Missing Virginia football coach wanted on child sexual abuse material charges walked into woods with gun, family says

You're right, it looks like they were lying to her:

The Myth of the Waiting Period

A persistent myth, reinforced by television and movies, is that you must wait 24 or 48 hours before law enforcement will accept a missing person report. This is false. No law or policy in the United States requires a waiting period. Federal laws like the National Child Search Assistance Act mandate that authorities must accept reports of missing individuals under 21 without delay.

This misconception is dangerous because the initial hours after a person disappears are the most important for an investigation. Law enforcement agencies are required to take these reports seriously from the moment they are received. Delaying a report wastes valuable time that could be used to locate the individual, so if you are worried for someone’s safety, you should report them missing immediately.

https://legalclarity.org/how-long-before-you-can-report-someone-missing/

Isn't the "gotta be gone 24 hours" thing BS from movies?

Yes. It's not an official policy. And it's stupid, at face value. If someone is kidnapped, then waiting 24 hours before any official report can be filed, would guarantee the person is never found. If a child goes missing, waiting 24 hours to organize a search party, would mean they could be dead before anyone even starts looking for them.

Whoever told her that, needs to be fired. If you are reasonably certain someone's life is in danger, and they need to be found quickly...that cop just made sure they wouldn't be found in time.

I’ve gotten the runaround from cops who confidently say things that aren’t true. I had a neighbor who was a lieutenant at the time, and talked to him about the issue I was dealing with. He told me in no uncertain terms that the cop was wrong, and suggested I go back when my neighbor was on duty, and if I got the runaround again then to immediately call him.

As far as I'm aware it is bullshit, but some places may have it as an actual rule.

To me it is a toss up, if it was a pistol, probably suicide, if it was a rifle, maybe dude was just heading into the woods to see if he can hide out in the Appalachians living off deer and what not until he gets far enough away from the area they knew he was at.

He put himself on trial, not us.

I think it's somewhat relevant because people often make excuses for people who are very good in their chosen field. This might add that context, as people might have been afraid to come forward because the team he's coaching is doing well and people don't want to derail that for the young boys. So it points out that 1) his success possibly shielded him 2) being successful doesn't make you a good person 3) it's possible the team would have been successful without him. I'm not sure if that's why it was included, but that's my take.

Not really, they are searching for him.

Now I'm imagining a far side style cartoon with a bunch of critters surrounding one who's chomping down on the body...

"Christ Jeff, that fucker's a pedophile, we may be animals but we have fucking standards"