The mental health records of the gunman in the Virginia Tech massacre, which could not be found during the investigation into the 2007 shooting, have been discovered in the home of the former director of the university’s counseling clinic, Gov. Tim Kaine said Wednesday.

The records were found by lawyers preparing for a civil lawsuit filed this year by families of two of the 32 people that Seung-Hui Cho killed before turning the gun on himself on April 16, 2007. The center’s former director, Robert C. Miller, left his position at the Cook Counseling Center more than a year before the massacre.

The discovery raises new questions about the rigor of the state’s investigation into the shootings. Mr. Kaine said a criminal investigation was under way to determine how Mr. Miller was able to take the records and why the documents were not found earlier.

Mr. Miller declined to comment.

Mr. Kaine said the files would be made public within days, either with the permission of the administrator of Mr. Cho’s estate or through a state subpoena.