Tate Group
out of Savannah who shot to fame across the nation
during the Alex and Murdog double murder trial. He defended
him to the very end on every news outlet there
was Mark Tate. That's not the end of the presumption
of innocence jury charge.
Speaker 6 (06:51):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
That charge says the defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until the state piercing is that presumption of innocence with
evidence to prove guilt. That's the rest of that sentence
that defends the trains like to conveniently forget.
Speaker 6 (07:10):
Well. I mean, you're right, the state has the burden
to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I think the
issue here, and when we talk about that community, and
I do have some familiarity with that area, is that
no community that I've ever experienced wants to really understand
that there is this kind of a shocking thing going
(07:31):
on right there. I've seen it in the Catholic sex
abuse cases, boy Scouts, loved pediatricians, rabbis, organizations where you
would never expect there to be something like this because
you trust the person so much, and so it shocks
the community. And I believe that when they have that
type of shock, there is a great burden to overcome
(07:54):
to convince them that, yeah, this person that you trusted
was not worthy of your trust, and so I hope
they're able to find him. I think wandering off into
the woods, you know, with the firearm sort of boodes
poorly for him, obviously, because he's wandering around the Appalachian
mountains and it gets to be about twenty nine degrees
(08:15):
at night, and he's probably got some survival skills. Who knows,
But I think it's going to be hard to find him.
And I think that once they get him, that community
is going to have to be convinced that he did
the things for which he was sought. That when they
first went to pick him up on November twenty four,
or announced that's why they were looking for him on
(08:35):
November twenty four.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Search right now for this guy. You don't think they
brought out trafford dogs, scent dogs, massive search for him.
There's an incredible search going on. I wonder did he
even go into that rugged terrain. I know he gives
without coach, because they got any of him wearing shorts
(09:00):
in the snow. And that is a very important question
to Samantha Allen joining us w C y B on
the case from the very beginning. You know, you got
to take all your witnesses with a box of salt,
not a pants, a box who said they saw this
coach Travis Turner going into a heavily wooded area and sweatshirt, sweatshan,
(09:24):
sweatpants and a gun. Who said that? To start with,
how do I know that's where he really went?
Speaker 4 (09:30):
We actually really don't even know if that is one
hundred percent true. It was only released to us from
the Virginia State Police. The firearm. That was only told
to us from the attorney, the family's attorney, Adrian Collins.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
So we okay, wait, wait, wait, Samantha, Sam, Sam, what
did you say about the family lawyer? It came from
the family lawyer.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
The family warrior is the only person that has officially
announced that he walked into the woods with the firearm.
The Virginia State Police didn't.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Wait, wait, wait, well, Samantha, you just gave me some
very vital information. Brian Fitzgibbons, did you hear that? So
the only witness that sees him going into the woods
with a sweatpants, sweatshirt, sweatpants gun is somebody from within
(10:20):
the family, because that's a family lawyer. I'm extrapolating here.
Brian Fitzgibbons, Director Operations USPA Nationwide Security, leading teams of
investigators across the world, trying to find missing people, Brian,
consider the source. So the police are on the way,
(10:42):
They've already fired one person has been either laid off
or fired at the school in connection with this, and
I'm I'm dying to find out who that is and
what their connection is. And now they're on the way
to talk to him about it, obviously about the child porn,
and he walks into the woods. Yet an incredible, an
intense search goes on and nobody can find him in
(11:05):
the woods. Did he really even go into the woods?
Speaker 7 (11:09):
That's certainly a big question, right because when the source
is coming from the family attorney and that this has
not been confirmed by law enforcement, it's difficult to confirm
that he did do that. And you're going to see
the resources tied up to search this dense terrain with
steep ravines, tons of trees, caves, rivers, you name it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
This is very.
Speaker 7 (11:34):
Difficult, a difficult search to conduct.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
You know, Brian Fitzgibbons, I'm very curious about the efforts
being made to find him. I don't doubt that they
are being made. But when you bring out knine scentin DAWs,
cadaver dogs, drones, helicopters, shoulder to shoulder and you can't
find him. That's concerning. It suggests he didn't go that way.
But back to what happened, Listen.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Turner's disappearance days before his team's playoff game is now
even more shocking. The coaches wanted on five counts of
possessing child pornography, five counts of using a computer to
solicit a minor, additional charges pending.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Back to Samantha Allen joining US WCYB, explain to me
what the charges are exactly.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
So the charges are the five counts of child pornography
and five counts of soliciting a minor using a computer.
Those are the only charges that have been announced to us.
They say pending. There's charges pending according to the Virginia
State Police, but we do not know what that entails.
And last we heard is that they're having that five
(12:45):
thousand dollars award from the US Marshal if someone finds him.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Our brand joining us now for Senior inspector with the
US Marshall Service International Investigations Branch. He's traveled all around
the world looking four fugitives, and he is now the
author of a hit series on Amazon. Jack solo mysteries.
(13:10):
The last one going solo the Gospel of Luke Who.
I can't wait to read that one, IRV. Brandt. I'm
very curious about the search for him and the likelihood
that he has stayed within the area. Also, let me
just kick it off with you about this reward. There
is an urgent update from the US Marshall Service. They
(13:32):
are now offering a five thousand dollars reward for information
leading to the arrest of the former undefeated football high
school coach, Travis Turner. Now they've piled on they're offering
a five thousand dollar reward. Do you believe rewards work, IRV.
Speaker 8 (13:57):
Brant, It's rewards do work. That's why the United States
Marshall Service does it. People are more apt to give
information if they think they're going to be rewarded for
the information. I've worked cases for decades and rewards were
(14:18):
an integral part of those cases. And when the Marshal
Service gets involved in a case like this, they don't
get involved until the criminal charges are announced, that warrants
are have been issued. They don't help look for a suspect.
(14:40):
They look for fugitives, and this man's a fugitive now
and that's why the Marshal Service is involved in offering
a reward.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Guys, you were looking at coach Travis Turner undefeated. Okay,
I will give in, Samantha Allen. Tell me about his
football record and why he is so notorious and famed
in the area for all of those wins, and go
ahead and tell me about his own football career.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
I mean, his father was a football star there at
Apalacha High School. Then we have him who's also a
football star at Apalachia High School, and then he starts coaching Union.
His son's a football star at Union High School, and
now he's coaching an undefeated team and they're making it
out to region championships and they have gone with no losses.
(15:35):
So now it's a big deal within the community of
this guy that's so well known with his football career,
with his dad being a football star and his son
and now he's leading this team into a championship. But
then he just runs away. That's what makes this such
a big deal within the community is that someone that's
so well known and so familiar with everyone and everyone
growed up. Everyone I've talked to. Ever when I go
(15:57):
out there and I do my interviews. They know, they
know his father, they went to school with him, They
went to school with his dad. Everyone knows everyone there,
and no one knew that this was happening. So, like
you said, this was crazy, that this was just right
underneath everyone's noses, and no one wants to believe it.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Travis Turner is a former high school football star quarterback,
capturing three state titles as a player in the mid nineties.
Now the head football coach at Union High, Wise County,
Virginia since twenty eleven, and this year the team is
undefeated heading into state playoffs. Travis and Leslie Turner married
two thousand and one and have three children, sons Bailey
twenty three and grade and twenty and daughter Brindley eleven.
(16:36):
Bailey played quarterback and is currently a physical education teacher
at the school and serves on the football coaching staff.
Graydon is in the Army and Brinley is in the
sixth grade.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Take a listen to Robyn Lawson from the sp Virginia
State Police.
Speaker 9 (16:51):
The Virginia State Police has obtained ten warrants from missing
high school football coach Travis L. Turner, forty six, of
Apple Turner is wanted on five counts of child pornography
and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Letting me drink this in Joining me Crime Stories investigative
reporter Dave mac Dave Okay. Hold on coach Turner. Travis Turner,
former high school football star, quarterback, capturing three state titles.
(17:35):
Now the head football coach Union High. That's Wise County, Virginia.
He's been there since two thy eleven. Right now his
team is undefeated and heading to state playoffs. His son
is a football star, his father is a football star,
(17:55):
and now his son is a pe teacher and is
a football coach with him. Do I have that all right?
Dave met What more can you tell me?
Speaker 10 (18:05):
Well, Nancy, you have everything exactly right. The frustrating part
of all of this, Nancy, is what you started with
at the beginning of the show, talking about football, because
you know, in reality, this is another teacher that is
sexually abusing or attempting to sexually abuse children that are
(18:26):
in their charge. We don't know the ages of the children.
