University of Missouri student Riley Strain was out with his fraternity brothers in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday 8 March when he disappeared.
He’d been asked to leave a bar the Delta Chi group were hanging out in, shortly before 9.45pm, and said he was going back to their hotel.
Here is everything we know so far.
What happened to Riley Strain?
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, 22-year-old Riley Strain was last seen on Friday 8 March.
He was at a bar in the Broadway area of the city, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, his family has said.
He was asked to leave the bar at around 9.45pm.
Riley’s friends called him and he said he was going to head back to their hotel.
The young man was then seen on CCTV footage wearing a two-tone shirt, crossing 1st Avenue North to Gay Street at 9:47pm. His path was taking him further away from his hotel, and closer to the Cumberland River.
The last pings from his cellphone put him near a park in the proximity of the river on the night of 8 March.
Detectives today continue to pursue tips & investigative leads concerning missing person Riley Strain, 22. Strain, wearing a 2-tone shirt, is seen in this video crossing 1st Ave N to Gay St (right to left), at 9:47 p.m. Fri. Have info about him? Plz 615-742-7463. pic.twitter.com/fE86dlqeOC
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 12, 2024
The last time Riley was seen was on surveillance video as he was crossing to Gay Street. He is 6’7”, weighs 160 pounds and has blue eyes and blonde hair.
Metro Nashville Police released body camera footage on 18 March showing Riley speaking to a police officer on the night of his disappearance. In the video, the officer sees Riley walking down the street and asks him how he is doing. Riley greets the officer and says he’s doing fine before continuing down the street.
Police also revealed that the final text message sent from Riley’s phone before it died said “good lops,” but it’s currently unclear what that might have meant. Some social media commenters suggested it meant “low on power, sorry,” but a friend of Riley’s, Chris Dingman, told NewsNation that Mr Strain’s phone was not low on power at the time that text was sent.
On 14 March, Mr Dingman said that the family had had confirmation from two separate homeless encampments that Riley had been in the area.
“I was talking to family members currently in downtown Nashville searching, and we have found another homeless person that had acknowledged that Riley had been in that area,” Mr Dingman told WSMV4.
“This now makes two people that has done confirmation. These are areas that the camera had stops. We don’t have any footage. Basically, the areas where his phone quit pinging. We now do have visual confirmation from two homeless camps that Riley was in that area.”
On the afternoon of 14 March, police said there were currently no signs of foul play in Riley’s disappearance, but that investigations by water and air would continue. Police used boats equipped with sonar to search the Cumberland River, and a drone and helicopter to search the riverbanks. No evidence has turned up suggesting Riley fell into the river.
A body was found floating in the Cumberland River on Sunday 17 March, but it did not match Riley’s description. On the same day, a pair of women searching for Riley found his bank card on the banks of the Cumberland River.
Metro Nashville Police Sgt Bob Neilsen said, “In a missing person’s case, people go missing for various reasons. Some are voluntary, some are not. Some could be due to a medical incident.”
“Right now, we have no idea what happened with this gentleman. We don’t believe there was any crime involved, however. All of our resources right now are dedicated to locating him,” the police sergeant added.
Although the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced on 13 March that it was investigating whether Mr Strain had been overserved at the bar, on 15 March, the bar owners revealed that the college senior had been served just one drink and two waters before being escorted out.
“No members of Riley’s party were required to stay inside the venue to close any open tabs, and no one from Luke’s 32 Bridge team prevented anyone from Riley’s party from leaving the venue with him,” the owners said in a statement.
On 19 March, Riley’s family held a press conference announcing that the United Cajun Navy — a disaster relief and search and rescue organisation founded during Hurricane Katrina — would be coordinating the volunteer search and adding additional volunteers to the ground effort.
Dave Flagg, the United Cajun Navy’s national director of operations, told reporters that the group was bringing a hoverboat to assist the river search. The group has been operating an airboat in the area since the search began.
Members of the Nashville police speaking at the conference said they still had no evidence to suggest foul play, and said they were following up on numerous “actionable leads” regarding Riley’s disappearance.
Some locals volunteering their time to assist with the case — as well as some of Riley’s friends and family — have criticised the police response thus far. While Riley’s parents defended the police response during a press conference on 19 March, they have also said it has been “frustrating” to have few answers and previously said the police were doing a “B-” job.
The Nashville police have insisted they have been following up on “actionable leads” and briefing the family with what information they can provide.
On 20 March, police began searching the Cheatham Lock and Dam near Ashland City for any trace of Riley.
Riley Strain has visited Nashville before
Riley had been visiting Nashville from the University of Missouri, known as Mizzou, with his fraternity.
The Delta Chi group was on its annual spring trip, with the organisation saying on Monday that it was actively involved with university officials as part of the search.
It was reported that Riley, a senior, had made the trip to Nashville before.
His mother and stepfather are from Springfield, Missouri, around 160 miles from the college campus in Columbia.
Who is looking for Riley?
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department says its officers have been out looking for Riley.
A MNPD helicopter searched the downtown area on Monday, “including the riverbank”, while detectives also searched on the ground.
When Riley disappeared, his friends said they spent hours looking for him, while his mother and stepfather have also joined the search in recent days.
On Wednesday night, boats searched the Cumberland River for Strain as detectives shifted their focus to reviewing security video. Riley’s phone was last tracked near Public Square Park along the Cumberland River.
“The sad part of this situation is every day we get new leads and go down different avenues,” Mr Dingman told WSMV4.
“We’re going to get there, but it also opens up more doors on what could’ve possibly happened.”
Riley’s parents have also come to Nashville to assist with search efforts.
“This is definitely the worst nightmare,” Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told News 2. “Riley talks to us, whether it’s me or to his mom. He talks to his mom three or four times a day. For him to go this long without talking is not normal by any means.”
On 16 March, as one week had come and gone since Mr Strain was last seen, Mr Whiteid told NBC News that he and his wife “continue to search.”
“We’re very hopeful and we’re moving forward as, you know, he’s coming home and we’re graduating in May and life goes on just as normal,” he added.
Police said on 17 March that they had recovered his bank card between Gay Street and the Cumberland River. They noted, “The search for him continues.”
What has the University of Missouri said?
While not a college-organised trip, Mizzou officials have said that they are working with Nashville authorities and Riley’s family.
“The safety of our community is our highest priority,” Angela King Taylor, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said in a statement.
“Our thoughts are with Riley’s family as the search continues. We will be offering any support to them that we can, and we encourage anyone who needs help to reach out to our counselling resources.”
Those resources are on offer at the college’s Wellness Resource Centerâ¯and theâ¯Counseling Centerâ¯within the Division of Student Affairs, as well as theâ¯Employee Assistance Programâ¯for faculty and staff.
Bar owner Luke Bryan speaks out
On Tuesday, country music star Luke Bryan, whose bar Riley had been at before his disappearance, spoke out.
“Y’all this is scary,” Bryan posted on his Instagram story. “Praying for his safe return.”
The singer, 47, said TC Restaurant Group, which operates and owns Luke’s 32 Bridge, is working closely with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department on its investigation.
The bar was providing security footage and any other information which could help locate Riley.
The bar is located in the busy Broadway area in downtown Nashville and offers live music every night. It sits around two blocks from the Cumberland River and the spot where Riley was last seen.
