A 25-year law enforcement veteran has warned that the body of fugitive high school football coach Travis Turner may never be recovered if he has taken his own life in the remote area of Virginia he fled to.

Dr Ken Lang also told the Daily Mail that the $5,000 reward for information leading to Turner’s arrest is unlikely to be enough to convince those closest to him to turn on the 46-year-old.

Turner vanished from his family home in Appalachia, Virginia, on November 20 when cops were on their way to speak to him. His family said he left the property armed with a gun and walked into a ‘heavily wooded and mountainous area’.

Days later, father-of-three Turner was charged on 10 counts of child pornography and solicitation of a minor.

There have been no known sightings of Turner since he disappeared and police are yet to announce any major breakthrough in the hunt for him.

And Lang, who worked in law enforcement for 25 years but is not involved in Turner’s case, has warned search teams may come up empty handed if the football coach has taken his own life in such a vast and rural area.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘That’s a pretty remote, densely wooded area. 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.

‘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.

‘Your search then starts to focus on clothing and remnants and things that you would have expected him to be in at the time. It just becomes harder.

‘It almost becomes like looking for a needle in the haystack, particularly in that region of the Appalachian Mountains.’

Lang says those hunting for Turner will be using boots on the ground, air support, bloodhounds and cadaver dogs to try and find any trace of their target.

He continued: ‘Now that we’re past the fall, the leaves have dropped on many of the trees so it gives air support an opportunity to look down on the forest floor through that.

‘Officers will be combing the woods through known paths, animal trails and things like that and looking for any signs of recent movement. Broken twigs, footprints. If the weather is conducive, and it has been wet, you’re more likely to leave footprints and you can get a sense of direction.’

He continued: ‘The other thing that we could do is deploy bloodhounds or cadaver dogs, depending on what you think you’re looking for. 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.

‘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.

‘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. I can tell you as a former homicide detective that, as the body decays, the scent is just going to intensify and make it easier for cadaver dogs to find any remains.’

Federal law enforcement announced this week they are offering a $5,000 reward to aid the capture of Turner – who is wanted on five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor.

But Lang has warned that amount is unlikely to convince those closest to him to turn him in and it may need to be raised to have a chance at a breakthrough.

He explained: ‘$5,000 in this day and age is a bit small. It may entice somebody to call but for those who might be family or friends who are loyal to him, that might not be enticing enough.

‘It’s always been a practice that we put out rewards for information that would lead to his arrest. We do want to be able to generate the tips and all that, particularly if we’re getting in a situation where he has moved out of the area altogether.’

Turner’s family attorney revealed Wednesday how he left his car, keys, contact lens supplies, glasses, prescription daily medication and wallet – with his license and all of his cash inside – at the house at the time of his disappearance.

‘It is not like Travis to disappear or stay away from home,’ lawyer Adrian Collins told the Daily Mail as he explained why Turner’s wife, Leslie, grew concerned and reported him missing to the Virginia State Police.

He added that Leslie ‘was not helping him escape’ and was simply ‘asking for help to find him’.

‘Criminal charges were not obtained against Travis until days after he failed to return home,’ the lawyer noted. ‘He was not a fugitive wanted by law enforcement at the time he went missing.’

Collins concluded by addressing Turner himself, telling the fugitive, ‘your wife and children are in distress.’

‘Leslie pleads for you to come home and face the allegations by defending yourself in a court of law,’ the lawyer said.

‘Don’t leave your family to fight this battle without you.’

‘They love you and miss you,’ he added. ‘They want you to know they are your support.’