The use of K-9 units might be the key to finally finding missing Union High School football coach Travis Turner, who disappeared over two weeks ago.
“As the body decays, the scent is just going to intensify and make it easier for cadaver dogs to find any remains,” retired law enforcement veteran and criminology professor Dr. Ken Lang told Daily Mail on Saturday, December 6.
While it is not confirmed that Turner, 46, has died, he was last seen on December 20 walking into the densely wooded area behind his Virginia home while carrying a firearm.
Lang, who is not directly connected to the Turner case, argued for the use of K-9 units in the search efforts, but he explained that it’s not always an exact science.
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“You can go to the house and get clothing of his to give the bloodhounds a scent and send them out to see if they can find it,” Lang said of the dogs. “But then you need a starting point, right? You need to know where to really begin with that. One problem with the cadaver dogs is because animals die naturally in the woods, they can come across carcasses of wildlife out there and that throws them off.”
Lang added, “Plus, the dogs can only work so long because they get exhausted after a few hours of work and need rest and water and food.”
The United States Marshals Service joined the search for Turner on December 1, which has used K-9 units, drones and a helicopter.
“That’s a pretty remote, densely wooded area,” Lang said of the rural search. “We’re in the cold time of the year and so at night, if we’re looking for somebody, we would send helicopters up and use Forward-Looking Infrared [FLIR] to look for body heat. But sometimes it’s hard to discern between that and say a deer that has bedded down for the night or other animals. If they’re not seeing that with FLIR and if he’s taken his life and his body would have cooled off, you wouldn’t get any reaction.”
Lang added, “Then you have animals out there that would actually pick at and pick apart the body and take pieces of it away, which then becomes problematic.”
The detective explained authorities start “to focus on clothing and remnants and things that you would have expected him to be in at the time.”
“It almost becomes like looking for a needle in the haystack, particularly in that region of the Appalachian Mountains,” Lang said.
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When reached for comment on Tuesday, December 9, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police told Us Weekly, “There are no updates to share at this time.”
Days after he disappeared, Turner was charged with five counts of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.
In a statement released to Us via their attorney on Wednesday, December 3, the Turner family said they have continued to “cooperate with law enforcement efforts to locate Travis.”
“Their homes and properties have been searched multiple times, with their consent,” the statement said.