The family of Riley Strain, the University of Missouri student who vanished without a trace on a night out in Nashville, has called in the United Cajun Navy to assist in their search.
Dave Flagg, who runs the organisation, said a hovercraft was coming to assist, and that he was bringing in as many volunteers as he could to assist the ground operation.
The 22-year-old was partying with his fraternity brothers in Nashville on the night of 8 March when he was kicked out of a bar.
Now, newly-released video shows that Mr Strain spoke briefly to a police officer minutes after leaving the bar. Nashville Metro Police said that the student did not appear distressed during the encounter.
Mr Strain’s family friend has also revealed the last known communication the student had that night – a text message to a girl that he was seeing.
“She texted him to see how he was doing and if he was having fun. He sent kind of a scripted text back to her saying ‘Good lops,’” Chris Dingman told NewsNation.
Police have been searching the area around downtown Nashville, including a river bank where his bank card was found this weekend.