He's accused of possessing pictures of or attempting to contact
other than knowing they're minors. But Nancy, we do shows
all the time about teachers involved with students. Do we
not have a class at the beginning of a year
telling all the teachers and coaches don't touch the kids.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
So this is a dynasty and it goes way far
back and is going into the future. His father football star,
his son football star, on the coaching staff at the
high school with the crime stories. With Nancy Grace, doctor
(19:10):
Bethany Marshall joining us, let me introduce her, properly renowned
psychoanalyst out of the LA jurisdiction. You can see her
now on peacock. She is an author of deal Breakers,
which is on Amazon. You can find her at doctor
Bethanymarshall dot com. Doctor Bethany, This is going to be
(19:30):
a hard nut to crack. You know why, because when
you pull Gurrors in for an ultimate jury trial, this guy,
either they're going to know him personally, or they're going
to know his wife, who's very active in the football
community and the community at large, his sons. He's also
got a daughter who's in high school right now, middle school,
(19:51):
his father. They have an excellent reputation in the community,
and it's going to be very difficult for them to
believe this guy did anything of the sword. They would
probably fall for someone with zany conspiracy theory, like the
child porn was planted on his computer. I mean, I
(20:11):
could see somebody actually believing that.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
I agree with you, Nancy. The whole community is probably
still in denial at this point. And we saw this
with Jerry Sandusky Larry Nasser with the Catholic priests. Is
that older white males typically are protected when child pornography
charges are brought against them. It is just so typical.
But Nancy, think about the broader story here. Who was
(20:38):
this guy's soliciting. Was it some under eight minor at
the school there? Did that minor go to their parents?
Did the parents then pull on that thread go to
the administration? Were their complaints brought to the administration about
coach Travis but those complaints went ignored? We're going to
(20:59):
learn so much about this. Are there a group of
child predators in that community or in that state who
are sharing images back and forth? We saw, you know,
with Jerry Sandusky, Nancy, once the charges were brought against him,
Remember all the kids he coached started coming out of
the woodwork and saying, oh, yeah, you know, he asked
(21:21):
me to take a shower with him, and I thought
was kind of strange, But then I just decided, you know,
just to ignore it because he was my coach and
I wanted to play on the team. Who is going
to come forward in this case. My hope is that
every parent of a child in that school is going
to sit down with their kid and ask about their
(21:41):
interactions with this coach so they can determine if their
child has been a victim and give them the appropriate
support they need.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
To Mark Tate joining us high profile defense lawyer with
the Tate Law Group, Mark Tate, this is a defense
attorney's dream come true to be defending a veteran football
coach who has touched the lives of thousands of students,
of thousands of families in a good way. His father
(22:12):
the same, his son the same, his wife the same.
I mean, they're going to walk in this courtroom with
basically a halo, a halo over their heads.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
We faced this kind of problem when we were pursuing
the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts and absolutely juries
and judges and the community especially in large Catholic communities
or a large community that has a lot of people
involved in scouting. You have a definite bias in favor
of what we think is the perpetrator and against accusers.
(22:46):
They simply people simply don't want to believe that this
kind of thing could happen in their own community to
people they trust. And so a defense lawyer can certainly
use that to his or her advantage in presenting their
defense to this case. And so I think the prosecutors
(23:07):
will be armed with fantastic research and development of the
charges against him, and I think that there's experience in
doing it, and I think that I think that that
bias is something to be aware of, But I think
they can overcome it given this situation, because as equally
hard as they support him, they can turn hard against
(23:28):
him when they start to see facts that are unrefutable.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
As the team heads into playoffs without their leader, tension rises.
In Wise County. The school district suspends an employee with pay,
sparking speculation that the missing coach, Travis Turner, is involved.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
So too, Samantha Allen joining us WCYB. The other individual
at the high school was only suspended with pay.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Yes, confirmed, if that was exactly Turner. Of course you
can make a speculation and decide for yourself that the
employee that was put on paid leave is Travis Turner,
but it still has been yet to be confirmed for
the VSP, so the Virginia State Police have yet to
confirm if that is exactly the employee that was put
(24:20):
on leave.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Dave mac Crime Stories, I understood that one employee was
put on leave and they were going to interrogate Coach
Turner when he disappeared. But she's right, that could be
one in the same right. I mean, what you don't
get fired for claims you have child porn on your computer,
(24:42):
you just get suspended with pay.
Speaker 10 (24:44):
Well, you've got an investigation going, that's the whole point.
I believe that what we're talking about is the same person.
The investigators were headed to his house to talk to him.
They didn't have arrest Warren or anything for him at
the time. They were merely going to investigate the allegations
that they had been that they'd heard about. And while
(25:05):
they were on the way, that's when we don't know. See,
we don't know Nancy did something call him.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Day run you and the Disney princesses can keep singing that.
I'm not sure that's all together. Facts sounds like fiction.
Mark Tape. Please. They're on their way in their patrol
car to his house to talk to him about child
porn claims hgwln. They were going to arrest him. Why
(25:36):
are we pretending, Oh, they're going to arrest him.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
I think that's exactly right. And who knows if he
got the tip off. And I think the important thing
to recall, and I'm certainly not criticizing for this, but
there's a family lawyer who represents them, who's already in play,
and I know that that lawyer wouldn't condone in any
way someone becoming a fugitive. But we know that when
(26:00):
the police get there, this family lawyer, should he be
involved at that point's going to tell, you know, the
coach not to be talking. And so you know, i's
if he's afraid to do that, thinking he is going
to get arrested either way. Much he is, he's got
a head to the woods.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Mark Tate. Earlier, you said maybe he was tipped off. Okay,
So while Ellie law Enforcement, Virginia State Police are on
their way ninety to his place to talk to him.
He suddenly goes on a solo walk into the woods
with a gun. Yes, he was tipped off. They're coming
(26:41):
to get you. Now. Who could have done that? Oh?
Somebody within the police force. Could it have been someone
he coached, that played on his team. That bears an
investigation right there? How did he know it could be?
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Obviously anybody who asks sufficient knowledge about it? Absolutely well, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
But they had to be within the police department because
they had to know cops are on the way to
talk to him. As Samantha Allen said, Samantha, also, we
have searched and searched for the actual charges, the verbatim charges.
I was looking hoping to find the age of the
alleged victims in this case. Couldn't find them. And I
(27:22):
believe that it is because there has not been a
grand jury proceeding charging him. There is not a formal indictment.
Is that correct? Yes? No, yes, correct, there's not a
formal indictment. So when we say there are five charges
of childhorn and five charges regarding soliciting a minor on
(27:44):
a computer for sex, those are police charges. For instance.
You know, Samantha Allen, you and I get into bar fight.
I crack you on the head with a bottle. First
of all, police arrest me on charges of aggravators saw
with a broken bottle. That's the first thing. Then it
goes to a grand jury where they hear evidence and
(28:05):
they issue a formal indictment. So the charges we're talking
about tonight are police charges. Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yes? Yes, it's done investiation, it's still ongoing.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Now I want to talk to you about a subtle
but critical discrepancy. We are now being told through the
family lawyer that Turner, excuse me, undefeated football coach Travis
Turner goes into the woods and sweatsuit and a gun.
But isn't it true on the police report there was
(28:39):
no mention of a gun.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Yes, so the police report just says grace sweatshirt, graceweatpants,
and glasses. And then we hear throughout rumors throughout the
whole entire week that he was carrying a firearmy he
went into the woods. Then we get a statement from
the attorney that was released saying nothing about what he
was wearing. Just yes, he walked into the woods with
(29:03):
a firearm. The firearm is undisclosed. We don't know what
he walked in with or who saw him that is
not told to us. We have no clue who saw
him walk into the woods or where they got the information,
and we've asked the attorney for clarification and he's yet
to give it to us.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Brian Fitzgibbons, don't you think that that as a critical
fact that was not in the police report. Why was
it not in the police report? I don't believe it's
because police forgot. I don't believe they were told about
the gun at the get go.
Speaker 7 (29:37):
Yeah, that certainly would be the case, because you know,
all too often, especially when you're searching for a fugitive,
police are going to release information that somebody is expected
to be armed, you know, so the public is aware
of that. So I would think that if it were
included to police on the outset, that that would have
been initially reported by police.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I mean, IRV Brandt, you're the former senior inspector with
the US Marshall Service International Investigations. For Pete's sake, isn't
that an important fact that you would want the public
to note at the very beginning. Don't approach this guy.
He's armed.
Speaker 8 (30:16):
Yes, Nancy, that's exactly right. Determining the suspect's potent potential
for violence and public safety is foremost in law enforcement
efforts and conducting a fugitive investigation, and we always warn
the public not to approach a fugitive. I mean, even
(30:40):
if there is no indication of a firearm, it's safer
to assume that someone has access to a firearm, and
we don't want the general public to endanger their lives
while trying to assist law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
The United States Marshall Service joins the hunt for Still,
listed as a missing person having last been seen November twentieth.
The Marshall Service is offering a reward of up to
five thousand dollars. Tips can be reported to nine one one,
the Virginia State Police, the United States Marshall Service one
eight seven seven Wanted two, or online US marshalls dot
gov forward slash tips. Authorities said he may be armed,
(31:21):
so caution is advised. Travis Turner's biggest fan and supporter
is his wife, Leslie. Or Facebook page is a place
where Union High football fans gather online to get updates
on the team. Leslie regularly encourages the team on her page,
including one post five days before Turner disappeared game day.
