Remembering the biggest sports story of 2025
As the lights come back on across Southwest Virginia and we turn our attention to another high school football season, it’s worth remembering the story that dominated the end of the 2025 season.
And it had very little to do with what happened between the sidelines.
The biggest sports story in Southwest Virginia last fall wasn’t a championship, an upset or a record-breaking performance.
It was the disappearance of Union head football coach Travis Turner.
Nearly nine months later, Turner is still missing.
It’s hard to believe it has been that long.
Turner disappeared Nov. 20, 2025, as Union was in the middle of a postseason run. What happened that day would soon become one of the most unusual stories Southwest Virginia high school sports has ever seen.
Virginia State Police special agents were traveling to Turner’s home in Appalachia as part of the early stages of a criminal investigation. State police have emphasized that investigators were going there to question Turner, not arrest him.
But before police arrived, Turner grabbed a firearm, left his home and disappeared into the mountains of Wise County.
He hasn’t been seen since.
Think about that.
One day, Turner was the head coach of one of Southwest Virginia’s most recognizable football programs. Then, with police on their way to his home, he disappeared into the mountains.
Days became weeks.
Weeks became months.
Now another football season has arrived, and Turner still hasn’t been found.
Virginia State Police say Turner, 46, of Appalachia, is wanted on five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. Police say additional charges are pending and Turner is considered a fugitive.
Those allegations are serious, and Turner has not been located to answer them.
But to understand why his disappearance became such a massive sports story, you have to understand who Travis Turner was in Southwest Virginia football.
Turner wasn’t simply Union’s head coach.
He grew up in the game.
Before Union High School existed, Turner was one of the stars of the powerhouse Appalachia Bulldogs, playing for his father, legendary head coach Tom Turner.
Appalachia is gone now, one of the many former Southwest Virginia high schools lost to consolidation, but anyone who followed football during those years remembers what that name meant on Friday nights.
The Bulldogs were a powerhouse, and Turner helped lead Appalachia to multiple state championships during his playing days.
Later, Appalachia and Powell Valley consolidated to create Union, combining two of the richest football traditions in this part of Virginia.
Turner eventually took over the Bears and built his own legacy on the sideline.
That’s why the events of last November were so stunning.
A man whose life had been intertwined with Southwest Virginia football — first as a player and later as a coach — suddenly vanished in the middle of the playoffs.
And what followed was an enormous search.
Virginia State Police say they have investigated more than 178 national and international leads spanning seven states. Seventeen of those tips were anonymous, and police say all of the leads investigated so far have been unfounded.
The U.S. Marshals Service, FBI and Black Diamond Search and Rescue have joined Virginia State Police. Search-and-rescue personnel, drones, K-9 teams, VSP Aviation and Special Operations teams have all been involved.
Police say 27 combined personnel are dedicated solely to the Turner case, with more than 50 additional state, local and federal personnel assisting.
Still, no credible sighting.
No confirmed location.
No Travis Turner.
“This case is worked on every day. It’s two-fold: we have the criminal investigation and the search,” Capt. J. Daniels of the VSP Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Wytheville Field Office said. “Every single lead has been vetted and followed up on, and all have been unfounded. We need the public to continue providing information. Someone knows something that will lead to his whereabouts.”
Meanwhile, football has moved forward.
Union enters the 2026 season with Jamie Harless leading the Bears.
Harless brings 134 career victories and a strong Southwest Virginia football background to a program accustomed to winning.
He was also a four-year letterman and two-time NCAA All-American at Emory & Henry, earning first-team All-America honors in 1997. He was inducted into the Emory & Henry Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
Harless now has the opportunity to put his own stamp on Union football.
And the players deserve that fresh start.
They have games to play, goals to chase and their own chapter of Union football history to write. The 2026 Bears shouldn’t have to carry last November’s events with them every Friday night.
But for those of us who follow high school sports across Southwest Virginia, it’s impossible to begin another football season without remembering the story that overshadowed the end of the last one.
Nearly nine months have passed since Turner walked away from his home and disappeared into the Wise County mountains.
Authorities have searched.
They’ve followed leads across state lines.
They’ve put people in the air and on the ground.
Yet, as another season kicks off, one question remains unanswered.
Where is Travis Turner?
Virginia State Police are asking anyone with information about Turner’s whereabouts to contact VSP Division 4 at 276-484-9483 or [email protected]. You can also report information to the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-877-WANTED2 (926-8332). Tips may be made anonymously.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Turner’s whereabouts.
