A high school parent in Virginia who has consistently raised concerns about the investigation into missing high school football coach Travis Turner has been forced to take some drastic measures.
Stephen Murray, whose stepdaughter attends the school where Turner, 46, formerly taught and coached, said his life has turned into “a bad mafia movie.”
“If you haven’t lived in Appalachia or southwest Virginia or this part of the country … the culture here is secretive,” Murray told the Daily Mail in a story published on March 10.
Turner was last seen by members of his family walking into the heavily-wooded area behind his home on November 20, 2025. Shortly after, he was charged with five counts of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.
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Since then, Murray has been vigilant about holding the school board accountable and pressing authorities to locate Turner.
“I’ve been warned by allies saying, ‘You need to get a security system for your house.”’
Which I’m working on,” Murray said.
He added, “White men get this sense of hubris and power and control and that’s just the oldest story in the book, but that’s just what it is here.”
Murray claimed a woman who worked in the school system for nearly three decades was fired after she spoke out about “rampant sexual harassment and abuse.”
Union High School, where Turner was on staff, faced a similar scandal in 2023 when teacher Timothy Lee Meador was indicted on three felony charges and pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent liberties with a child.
“That’s what happens here,” Murray said. “You talk about it and we’ll f***ing fire you.”
Us Weekly reached out to Union High School and Wise County Public Schools for comment.
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Despite the alleged backlash, Murray has not been afraid to raise major claims about Turner’s potential well-being.
“Everyone knows that he’s alive,” Murray told the Daily Mail. “No one believes that he took his own life, and the reason is because he’s too much of a coward and he thinks too highly of himself to take his own life.”
Murray added, “People [think] he liked himself too much. There’s no way that this brought him to suicide. They think he ran for it.”
In a statement to Us on March 9, Virginia State Police said there have been “no credible sightings” of Turner and that he remains a fugitive.