Good luck to my guys today and to all of
(31:41):
Union's football team and coaches. After Turner vanishes, Leslie posts,
I just wanted to get on here for a second
to clear up something. As of right now, ten twenty
five pm on Friday night, Travis is missing and that's
all we know. We love him and need him here
with us. Thank you to everyone who has reached out
out with love and support. It means more than you know.
(32:03):
Just keep praying that he comes home. The post was deleted.
A short time later.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
The mom his wife, Leslie, the mother of his three children,
posting about Turner vanishing, but then she deletes that and
says this.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
As the search for Travis Turner continues, wife Leslie shuts
down her social media and has only made one public
comment saying none of that is true. He's a good
dad and a good husband and we want him home.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
That's it. I want to talk about the search, the
ongoing search for football coach, the undefeated coach, Travis Turner,
But first I want to understand the charges five counts
of child porn, five counts using computer to solicit a minor.
First of all, he has been referred to as the
(32:52):
perv coach, the pedo co coach. But to doctor Bethany
Marshall explain to me, desire a guy in his position
working with children would have to see children being abused, molested,
or children naked.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
Well, he's going to have a very specific offending pattern
which will come out in the grand jury and when
we learn more about this story. But usually pedophiles, if
the allegations are true, generally like pre pubescent children, and
when the children turn thirteen or fourteen, they age out,
they're no longer desirable or they like to have power
(33:35):
over miners, and then that's a part of the offending pattern.
Imagining that a fourteen, fifteen or sixteen year old girl
or boy could be a boyfriend or a girlfriend. But
what happens with these perpetrators is that they can only
become sexually aroused through relationships with children, right, So they
want to see children naked, They want to see children
(33:56):
maybe in the showers, in the locker room, they want
to pass in around And what happens is they need
more and more to stimulate their arousal, So the images
become more and more sensationalized, so they might start out
just with a picture of a baby or a picture
of a miner, and then they want to see a
miner having sex with another miner, and then it just
(34:19):
sort of escalates from there. I think probably what happened
in this case similar likes. Let's say Robert Morris, who
was a pastor, he founded Gateway Church. He blested children
for years, okay, he predated on miners, and all the
deacons in the church surrounded him and protected him. And
(34:39):
it took one girl that he molested in the eighties
who came out last year wrote a letter and exposed him.
And she got the threats from the deacons in the
church because she wanted to expose him, but she was brave.
She went forward, she did expose him, and now he's
left the church and you know, has been brought upon
charges and all.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I'm very curious to Bethany, mister, whether this inclination starts
early on. It's very difficult when you have a famous,
even just locally famous icon charged any case like this.
And let me refer everyone to the hit reality series
(35:20):
Nineteen Kids and Counting. Remember the Dugger family that had
I think it ended up with like twenty children okay,
listen to this.
Speaker 11 (35:30):
Our son Josh came to us on his own and
he was crying, and he had just turned fourteen, and
he said that he had actually improperly touched some of
our daughters. He said he was just curious about girls,
and he had gone in and just basically touched them
(35:50):
over their clothes while they were sleeping. They didn't even
know he had done it. None of the victims were
aware of what happened until Joshua confessed.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
And then it wasn't like we.
Speaker 11 (35:58):
Were keeping a secret afraid or then it was we
didn't know until josh explained to my parents.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
That from the Kelly file. Now that was when Douger
was fourteen years old. Nothing was done, all right, it
was swept under the rug. And then fast forward a
few years.
Speaker 12 (36:22):
This we were able to get from this IP address
one specific video of child pornography and one folder containing
approximately sixty five images of child pornography from a specific
IP address. We served a federal summons for that IP address.
That IP address came back to Ozark's Go okay with
(36:42):
a subscriber of Josh A dugerm with cell phone. I'm
assuming that personal cell phone with that email address that
you just mentioned.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
So, doctor Methanie, it started that we know of of
him molesting his sisters at fourteen, that's when we find
out about it. And then fast forward when he's got
a wife and a family, he's downloading child porn. Sound familiar.
So does this start when you're a child? Yes, it does.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Pedophilia is considered like a fixed arousal pattern that is
there from birth. Now, it's hard to really measure because
children under the age of five, six or seven don't
draw sexual images, don't talk about sex, so it doesn't
really emerge until later in life. But you know, the
most common age of a child molester is age thirteen,
(37:33):
and Josh Dugger was fourteen at this point. And the
reason for that is that's when they become aware of sex,
and that's when they begin to molest, and that's when
they have access to siblings, to classmates, to things like that.
But see we see again here that the community protected
him and he went on to molest even.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
More well, speaking of the community protecting him and someone
being famous, who's she child a luster? Do I even
have to say? Former Subway Sandwich pitch man Jared Fogel
listen to Fogel caught on tape.
Speaker 6 (38:11):
Yeah, middove the middle school girl.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Starting to you know, yeah, because you know how much
I love you.
Speaker 11 (38:19):
I love you.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Guys. Did you hear Jared Fogel, the subway pitch guy.
He lost two hundred and forty five pounds eating nothing
but subway sandwiches and appeared in like three hundred subway commercials. Superstar. Yeah,
especially at some of the middle school I love middle schools.
The girls are just starting to get boobs, because you
(38:42):
know how much I love big boobs. You know, I
love huge tits. If I heard my son say the
word tit, I don't care if he's six foot six,
I would wash his mouth out with soap. And he
goes on and on. Just paid plage. A little snippet
of this perv Jared Foegel, the doggers what they and
(39:06):
now this coach, who, by the way, is innocent until
proven guilty. I want to talk about the search to
IRV Brandt, joining US former Senior Inspector US Marshall Service
International Investigations Branch. Do you remember the glam yoga coach?
Remember her, Caitlin Armstrong. She murdered a world class dirt
(39:30):
bike rider, gorgeous young girl. Yeah, there's the yoga instructor
right there, and she was spotted on airport video and
it was totally her. Oh there you go with her
yoga mat ding ding ding. It's me, everybody here, I
am the yoga instructor with a yoga mat. So I
(39:51):
guess the first thing you do is go to the
airport's IRV.
Speaker 8 (39:56):
That's exactly right, Nancy. And as you were talking about
this was the first case that came to mind was
Armstrong case. When you start a fugitive investigation, you don't
start it on any assumptions an unreliable witness saying that,
I mean, you investigate all possible leads, of course, but
(40:17):
you don't, you know, concentrate your entire efforts. You're going
to put out the bolos to different states. You're going
to flag passports, you're gonna check dls, You're going to
look for all vehicles associated with the suspect and also
the suspects family and also the suspects friends to see
if any of gone missing. And just like in the
(40:40):
Armstrong case, it wasn't her passport that they found had
left the country. It was her sister's passport that had
left the country and she was still in the country.
So it's very similar the cases. The way it's conducted
(41:02):
goes along those same lines. You're gonna look for financial means,
You're gonna search for tags on known vehicles. Uh, you're
gonna you're gonna use every investigative tool that you have
conducting this, uh, search locally than nationally, righting eventually internationally.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Well, yeah, in a way to do that to BRYANUS
Gibbons from USPA Nationwide Security. I want to find out this.
Has he used his ATM? When was the last time
he used his ATM? Where did he use it? Do
I have a picture? How much did he withdraw? Did
he do repeat withdraws? Because you know some ATMs you
(41:45):
can only get, say two hundred dollars at a crack.
Did he go into a line of credit to get
more money? Has he used his credit cards? Where is
his car? Has he used a rental car? Did he
get a rental car even in a joining county beyond
Wise County? Do we have video? What about license plate grabbers?
(42:06):
I haven't heard a word about his car being missing.
That tells me he's not in his car. He may
be in another car. And also this search if they
have brought out drones, cadaver dogs, scent dogs, everything, shoulder
to shoulder searches, you name it, that tells me he
(42:31):
wasn't in the woods to start with. So where is he?
He's not on foot, I can tell you that much.
He's not hiding out at somebody's house a sympathizer. So
where is he? Where do we start? Kneel in a haystack?
Speaker 7 (42:43):
Well, what IRV Brandt just brought up is a very
pression point here. The financial means that Travis Turner has
are probably not great. So this, you know, how is
he going to access funding to be on the run
for law?
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Put him up?
Speaker 7 (42:59):
So that's that's something.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
You haven't heard of. A line of credit. I get
a line of credit on your checking account. You can
get one hundred grand out of a line of credit
and be gone.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (43:15):
I just think that you know that this was an emergent. Uh,
you know, he was tipped off that they were coming
to his house to speak to him. That this wasn't
a planned escape so to speak. So I think that
this happened very quickly. I think that's gonna be Yeah,
(43:39):
who knew that they were coming out there to speak
to him? Who knew that law enforcement was on the way. Uh,
they're certainly going to have some cell phone records that
are available for who called and text communicated with his phone?
And I think that they will uncover that in the
in the coming.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Days here, Okay, I think correct me if I'm wrong,
saman The close airport is in Appalachia, Virginia, the Tri
City's regional airport that's in Blountville, Tennessee. Is that right
fifty nine miles away?
