VIRGIN RIVER is officially back in production for season four, but fans were concerned

when series mainstay Martin Henderson was nowhere to be seen in the latest social media update.

The Netflix drama’s official Instagram page released an exciting new post this week,

confirming filming is finally underway for season four. Virgin River regulars such as Alexandra Breckenridge and Ben Hollingsworth were all in attendance, but there was sadly no sign of Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson), leading some fans to express their concern.

Mel Monroe star Breckenridge introduced the short clip with a cheerful greeting for expectant fans.

“Hey everybody out there in the internet land,” she said. “We’re out here doing season four of Virgin River!”

The camera then swept around a town hall set location to reveal the rest of the cast, who all gave an enthusiastic cheer.

Unfortunately, Virgin River’s romantic lead Henderson wasn’t with the core group in this behind-the-scenes snippet.

Several fans took to the comments to note his worrying absence.

IG user @an_jellay exclaimed: “Where’s Jack?” with several concerned emojis.

“Where is the Jack?” asked @oyku.s.mom while @lorrainescutt tagged Henderson himself, demanding, “Where’s Jack??”

With Jack missing from what seems to be a pivotal event for the town, he could be going missing near the beginning of the season.

Breckenridge’s co-lead Henderson did appear in the on-set video confirming the series had been renewed for a fourth and fifth season.

The former Marine and restaurant owner will presumably remain part of the main cast, but his days could be numbered in the coming outings.

This year’s third season still hasn’t solved the mystery of Jack’s shooter set up by the season two finale.

Although Brady (played by Ben Hollingsworth) is still the prime suspect, he could be being set up by the town’s drug dealer, Calvin (David Cubitt).

With the town distracted by a major event, Jack could take the opportunity to sneak away and dig up some more dirt on his rivals.

He may also be enlisting the help of his Marine friend Preacher (Colin Lawrence), as he was also conspicuously missing from the set video.

Virgin River fan @dmv1989 took notice of their absence, asking: “Where’s Jack and Preacher???”

Some fans seem to believe the cast could be filming a wedding, giving Jack and Preacher a chance to confront Calvin with the rest of the town out of harm’s way.

Then again, Jack still has enemies outside of town who could arrive in season four to finish the job.

Alternatively, the show’s higher-ups could be keeping Henderson out of the picture so as not to spoil some of the surprises coming fans way in season four.

After Jack’s failed attempt to propose last season, Mel may have accepted his second try in time to start the new instalment with their long-awaited wedding.

Still, Virgin River has already proven tragedy can strike at any moment, so viewers will just have to wait until next year to find out if Jack has suffered another brutal attack.

So could his absence from the first snippet from season four filming leave viewers with good reason to be concerned?