[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content] The story of missing Union High School football coach Travis Turner could have just taken a turn that no one - not his devastated family, not his community, not even the investigators combing through every lead - ever expected. That's at least according to one criminologist who has spent his whole life studying this stuff! As we've been reporting, it's now been well over a week since the 46-year-old coach was last seen walking into the woods behind his rural southwestern Virginia home with a gun amid an investigation into (and later formal charges against him over) unsettling allegations of child pornography and solicitation of a minor. After his disappearance, his shocked family just revealed that Travis left behind his wallet, medications, glasses, and contact lenses. Normally, those details alone would push authorities to fear the worst. But this week, a respected criminologist stepped forward with a far more complicated - and deeply unsettling - theory. Related: Whoa! POORSTACY's Baby Momma Arrested After Rapper's Shocking Death! On Wednesday, criminologist Dr. Alex del Carmen told WCYB-News 5 that Travis COULD have fled the country and gone off to live in anonymity somewhere else around the world. WTF?!?!?!?!? Dr. del Carmen said: "There's always the school of thought that we assume there could be people helping him be in a different place. He would have had a different haircut, maybe even a different identity somewhere. Left the country, that's the other possibility." WHAT?! Hearing an expert raise the idea that Travis may have not only left Virginia but potentially the entire country has sent shockwaves through his already anxious community. We honestly sort of just assumed that Turner had met another fate... however... As hard as it is to process, Dr. del Carmen stressed that investigators can't cling to a single theory. He warned that the other grim (and more likely, TBH) possibility - Travis' death by suicide - also remains on the table. The expert argued: "Based on all of those possibilities, we cannot discard one or the other." Dr. del Carmen isn't officially connected to the case, but his analysis has been gaining traction because federal involvement ramped up a TON this week. When the US Marshals Service joined the search on December 1, everything changed. That level of federal muscle doesn't get called in unless investigators believe the situation may be much larger than initially thought. The criminologist said: "You've got now two entities at the federal level and that should tell us that they are probably expecting that this individual fled the state, that it has become a multi-state kind of fugitive task force and secondly, the resources of the federal government are being used, which law enforcement locally obviously lacks oftentimes. Now you've taken it to a whole different level of sophistication, a whole different level of technology and resources as well." Well, when you put it like that, it's not a totally crazy theory any more, now is it? Meanwhile, the Marshals have offered a $5,000 reward for credible information about Travis' whereabouts. Yet authorities have kept their findings tightly sealed thus far, choosing silence over speculation. According to Dr. del Carmen, though, that silence shouldn't be mistaken for inactivity. He said: "Don't assume that because there's radio silence that that simply means nothing is going on behind the scenes." Through their attorney, Travis's wife Leslie and their three children - Bailey, 25, Grayden, 21, and Brynlee, 11 - issued a public plea for Travis to come home, describing their fear, confusion, and desperation to know he is safe. Related: Teen Bullied To Death In Gruesome Workplace Horror - Intestines Burst, Co-Worker Arrested And now with the investigation entering its second week and so many unanswered questions still swirling, Dr. del Carmen offered one final reminder that even the most perplexing missing persons cases can still end with answers: "We've had fugitives for months, sometimes years, and they're eventually found somewhere." Well, that part's true. Still, what a story. And it only just keeps developing... Theories, y'all? Share 'em (below). If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources. [Image via Virginia State Police/Leslie Caudill Turner/Facebook] The post Wait, Now They're Saying Missing High School Football Coach Travis Turner May Have LEFT THE COUNTRY?! appeared first on Perez Hilton.