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Yes? Yes, that is the closest airport.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
To get from his home to there. That's about at
least an hour drive. How did he get there? If
that's where he went. I don't see him flying, because
wouldn't we have a register of that earth brand when
you've already been spotted if you had taken a plane.
Speaker 8 (44:33):
It depends on the flight, Nancy. Of course, when you're
flying domestically, all you need is a government ID. Then
you investigators could check with TSA to see if he
used a valid government ID to get into the airport.
If he flew internationally, of course there'd be a record
(44:55):
of that in texts. The Treasury Reinforcement.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
I don't see him flying, do you If I think
he's somewhere else, I don't think you took a flight.
Speaker 8 (45:03):
I would not know, Nancy, like your other guests has said,
it doesn't seem like this was planned out in advance.
It was something that happened at the spur of the moment.
So most fugitives are going to avoid places where there's camera, security,
(45:24):
police officers, and there's hardly any place in the country
that has more cameras and more police and more security
than an airport, and especially an international airport.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
Yeah. So, Samantha Allen, what's the temperature? What's your low
overnight in that area?
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Oh gosh, it is like it's probably reached about twenty
six degrees and it is we got cold happening, so
it's like freezing cold rain.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
So he is not out in the woods roughing it.
I don't need to find out if he has taken
camping gear with him. He's somewhere else. He's probably hold
up at a local hotel, motel, hiding out not too close,
not too close, which means he's got help. Brian Fitzgibbons,
(46:15):
they better have a tap on everybody's phone because you
know Daddy's called home.
Speaker 7 (46:22):
Yeah, certainly. And one piece that I want to add here, Nancy,
that I think we haven't really covered too much. These
charges are umbrella terms that are going to be standard
for any time someone's charged with possession of explicit child material.
So this could have been something he found online, but
I think it may be more likely that it's somebody
(46:45):
from that high school, right, So investigators are going to
be on it could have been a text message exchange
or things like that. So investigators are going to be
unraveling a weave of a network of people that knew
about this, that have communicated about it. So in the
coming days, I think we're gonna learn more about exactly
what type of material it was, what the origin was,
(47:09):
and that network could shed some light on where.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Crime stories with Nancy Gray Mark tay, you know what
the defense is going to be because it's really hard
to argue that's not my computer in my office behind
the locked door. He's going to have to say, oh,
it just popped up. You know, in all the years
(47:39):
that I do research, I've never had child porn pop up,
not once.
Speaker 6 (47:46):
It's not a very good defense and I think possibly
they're going to have to if he ever gets in
dieted it ever is found, I think that a more
creative approach is going to have to possibly be found
and maybe find a way to cross examine the forensic
folks who are going to have found this material and
say other people had passwords, so that maybe show other
(48:08):
people had access to the computer at work. But I
think it's found on your computer. You have to find
something else. Then it just popped up because it just
doesn't work that way, and the forensic folks find that.
And I know this because we've found this kind of
material as I've mentioned before in civil matters against Catholic
priests and rabbis and pediatricians, and so it happens, and
(48:35):
it does not just pop up on your computer. It's
an active search. The searches are traceable, and so that
defense is a failure. But again, this guy is still
wandering and everybody's focused on airports and now type of
security is there, Nancy, But there's an amtract station in Bristol,
and those avenues amtrack are far less secure than an airplane.
(49:00):
But all of it gets back to getting in indicted
and then getting him in front of a jury with
a lawyer who can craft something to have one juror
say I've got a reason to doubt these charges. It's
going to be an.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
Interesting Right about Amtrak.
Speaker 6 (49:15):
I look forward to.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
It, and Amtrak is cheap and you don't have to
go through a lot of security. I don't know that
you even have to show ID to buy a ticket
in cash. You can go ticket am track. Yeah, all
the way across the country, of course, which would leave
somewhat of a trail if they've got video surveillance in
(49:37):
the Amtrak station. But you could go all the way
across the country for under two hundred dollars without a trail,
a trail that you would leave at the airport. But
you know, Mark take this is not the first time
Union High School has had to deal with sex allegations
against a coach or teacher.
Speaker 6 (49:56):
Right, that's exactly right. I think that's fascinating. That's the
kind of thing obviously that plaintiffs lawyer, a lawyer pursuing
civil remedies for this kind of thing looks to. And
this high school has this fellow, another football coach, Timothy
Lee Metter, who pled guilty or was convicted of child solicitation,
(50:17):
of soliciting a minor for sexual or inappropriate purposes. So
it's not the first time that that Union High school
has had a problem, and you know there may be
a deeper issue involved. Obviously that's something that should and
will be investigated. What exactly is going on there? Why
is this a repeat situation? The Metter guy was about
(50:40):
twenty years younger than the actual head coach. But there's
something bizarre at that high school from my viewpoint, trying
to hold people accountable other than this man who has disappeared.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
And you know, another thing about what you're saying, Mark
is the same lawyer, this same lawyer who represented Timothy Matter,
the previous coach, last teacher at the same high school
that pled guilty to indi cent liberties with the minor.
He got a light sentence about a year and three
(51:15):
months and then he was out free. He gets a
slap on the wrist, same high school. And now this
happens and within the same school district, which is Wise County,
the same county. There's another guy, a teacher arrested on
three counts carnal knowledge. That was Tyler J. Tibbs, a
(51:35):
social studies teacher at Coburn Middle so you know, doctor
Bethany Marshall. That makes it worse as far as the
Union high goes, because they should have been on high
alert after Meadows.
Speaker 5 (51:48):
Yes, they should have. There's two kinds of cultures when
it comes to these kinds of crimes. A culture who
supports the children and a culture like what we saw
in the Catholic Church who supports the adults and cannot
believe that a child molester is a child molester. But Nancy,
I want to go back to him being a fugitive.
I am going to guess if the family hired the
(52:09):
same attorney that they knew that there was an investigation
going on, that the family was talking about this, and
the family probably has information on dad, father spouse on
whether or not he was making any preparations that were
unusual or out of the ordinary for him, like as
(52:30):
you said, getting cash, Was he talking about other states
anything like that. They could be a treasure trove of information.
Speaker 1 (52:37):
As we go to air tonight, football coach Travis Turner
is presumed innocent. His team has gone on to win again.
They remain undefeated even in his absence. If you know
or think you know anything about what happened. If you
(52:59):
know a child that may have been a victim, if
you know where he is or where he's headed, if
you think you've seen him, please call Virginia State Police
two seven six four eight four nine four eight three,
or you can always call the US Marshall Service one
eight seven seven wanted. That's one eight seven seven nine
(53:23):
two six eight three three two. There was a five
thousand dollars reward for Travis Turner. And now we remember
an American Hero Guard Member Sarah Bestrom West Virginia National Guard,
just twenty years old, shot in the line of duty,
(53:43):
leaving behind her grieving father Gary. American Hero Guard Member
Sarah Beckstrom. Nancy Gray signing off goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, the US Marshalls manhunt and
urgent update from the Marshalls coach Travis Turner, the famed
high school football coach vanishes into rugged terrains the mountains
with a gun on Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
(00:24):
I want to thank you for being with US.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia faces turmoil
as head coach Travis Turner mysteriously vanishes days before their
undefeated football team heads to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Why did he say that that the coach vanishes just
before the big football playoff? Correction? The coach vanished into
the woods, we believe, carrying a gun, according to a witness,
as La Lord enforcement was on their way to his
(01:02):
house to talk to him about child porn and about
claims he solicited a child for sex over his computer.
Do you think he vanished into the woods with a
gun in a sweatsuit because of the upcoming football game.
(01:24):
I don't think so. Listen.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Law enforcement headed to the family home to interview Turner.
On the way, investigators are informed Turner is no longer home.
When officers arrived, they're told Turner was last seen going
into a wooded area near his home, wearing a gray
sweatshirt and gray sweatpans.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Joining me an all star panel, including a rep from
the US Marshall's Office who traveled the world looking for fugitives,
as well as an expert in nationwide manhunts. But first
to Samantha Allen, joining US multimedia journalists from w c
y B. On Insta, you can find her at sam
(02:04):
Allen Sports. Samantha, what the hey? Why is every banner
that I read? And you can go ahead and plead
guilty right now? Girl? About the football, the football game,
the undefeated season. I always such a great football coach,
always such a great quarterback when he played football, football football. Hey.
(02:25):
I like football, just like everybody else. But you know
what I hate more than I like football. I hate
child molesters. And I hate people that download child porn
on their computer. All right. I tried to look this
guy up last night and I put in football coach
child porn, and I got all kind of warnings like
I was trying to download child porn. I immediately just
(02:45):
turned off the computer. So what happens, Samantha all Right?
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Well, you know, Virginia is a very tight knit community.
Already so football is already on top of everyone's mind.
This team has gone undefeated, he already is a All
Star player.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Put her up, Samantha, What did I just say? I said,
why is everybody talking about football when this guy, this
trusted football coach, is allegedly downloading child born on his computer,
probably at school? And what did you do? You know what?
(03:24):
I don't trust you anymore, doctor Bethany. What does she
just do? After I said, why are we talking about football?
