Riley Strain is a 22 year old University of Missouri student who has been missing in Nashville, TN since March 8.
Riley had been in the city for a fraternity conference with his Delta Chi frat brothers.
Riley’s mother is Michelle Strain Whiteid and his stepfather is Chris Whiteid.
Michelle told the media “He’s my best friend, my everything.”
In terms of a timeline of the disappearance, March 8 was a Friday.
Riley Facetimed with his mother at around 8pm. “He was inside with his friends,” she said, adding that the group was playfully “giving her a hard time because she was already in bed.”
At 9.35pm, Riley was asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar Luke 32 Bridge.
The bar has released a statement following Riley’s disappearance:
“During Riley’s visit to Luke’s 32 Bridge, our records show he purchased and was served one alcoholic drink and two waters,” reads a statement posted to the venue’s Facebook page on Friday. “At 9:35 p.m., our security team made a decision based on our conduct standards to escort him from the venue through our Broadway exit at the front of our building. He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs.
Riley’s family have said that the friend attempted to leave with Riley but the security would not let them leave together. “The bouncers wouldn’t let them out with him, that they were trying to get their bill paid.”
The media reached out to the bar and they denied this.
At 9.46pm, Riley was seen on CCTV stumbling and falling in a parking lot at 3rd Avenue and Church Street. Around this time, he texted his friends and told them he was going back to the hotel.
He was seen on CCTV one minute later crossing 1st Avenue North to Gay Street.
A homeless man has said that he saw Riley around this time.
‘We heard a commotion. We looked back up. He almost fell over. The last bush right there caught him,’ the man who lives in the camp told WZTV.
He was very, very, very intoxicated. I never seen anybody stumble that hard before,’ the man said. ‘I yelled get up. They said, “He’s just drunk. He’s okay.”‘
At 9.52pm, Riley was caught on bodycam footage by a Nashville police officer. Officer Reginald Young was responding to a call about vehicle burglary when Riley walked past him. “How are you doing, sir?” Officer Young asked Riley, who replied, “I’m good, how are you?” Riley then walked away, while the officer remained on the street for another 45 minutes, per the police.
This is thought to be the last confirmed sighting of Riley.
At 10.15pm, Riley’s parents pinged his phone. It shows it is located in the opposite direction of the hotel near James Robertson Parkway and Gay Street. Detectives claim the last phone conversation Strain had with one of his friends was also around this time.
Riley’s friends returned to their hotel and discovered that Riley was not there. They reported him missing at around 1.35am, four hours after he left the bar.
A friend on the trip, identified only by his first name, Brayden, told CBS affiliate WTVF he tried to find Riley after he left the bar. Brayden also used Snapchat’s location feature to try and locate Riley, but he was unable to find him, he said.
Riley’s phone was going to voicemail by this point.
As soon as Riley’s parents found out that he was missing, they drove from Springfield, Missouri to Nashville. “I was literally getting ready to tee off on the golf course when my wife called me, and I turned around, went and loaded all my stuff off the golf cart, and told my friend that I was sorry I had to leave,” Riley’s stepfather said.
Police checked hospitals, morgues and jails for Riley to no avail.
Riley’s parents said he had been on this exact trip before and had no issues. They also said he would contact them 3-4 times per day.
Police looked into Riley’s phone records and have said there is no evidence of him getting into a cab or a rideshare service.
Riley did have an Apple watch but location services had never been set up on it.
The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) launched an investigation into whether Riley was served alcohol despite being visibly intoxicated.
“There are no specific rules or statutes that governs escorting out intoxicated patrons from their businesses or providing assistance in getting someone home,” TABC communication director Aaron Rummage told PEOPLE in a statement. “However, state law prohibits serving alcoholic beverages to someone who is visibly intoxicated. A violation is a class A misdemeanor. The TABC has opened an investigation into this matter to see if any violations have occurred.”
TC Restaurant Group added in a statement to PEOPLE on March 15 that they were cooperating with the police by providing any information necessary.
“This information included all security camera footage, photos of Riley at our establishment with detailed time stamps, transaction records, and staff accounts,” per the statement. “Additionally, we proactively engaged in communication with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission and will continue to communicate and provide any records needed to aid their ongoing investigation.”
The Nashville Office of Emergency Management said on March 16 that drones, canines, boats, and divers had been used to search in and around the Cumberland River for Riley.
On March 17, Riley’s bank card was discovered on the bank of the Cumberland River. A body was found in the river that same day, but it did not belong to Riley.
We have also learned about the last text that Riley sent. He had apparently been seeing a new girl and she sent him a text.
“She texted him to see how he was doing, if he was having fun. He sent kind of a scripted text back to her saying ‘Good lops,’” Family friend Chris Dingman said.
A witness has come forward and said that she saw someone wearing a shirt that was similar to the one Riley was wearing when he vanished.
Sabrina Martin, who volunteers with nonprofit group Souls United said she saw someone wearing a distinctive shirt just like Riley was last seen in.
She had been feeding the homeless with a group of volunteers and as they were passing plates and water an individual passed by on a bicycle wearing a dirty hoodie with a very clean white shirt with a black collar underneath.
He dropped a bottle of water and when he leaned over to grab it, Martin noted how clean the shirt underneath was an even pointed it out to a fellow-volunteer.
Martin also said it was unusual from a homeless person to be riding a bike.
She encountered the homeless man only a 10-minute-walk from the bar area where Strain went missing.
The volunteer described the homeless man as 6 foot 1 white male with a buzzcut and ungroomed facial hair. ‘His face, his neck ands his hands were very dirty,’ Martin described.
Luke Bryan has made some social media posts about Riley’s disappearance. He wrote, “Y’ALL THIS IS SCARY. PRAYING FOR HIS SAFE RETURN.” He added another slide to his Story, reposting a tweet that included photos of Riley and a number to call with any tips or sightings.
“IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP. PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE NUMBER ABOVE,” he wrote.
“I just need to know where my son is,” Michelle told WTVF. “We talk every day, multiple times a day, this is the longest I’ve ever gone without talking to him. It’s devastating — I just want to find him and hug him.”
On March 22, Riley’s body was pulled from the Cumberland River. His death appears to be accidental.
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The first issue that caught my attention is “Riley’s parents said that Riley contacted them 3 to 4 times a day”. Not many 22 year olds contact their parents 3 to 4 times a day.