Federal authorities joined the search for a fugitive high school football coach being sought in connection to a child sex abuse image and solicitation probe in Virginia — and warn he may be armed.
The U.S. Marshals Service on Monday asked anyone with information about Travis Turner, 46, to call the USMS or Virginia State Police, the federal law enforcement agency said.
“VSP is still searching for Turner with the assistance of the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service,” VSP spokesperson Robin Lawson said in statement on Monday.
Turner, coach of the undefeated Union High School Bears in Big Stone Gap, vanished on Nov. 20 in what was initially cast as a simple missing persons case.
But then state police announced last week they had obtained arrest warrants for Turner on suspicion of five counts of alleged possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.
Since his disappearance, Union has won two playoff games, most recently a 21-14 triumph over Ridgeview on Saturday to capture the Region 2D championship.
Union is set to play Glenvar High School on Saturday in the Class 2 state semifinals.
Police and school officials have so far declined to say whether any victims or complaining witnesses against Turner are connected to Union High, a public school with about 600 students in the far southwest corner of Virginia.
The high school is about 170 miles west of Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg and approximately 120 miles northeast of the University of Tennessee.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