The football record, the football undefeated, the football, the football
And what does she just do?
Speaker 5 (03:37):
She talked about football, and what she didn't talk about
was the victims. And that is what should be front
and center. I looked it up to last night, Nancy.
It's all about the football. The community. Children are always
underrepresented in our judicial system and in terms of protection,
and I keep thinking about who was he solictening? Was
a somebody in the school? What about the child born
(03:59):
on his computer? Or was he sharing photos with other
child molesters? Is he a part of a child molesting
ring where all these images are shared back and forth?
And because of that, that is really the part of
the story that should be front and center, because victims
could be right in that community, if that community is
so tight knit, they're going to be concerned, hopefully about
(04:21):
the children more than about football.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Well, you know, doctor Bethany Marshall. Now I'm going to
make a very brief cameo appearance as a defense attorney,
and I'm going to defend Samantha Allen after I just
accused her. Samantha, I think part of the shock of this,
of these charges child porn and soliciting a child a
(04:47):
minor for sex over the computer. I think part of
the reason everybody is so shocked is because what you
just said. Because right, if it's true, if the allegations
are true, this guy has been right under our noses
with hi who else, thousands and thousands of children, and
he has been famous. He is famous, he has been lauded.
(05:08):
He's a hero in the school and the community. His
son played football under him and is now on the
coaching staff with him. And I think part of this
is the fact that all this time, when people have
been sending their children to coach, you know, to learn
football sports with him, he's been downloading child porn. So
(05:28):
I'm going to defend you just for a minute there,
and I'm going to rewind Samantha Allen, joining US multimedia
journalist wcy B, what's happening.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
The community is very tight knit, so they're not wanting
to kind of put someone that's so familiar with them
on blast until they have all the facts. And that's
kind of the same thing that we're dealing with as
reporters in this region is trying to get people to talk.
No one wants to talk to us. They want to
defund him, and that's being a big issue. A lot
of us are questioning, why are you trying to defend
(06:03):
him and why is it being kept so hush, and.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
A lot of the like went to the you're right, Samantha.
I mean, it's bedrock in our justice system that this coach,
Travis Turner is innocent. As we're talking tonight, He's innocent.
He is presumed innocent under the law. But that's not
the end of that sentence.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Is it.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Mark Tate, high profile trial lawyer with the Tate Group
out of Savannah who shot to fame across the nation
during the Alex and Murdog double murder trial. He defended
him to the very end on every news outlet there
was Mark Tate. That's not the end of the presumption
of innocence jury charge.
Speaker 6 (06:51):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
That charge says the defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until the state piercing is that presumption of innocence with
evidence to prove guilt. That's the rest of that sentence
that defends the trains like to conveniently forget.
Speaker 6 (07:10):
Well. I mean, you're right, the state has the burden
to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I think the
issue here, and when we talk about that community, and
I do have some familiarity with that area, is that
no community that I've ever experienced wants to really understand
that there is this kind of a shocking thing going
(07:31):
on right there. I've seen it in the Catholic sex
abuse cases, boy Scouts, loved pediatricians, rabbis, organizations where you
would never expect there to be something like this because
you trust the person so much, and so it shocks
the community. And I believe that when they have that
type of shock, there is a great burden to overcome
(07:54):
to convince them that, yeah, this person that you trusted
was not worthy of your trust, and so I hope
they're able to find him. I think wandering off into
the woods, you know, with the firearm sort of boodes
poorly for him, obviously, because he's wandering around the Appalachian
mountains and it gets to be about twenty nine degrees
(08:15):
at night, and he's probably got some survival skills. Who knows,
But I think it's going to be hard to find him.
And I think that once they get him, that community
is going to have to be convinced that he did
the things for which he was sought. That when they
first went to pick him up on November twenty four,
or announced that's why they were looking for him on
(08:35):
November twenty four.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Search right now for this guy. You don't think they
brought out trafford dogs, scent dogs, massive search for him.
There's an incredible search going on. I wonder did he
even go into that rugged terrain. I know he gives
without coach, because they got any of him wearing shorts
(09:00):
in the snow. And that is a very important question
to Samantha Allen joining us w C y B on
the case from the very beginning. You know, you got
to take all your witnesses with a box of salt,
not a pants, a box who said they saw this
coach Travis Turner going into a heavily wooded area and sweatshirt, sweatshan,
(09:24):
sweatpants and a gun. Who said that? To start with,
how do I know that's where he really went?
Speaker 4 (09:30):
We actually really don't even know if that is one
hundred percent true. It was only released to us from
the Virginia State Police. The firearm. That was only told
to us from the attorney, the family's attorney, Adrian Collins.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
So we okay, wait, wait, wait, Samantha, Sam, Sam, what
did you say about the family lawyer? It came from
the family lawyer.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
The family warrior is the only person that has officially
announced that he walked into the woods with the firearm.
The Virginia State Police didn't.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Wait, wait, wait, well, Samantha, you just gave me some
very vital information. Brian Fitzgibbons, did you hear that? So
the only witness that sees him going into the woods
with a sweatpants, sweatshirt, sweatpants gun is somebody from within
(10:20):
the family, because that's a family lawyer. I'm extrapolating here.
Brian Fitzgibbons, Director Operations USPA Nationwide Security, leading teams of
investigators across the world, trying to find missing people, Brian,
consider the source. So the police are on the way,
(10:42):
They've already fired one person has been either laid off
or fired at the school in connection with this, and
I'm I'm dying to find out who that is and
what their connection is. And now they're on the way
to talk to him about it, obviously about the child porn,
and he walks into the woods. Yet an incredible, an
intense search goes on and nobody can find him in
(11:05):
the woods. Did he really even go into the woods?
Speaker 7 (11:09):
That's certainly a big question, right because when the source
is coming from the family attorney and that this has
not been confirmed by law enforcement, it's difficult to confirm
that he did do that. And you're going to see
the resources tied up to search this dense terrain with
steep ravines, tons of trees, caves, rivers, you name it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
This is very.
Speaker 7 (11:34):
Difficult, a difficult search to conduct.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
You know, Brian Fitzgibbons, I'm very curious about the efforts
being made to find him. I don't doubt that they
are being made. But when you bring out knine scentin DAWs,
cadaver dogs, drones, helicopters, shoulder to shoulder and you can't
find him. That's concerning. It suggests he didn't go that way.
But back to what happened, Listen.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Turner's disappearance days before his team's playoff game is now
even more shocking. The coaches wanted on five counts of
possessing child pornography, five counts of using a computer to
solicit a minor, additional charges pending.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Back to Samantha Allen joining US WCYB, explain to me
what the charges are exactly.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
So the charges are the five counts of child pornography
and five counts of soliciting a minor using a computer.
Those are the only charges that have been announced to us.
They say pending. There's charges pending according to the Virginia
State Police, but we do not know what that entails.
And last we heard is that they're having that five
(12:45):
thousand dollars award from the US Marshal if someone finds him.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Our brand joining us now for Senior inspector with the
US Marshall Service International Investigations Branch. He's traveled all around
the world looking four fugitives, and he is now the
author of a hit series on Amazon. Jack solo mysteries.
(13:10):
The last one going solo the Gospel of Luke Who.
I can't wait to read that one, IRV. Brandt. I'm
very curious about the search for him and the likelihood
that he has stayed within the area. Also, let me
just kick it off with you about this reward. There
is an urgent update from the US Marshall Service. They
(13:32):
are now offering a five thousand dollars reward for information
leading to the arrest of the former undefeated football high
school coach, Travis Turner. Now they've piled on they're offering
a five thousand dollar reward. Do you believe rewards work, IRV.
Speaker 8 (13:57):
Brant, It's rewards do work. That's why the United States
Marshall Service does it. People are more apt to give
information if they think they're going to be rewarded for
the information. I've worked cases for decades and rewards were
(14:18):
an integral part of those cases. And when the Marshal
Service gets involved in a case like this, they don't
get involved until the criminal charges are announced, that warrants
are have been issued. They don't help look for a suspect.
(14:40):
They look for fugitives, and this man's a fugitive now
and that's why the Marshal Service is involved in offering
a reward.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Guys, you were looking at coach Travis Turner undefeated. Okay,
I will give in, Samantha Allen. Tell me about his
football record and why he is so notorious and famed
in the area for all of those wins, and go
ahead and tell me about his own football career.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
I mean, his father was a football star there at
Apalacha High School. Then we have him who's also a
football star at Apalachia High School, and then he starts coaching Union.
His son's a football star at Union High School, and
now he's coaching an undefeated team and they're making it
out to region championships and they have gone with no losses.
(15:35):
So now it's a big deal within the community of
this guy that's so well known with his football career,
with his dad being a football star and his son
and now he's leading this team into a championship. But
then he just runs away. That's what makes this such
a big deal within the community is that someone that's
so well known and so familiar with everyone and everyone
growed up. Everyone I've talked to. Ever when I go
(15:57):
out there and I do my interviews. They know, they
know his father, they went to school with him, They
went to school with his dad. Everyone knows everyone there,
and no one knew that this was happening. So, like
you said, this was crazy, that this was just right
underneath everyone's noses, and no one wants to believe it.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Travis Turner is a former high school football star quarterback,
capturing three state titles as a player in the mid nineties.
