NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Law enforcement authorities in Nashville said on Friday they have found the body of Riley Strain who went missing on March 8 after going out with friends downtown, The Tennessean reported.
Strain, 22, was a senior at the University of Missouri. The finance student was visiting Nashville for his Delta Chi fraternity’s spring formal trip when he mysteriously disappeared. He had been out at Luke 32’s Bridge, a downtown bar on Broadway, drinking with friends.
Staff at the bar, which is connected to country music singer Luke Bryan, reportedly asked Strain to leave the watering hole before he vanished.
Strain’s body was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville near 61st Avenue North about 7:28 a.m. Friday, according to WKRN.
This location is approximately 8 miles from downtown, authorities confirmed. Police said on social media that no foul play-related trauma was observed, and an autopsy is pending, reported Fox News Digital.
BREAKING: The body of Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown. No foul play-related trauma was observed. An autopsy is pending.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 22, 2024
“This morning, around 7:28 a.m., we received a call from a worker on 61st Avenue, at a company that adjoins the Cumberland River, that had been searching for anything that would pop up on the river, especially looking for Riley Strain,” Chief John Drake of the Metro Nashville Police Department said during a Friday morning press conference. “As they were removing an object from the river, they noticed what appeared to be Riley Strain.”
The fire department retrieved Strain’s body from the river, and the medical examiner’s office reviewed his remains. Strain’s family has been contacted, Drake said.
“There are no signs of foul play at this time, according to the examination here at the riverbank,” Drake said. “Mr. Strain still had the shirt on that he was wearing, had the watch and other identifying factors that helped us identify who he is.”
According to TC Restaurant Group, which officially owns and operates Luke’s 32, the finance major purchased one alcoholic drink and two drinks of water during his visit to the bar, the New York Post reported.
The drinking establishment said security personnel decided to evict Strain based on the business’ “conduct standards” after they noticed Strain’s behavior. As a result, he was escorted from the venue through the Broadway exit at the front of the building at 9:35 p.m.
“He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs.”
Strain told his friends he would return to their room at the Tempo by Hilton, which is about five blocks from the bar.
According to Nashville Police, security video from nearby establishments showed Strain traveling on foot in the opposite direction of the group’s hotel.
A Nashville police officer briefly interacted with Strain several blocks from the bar. When asked how he was doing, Strain replied, “fine.”
Strain did not appear to be in distress, and he was never spotted again on video.
A local homeless man claims he saw Strain “very, very intoxicated and nearly fall over the edge of a trail into the Cumberland River.