Now the head football coach at Union High, Wise County,
Virginia since twenty eleven, and this year the team is
undefeated heading into state playoffs. Travis and Leslie Turner married
two thousand and one and have three children, sons Bailey
twenty three and grade and twenty and daughter Brindley eleven.
(16:36):
Bailey played quarterback and is currently a physical education teacher
at the school and serves on the football coaching staff.
Graydon is in the Army and Brinley is in the
sixth grade.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Take a listen to Robyn Lawson from the sp Virginia
State Police.
Speaker 9 (16:51):
The Virginia State Police has obtained ten warrants from missing
high school football coach Travis L. Turner, forty six, of
Apple Turner is wanted on five counts of child pornography
and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Letting me drink this in Joining me Crime Stories investigative
reporter Dave mac Dave Okay. Hold on coach Turner. Travis Turner,
former high school football star, quarterback, capturing three state titles.
(17:35):
Now the head football coach Union High. That's Wise County, Virginia.
He's been there since two thy eleven. Right now his
team is undefeated and heading to state playoffs. His son
is a football star, his father is a football star,
(17:55):
and now his son is a pe teacher and is
a football coach with him. Do I have that all right?
Dave met What more can you tell me?
Speaker 10 (18:05):
Well, Nancy, you have everything exactly right. The frustrating part
of all of this, Nancy, is what you started with
at the beginning of the show, talking about football, because
you know, in reality, this is another teacher that is
sexually abusing or attempting to sexually abuse children that are
(18:26):
in their charge. We don't know the ages of the children.
He's accused of possessing pictures of or attempting to contact
other than knowing they're minors. But Nancy, we do shows
all the time about teachers involved with students. Do we
not have a class at the beginning of a year
telling all the teachers and coaches don't touch the kids.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
So this is a dynasty and it goes way far
back and is going into the future. His father football star,
his son football star, on the coaching staff at the
high school with the crime stories. With Nancy Grace, doctor
(19:10):
Bethany Marshall joining us, let me introduce her, properly renowned
psychoanalyst out of the LA jurisdiction. You can see her
now on peacock. She is an author of deal Breakers,
which is on Amazon. You can find her at doctor
Bethanymarshall dot com. Doctor Bethany, This is going to be
(19:30):
a hard nut to crack. You know why, because when
you pull Gurrors in for an ultimate jury trial, this guy,
either they're going to know him personally, or they're going
to know his wife, who's very active in the football
community and the community at large, his sons. He's also
got a daughter who's in high school right now, middle school,
(19:51):
his father. They have an excellent reputation in the community,
and it's going to be very difficult for them to
believe this guy did anything of the sword. They would
probably fall for someone with zany conspiracy theory, like the
child porn was planted on his computer. I mean, I
(20:11):
could see somebody actually believing that.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
I agree with you, Nancy. The whole community is probably
still in denial at this point. And we saw this
with Jerry Sandusky Larry Nasser with the Catholic priests. Is
that older white males typically are protected when child pornography
charges are brought against them. It is just so typical.
But Nancy, think about the broader story here. Who was
(20:38):
this guy's soliciting. Was it some under eight minor at
the school there? Did that minor go to their parents?
Did the parents then pull on that thread go to
the administration? Were their complaints brought to the administration about
coach Travis but those complaints went ignored? We're going to
(20:59):
learn so much about this. Are there a group of
child predators in that community or in that state who
are sharing images back and forth? We saw, you know,
with Jerry Sandusky, Nancy, once the charges were brought against him,
Remember all the kids he coached started coming out of
the woodwork and saying, oh, yeah, you know, he asked
(21:21):
me to take a shower with him, and I thought
was kind of strange, But then I just decided, you know,
just to ignore it because he was my coach and
I wanted to play on the team. Who is going
to come forward in this case. My hope is that
every parent of a child in that school is going
to sit down with their kid and ask about their
(21:41):
interactions with this coach so they can determine if their
child has been a victim and give them the appropriate
support they need.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
To Mark Tate joining us high profile defense lawyer with
the Tate Law Group, Mark Tate, this is a defense
attorney's dream come true to be defending a veteran football
coach who has touched the lives of thousands of students,
of thousands of families in a good way. His father
(22:12):
the same, his son the same, his wife the same.
I mean, they're going to walk in this courtroom with
basically a halo, a halo over their heads.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
We faced this kind of problem when we were pursuing
the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts and absolutely juries
and judges and the community especially in large Catholic communities
or a large community that has a lot of people
involved in scouting. You have a definite bias in favor
of what we think is the perpetrator and against accusers.
(22:46):
They simply people simply don't want to believe that this
kind of thing could happen in their own community to
people they trust. And so a defense lawyer can certainly
use that to his or her advantage in presenting their
defense to this case. And so I think the prosecutors
(23:07):
will be armed with fantastic research and development of the
charges against him, and I think that there's experience in
doing it, and I think that I think that that
bias is something to be aware of, But I think
they can overcome it given this situation, because as equally
hard as they support him, they can turn hard against
(23:28):
him when they start to see facts that are unrefutable.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
As the team heads into playoffs without their leader, tension rises.
In Wise County. The school district suspends an employee with pay,
sparking speculation that the missing coach, Travis Turner, is involved.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
So too, Samantha Allen joining us WCYB. The other individual
at the high school was only suspended with pay.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Yes, confirmed, if that was exactly Turner. Of course you
can make a speculation and decide for yourself that the
employee that was put on paid leave is Travis Turner,
but it still has been yet to be confirmed for
the VSP, so the Virginia State Police have yet to
confirm if that is exactly the employee that was put
(24:20):
on leave.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Dave mac Crime Stories, I understood that one employee was
put on leave and they were going to interrogate Coach
Turner when he disappeared. But she's right, that could be
one in the same right. I mean, what you don't
get fired for claims you have child porn on your computer,
(24:42):
you just get suspended with pay.
Speaker 10 (24:44):
Well, you've got an investigation going, that's the whole point.
I believe that what we're talking about is the same person.
The investigators were headed to his house to talk to him.
They didn't have arrest Warren or anything for him at
the time. They were merely going to investigate the allegations
that they had been that they'd heard about. And while
(25:05):
they were on the way, that's when we don't know. See,
we don't know Nancy did something call him.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Day run you and the Disney princesses can keep singing that.
I'm not sure that's all together. Facts sounds like fiction.
Mark Tape. Please. They're on their way in their patrol
car to his house to talk to him about child
porn claims hgwln. They were going to arrest him. Why
(25:36):
are we pretending, Oh, they're going to arrest him.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
I think that's exactly right. And who knows if he
got the tip off. And I think the important thing
to recall, and I'm certainly not criticizing for this, but
there's a family lawyer who represents them, who's already in play,
and I know that that lawyer wouldn't condone in any
way someone becoming a fugitive. But we know that when
(26:00):
the police get there, this family lawyer, should he be
involved at that point's going to tell, you know, the
coach not to be talking. And so you know, i's
if he's afraid to do that, thinking he is going
to get arrested either way. Much he is, he's got
a head to the woods.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Mark Tate. Earlier, you said maybe he was tipped off. Okay,
So while Ellie law Enforcement, Virginia State Police are on
their way ninety to his place to talk to him.
He suddenly goes on a solo walk into the woods
with a gun. Yes, he was tipped off. They're coming
(26:41):
to get you. Now. Who could have done that? Oh?
Somebody within the police force. Could it have been someone
he coached, that played on his team. That bears an
investigation right there? How did he know it could be?
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Obviously anybody who asks sufficient knowledge about it? Absolutely well, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
But they had to be within the police department because
they had to know cops are on the way to
talk to him. As Samantha Allen said, Samantha, also, we
have searched and searched for the actual charges, the verbatim charges.
I was looking hoping to find the age of the
alleged victims in this case. Couldn't find them. And I
(27:22):
believe that it is because there has not been a
grand jury proceeding charging him. There is not a formal indictment.
Is that correct? Yes? No, yes, correct, there's not a
formal indictment. So when we say there are five charges
of childhorn and five charges regarding soliciting a minor on
(27:44):
a computer for sex, those are police charges. For instance.
You know, Samantha Allen, you and I get into bar fight.
I crack you on the head with a bottle. First
of all, police arrest me on charges of aggravators saw
with a broken bottle. That's the first thing. Then it
goes to a grand jury where they hear evidence and
(28:05):
they issue a formal indictment. So the charges we're talking
about tonight are police charges. Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yes? Yes, it's done investiation, it's still ongoing.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Now I want to talk to you about a subtle
but critical discrepancy. We are now being told through the
family lawyer that Turner, excuse me, undefeated football coach Travis
Turner goes into the woods and sweatsuit and a gun.
But isn't it true on the police report there was
(28:39):
no mention of a gun.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Yes, so the police report just says grace sweatshirt, graceweatpants,
and glasses. And then we hear throughout rumors throughout the
whole entire week that he was carrying a firearmy he
went into the woods. Then we get a statement from
the attorney that was released saying nothing about what he
was wearing. Just yes, he walked into the woods with
(29:03):
a firearm. The firearm is undisclosed. We don't know what
he walked in with or who saw him that is
not told to us. We have no clue who saw
him walk into the woods or where they got the information,
and we've asked the attorney for clarification and he's yet
to give it to us.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Brian Fitzgibbons, don't you think that that as a critical
fact that was not in the police report. Why was
it not in the police report? I don't believe it's
because police forgot. I don't believe they were told about
the gun at the get go.
Speaker 7 (29:37):
Yeah, that certainly would be the case, because you know,
all too often, especially when you're searching for a fugitive,
police are going to release information that somebody is expected
to be armed, you know, so the public is aware
of that. So I would think that if it were
included to police on the outset, that that would have
been initially reported by police.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I mean, IRV Brandt, you're the former senior inspector with
the US Marshall Service International Investigations. For Pete's sake, isn't
that an important fact that you would want the public
to note at the very beginning. Don't approach this guy.
He's armed.
Speaker 8 (30:16):
Yes, Nancy, that's exactly right. Determining the suspect's potent potential
for violence and public safety is foremost in law enforcement
efforts and conducting a fugitive investigation, and we always warn
the public not to approach a fugitive. I mean, even
(30:40):
if there is no indication of a firearm, it's safer
to assume that someone has access to a firearm, and
we don't want the general public to endanger their lives
while trying to assist law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
The United States Marshall Service joins the hunt for Still,
listed as a missing person having last been seen November twentieth.
The Marshall Service is offering a reward of up to
five thousand dollars. Tips can be reported to nine one one,
the Virginia State Police, the United States Marshall Service one
eight seven seven Wanted two, or online US marshalls dot
gov forward slash tips. Authorities said he may be armed,
(31:21):
so caution is advised. Travis Turner's biggest fan and supporter
is his wife, Leslie. Or Facebook page is a place
where Union High football fans gather online to get updates
on the team. Leslie regularly encourages the team on her page,
including one post five days before Turner disappeared game day.
Good luck to my guys today and to all of
(31:41):
Union's football team and coaches. After Turner vanishes, Leslie posts,
I just wanted to get on here for a second
to clear up something. As of right now, ten twenty
five pm on Friday night, Travis is missing and that's
all we know. We love him and need him here
with us. Thank you to everyone who has reached out
out with love and support. It means more than you know.
(32:03):
Just keep praying that he comes home. The post was deleted.
A short time later.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
The mom his wife, Leslie, the mother of his three children,
posting about Turner vanishing, but then she deletes that and
says this.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
As the search for Travis Turner continues, wife Leslie shuts
down her social media and has only made one public
comment saying none of that is true. He's a good
dad and a good husband and we want him home.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
That's it. I want to talk about the search, the
ongoing search for football coach, the undefeated coach, Travis Turner,
But first I want to understand the charges five counts
of child porn, five counts using computer to solicit a minor.
First of all, he has been referred to as the
(32:52):
perv coach, the pedo co coach. But to doctor Bethany
Marshall explain to me, desire a guy in his position
working with children would have to see children being abused, molested,
or children naked.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
Well, he's going to have a very specific offending pattern
which will come out in the grand jury and when
we learn more about this story. But usually pedophiles, if
the allegations are true, generally like pre pubescent children, and
when the children turn thirteen or fourteen, they age out,
they're no longer desirable or they like to have power
(33:35):
over miners, and then that's a part of the offending pattern.
Imagining that a fourteen, fifteen or sixteen year old girl
or boy could be a boyfriend or a girlfriend. But
what happens with these perpetrators is that they can only
become sexually aroused through relationships with children, right, So they
want to see children naked, They want to see children
(33:56):
maybe in the showers, in the locker room, they want
to pass in around And what happens is they need
more and more to stimulate their arousal, So the images
become more and more sensationalized, so they might start out
just with a picture of a baby or a picture
of a miner, and then they want to see a
miner having sex with another miner, and then it just
(34:19):
sort of escalates from there. I think probably what happened
in this case similar likes. Let's say Robert Morris, who
was a pastor, he founded Gateway Church. He blested children
for years, okay, he predated on miners, and all the
deacons in the church surrounded him and protected him. And
(34:39):
it took one girl that he molested in the eighties
who came out last year wrote a letter and exposed him.
And she got the threats from the deacons in the
church because she wanted to expose him, but she was brave.
She went forward, she did expose him, and now he's
left the church and you know, has been brought upon
charges and all.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
I'm very curious to Bethany, mister, whether this inclination starts
early on. It's very difficult when you have a famous,
even just locally famous icon charged any case like this.
And let me refer everyone to the hit reality series
(35:20):
Nineteen Kids and Counting. Remember the Dugger family that had
I think it ended up with like twenty children okay,
listen to this.
Speaker 11 (35:30):
Our son Josh came to us on his own and
he was crying, and he had just turned fourteen, and
he said that he had actually improperly touched some of
our daughters. He said he was just curious about girls,
and he had gone in and just basically touched them
(35:50):
over their clothes while they were sleeping. They didn't even
know he had done it. None of the victims were
aware of what happened until Joshua confessed.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
And then it wasn't like we.
Speaker 11 (35:58):
Were keeping a secret afraid or then it was we
didn't know until josh explained to my parents.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
That from the Kelly file. Now that was when Douger
was fourteen years old. Nothing was done, all right, it
was swept under the rug. And then fast forward a
few years.
Speaker 12 (36:22):
This we were able to get from this IP address
one specific video of child pornography and one folder containing
approximately sixty five images of child pornography from a specific
IP address. We served a federal summons for that IP address.
That IP address came back to Ozark's Go okay with
(36:42):
a subscriber of Josh A dugerm with cell phone. I'm
assuming that personal cell phone with that email address that
you just mentioned.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
So, doctor Methanie, it started that we know of of
him molesting his sisters at fourteen, that's when we find
out about it. And then fast forward when he's got
a wife and a family, he's downloading child porn. Sound familiar.
So does this start when you're a child? Yes, it does.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Pedophilia is considered like a fixed arousal pattern that is
there from birth. Now, it's hard to really measure because
children under the age of five, six or seven don't
draw sexual images, don't talk about sex, so it doesn't
really emerge until later in life. But you know, the
most common age of a child molester is age thirteen,
(37:33):
and Josh Dugger was fourteen at this point. And the
reason for that is that's when they become aware of sex,
and that's when they begin to molest, and that's when
they have access to siblings, to classmates, to things like that.
But see we see again here that the community protected
him and he went on to molest even.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
More well, speaking of the community protecting him and someone
being famous, who's she child a luster? Do I even
have to say? Former Subway Sandwich pitch man Jared Fogel
listen to Fogel caught on tape.
Speaker 6 (38:11):
Yeah, middove the middle school girl.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Starting to you know, yeah, because you know how much
I love you.
Speaker 11 (38:19):
I love you.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Guys. Did you hear Jared Fogel, the subway pitch guy.
He lost two hundred and forty five pounds eating nothing
but subway sandwiches and appeared in like three hundred subway commercials. Superstar. Yeah,
especially at some of the middle school I love middle schools.
The girls are just starting to get boobs, because you
(38:42):
know how much I love big boobs. You know, I
love huge tits. If I heard my son say the
word tit, I don't care if he's six foot six,
I would wash his mouth out with soap. And he
goes on and on. Just paid plage. A little snippet
of this perv Jared Foegel, the doggers what they and
(39:06):
now this coach, who, by the way, is innocent until
proven guilty. I want to talk about the search to
IRV Brandt, joining US former Senior Inspector US Marshall Service
International Investigations Branch. Do you remember the glam yoga coach?
Remember her, Caitlin Armstrong. She murdered a world class dirt
(39:30):
bike rider, gorgeous young girl. Yeah, there's the yoga instructor
right there, and she was spotted on airport video and
it was totally her. Oh there you go with her
yoga mat ding ding ding. It's me, everybody here, I
am the yoga instructor with a yoga mat. So I
(39:51):
guess the first thing you do is go to the
airport's IRV.
Speaker 8 (39:56):
That's exactly right, Nancy. And as you were talking about
this was the first case that came to mind was
Armstrong case. When you start a fugitive investigation, you don't
start it on any assumptions an unreliable witness saying that,
I mean, you investigate all possible leads, of course, but
(40:17):
you don't, you know, concentrate your entire efforts. You're going
to put out the bolos to different states. You're going
to flag passports, you're gonna check dls, You're going to
look for all vehicles associated with the suspect and also
the suspects family and also the suspects friends to see
if any of gone missing. And just like in the
(40:40):
Armstrong case, it wasn't her passport that they found had
left the country. It was her sister's passport that had
left the country and she was still in the country.
So it's very similar the cases. The way it's conducted
(41:02):
goes along those same lines. You're gonna look for financial means,
You're gonna search for tags on known vehicles. Uh, you're
gonna you're gonna use every investigative tool that you have
conducting this, uh, search locally than nationally, righting eventually internationally.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Well, yeah, in a way to do that to BRYANUS
Gibbons from USPA Nationwide Security. I want to find out this.
Has he used his ATM? When was the last time
he used his ATM? Where did he use it? Do
I have a picture? How much did he withdraw? Did
he do repeat withdraws? Because you know some ATMs you
(41:45):
can only get, say two hundred dollars at a crack.
Did he go into a line of credit to get
more money? Has he used his credit cards? Where is
his car? Has he used a rental car? Did he
get a rental car even in a joining county beyond
Wise County? Do we have video? What about license plate grabbers?
(42:06):
I haven't heard a word about his car being missing.
That tells me he's not in his car. He may
be in another car. And also this search if they
have brought out drones, cadaver dogs, scent dogs, everything, shoulder
to shoulder searches, you name it, that tells me he
(42:31):
wasn't in the woods to start with. So where is he?
He's not on foot, I can tell you that much.
He's not hiding out at somebody's house a sympathizer. So
where is he? Where do we start? Kneel in a haystack?
Speaker 7 (42:43):
Well, what IRV Brandt just brought up is a very
pression point here. The financial means that Travis Turner has
are probably not great. So this, you know, how is
he going to access funding to be on the run
for law?
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Put him up?
Speaker 7 (42:59):
So that's that's something.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
You haven't heard of. A line of credit. I get
a line of credit on your checking account. You can
get one hundred grand out of a line of credit
and be gone.
Speaker 3 (43:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (43:15):
I just think that you know that this was an emergent. Uh,
you know, he was tipped off that they were coming
to his house to speak to him. That this wasn't
a planned escape so to speak. So I think that
this happened very quickly. I think that's gonna be Yeah,
(43:39):
who knew that they were coming out there to speak
to him? Who knew that law enforcement was on the way. Uh,
they're certainly going to have some cell phone records that
are available for who called and text communicated with his phone?
And I think that they will uncover that in the
in the coming.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Days here, Okay, I think correct me if I'm wrong,
saman The close airport is in Appalachia, Virginia, the Tri
City's regional airport that's in Blountville, Tennessee. Is that right
fifty nine miles away?
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Yes? Yes, that is the closest airport.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
To get from his home to there. That's about at
least an hour drive. How did he get there? If
that's where he went. I don't see him flying, because
wouldn't we have a register of that earth brand when
you've already been spotted if you had taken a plane.
Speaker 8 (44:33):
It depends on the flight, Nancy. Of course, when you're
flying domestically, all you need is a government ID. Then
you investigators could check with TSA to see if he
used a valid government ID to get into the airport.
If he flew internationally, of course there'd be a record
(44:55):
of that in texts. The Treasury Reinforcement.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
I don't see him flying, do you If I think
he's somewhere else, I don't think you took a flight.
Speaker 8 (45:03):
I would not know, Nancy, like your other guests has said,
it doesn't seem like this was planned out in advance.
It was something that happened at the spur of the moment.
So most fugitives are going to avoid places where there's camera, security,
(45:24):
police officers, and there's hardly any place in the country
that has more cameras and more police and more security
than an airport, and especially an international airport.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
Yeah. So, Samantha Allen, what's the temperature? What's your low
overnight in that area?
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Oh gosh, it is like it's probably reached about twenty
six degrees and it is we got cold happening, so
it's like freezing cold rain.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
So he is not out in the woods roughing it.
I don't need to find out if he has taken
camping gear with him. He's somewhere else. He's probably hold
up at a local hotel, motel, hiding out not too close,
not too close, which means he's got help. Brian Fitzgibbons,
(46:15):
they better have a tap on everybody's phone because you
know Daddy's called home.
Speaker 7 (46:22):
Yeah, certainly. And one piece that I want to add here, Nancy,
that I think we haven't really covered too much. These
charges are umbrella terms that are going to be standard
for any time someone's charged with possession of explicit child material.
So this could have been something he found online, but
I think it may be more likely that it's somebody
(46:45):
from that high school, right, So investigators are going to
be on it could have been a text message exchange
or things like that. So investigators are going to be
unraveling a weave of a network of people that knew
about this, that have communicated about it. So in the
coming days, I think we're gonna learn more about exactly
what type of material it was, what the origin was,
(47:09):
and that network could shed some light on where.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Crime stories with Nancy Gray Mark tay, you know what
the defense is going to be because it's really hard
to argue that's not my computer in my office behind
the locked door. He's going to have to say, oh,
it just popped up. You know, in all the years
(47:39):
that I do research, I've never had child porn pop up,
not once.
Speaker 6 (47:46):
It's not a very good defense and I think possibly
they're going to have to if he ever gets in
dieted it ever is found, I think that a more
creative approach is going to have to possibly be found
and maybe find a way to cross examine the forensic
folks who are going to have found this material and
say other people had passwords, so that maybe show other
(48:08):
people had access to the computer at work. But I
think it's found on your computer. You have to find
something else. Then it just popped up because it just
doesn't work that way, and the forensic folks find that.
And I know this because we've found this kind of
material as I've mentioned before in civil matters against Catholic
priests and rabbis and pediatricians, and so it happens, and
(48:35):
it does not just pop up on your computer. It's
an active search. The searches are traceable, and so that
defense is a failure. But again, this guy is still
wandering and everybody's focused on airports and now type of
security is there, Nancy, But there's an amtract station in Bristol,
and those avenues amtrack are far less secure than an airplane.
(49:00):
But all of it gets back to getting in indicted
and then getting him in front of a jury with
a lawyer who can craft something to have one juror
say I've got a reason to doubt these charges. It's
going to be an.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
Interesting Right about Amtrak.
Speaker 6 (49:15):
I look forward to.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
It, and Amtrak is cheap and you don't have to
go through a lot of security. I don't know that
you even have to show ID to buy a ticket
in cash. You can go ticket am track. Yeah, all
the way across the country, of course, which would leave
somewhat of a trail if they've got video surveillance in
(49:37):
the Amtrak station. But you could go all the way
across the country for under two hundred dollars without a trail,
a trail that you would leave at the airport. But
you know, Mark take this is not the first time
Union High School has had to deal with sex allegations
against a coach or teacher.
Speaker 6 (49:56):
Right, that's exactly right. I think that's fascinating. That's the
kind of thing obviously that plaintiffs lawyer, a lawyer pursuing
civil remedies for this kind of thing looks to. And
this high school has this fellow, another football coach, Timothy
Lee Metter, who pled guilty or was convicted of child solicitation,
(50:17):
of soliciting a minor for sexual or inappropriate purposes. So
it's not the first time that that Union High school
has had a problem, and you know there may be
a deeper issue involved. Obviously that's something that should and
will be investigated. What exactly is going on there? Why
is this a repeat situation? The Metter guy was about
(50:40):
twenty years younger than the actual head coach. But there's
something bizarre at that high school from my viewpoint, trying
to hold people accountable other than this man who has disappeared.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
And you know, another thing about what you're saying, Mark
is the same lawyer, this same lawyer who represented Timothy Matter,
the previous coach, last teacher at the same high school
that pled guilty to indi cent liberties with the minor.
He got a light sentence about a year and three
(51:15):
months and then he was out free. He gets a
slap on the wrist, same high school. And now this
happens and within the same school district, which is Wise County,
the same county. There's another guy, a teacher arrested on
three counts carnal knowledge. That was Tyler J. Tibbs, a
(51:35):
social studies teacher at Coburn Middle so you know, doctor
Bethany Marshall. That makes it worse as far as the
Union high goes, because they should have been on high
alert after Meadows.
Speaker 5 (51:48):
Yes, they should have. There's two kinds of cultures when
it comes to these kinds of crimes. A culture who
supports the children and a culture like what we saw
in the Catholic Church who supports the adults and cannot
believe that a child molester is a child molester. But Nancy,
I want to go back to him being a fugitive.
I am going to guess if the family hired the
(52:09):
same attorney that they knew that there was an investigation
going on, that the family was talking about this, and
the family probably has information on dad, father spouse on
whether or not he was making any preparations that were
unusual or out of the ordinary for him, like as
(52:30):
you said, getting cash, Was he talking about other states
anything like that. They could be a treasure trove of information.
Speaker 1 (52:37):
As we go to air tonight, football coach Travis Turner
is presumed innocent. His team has gone on to win again.
They remain undefeated even in his absence. If you know
or think you know anything about what happened. If you
(52:59):
know a child that may have been a victim, if
you know where he is or where he's headed, if
you think you've seen him, please call Virginia State Police
two seven six four eight four nine four eight three,
or you can always call the US Marshall Service one
eight seven seven wanted. That's one eight seven seven nine
(53:23):
two six eight three three two. There was a five
thousand dollars reward for Travis Turner. And now we remember
an American Hero Guard Member Sarah Bestrom West Virginia National Guard,
just twenty years old, shot in the line of duty,
(53:43):
leaving behind her grieving father Gary. American Hero Guard Member
Sarah Beckstrom. Nancy Gray signing off goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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