Body of Riley Strain Found in Nashville River After Frantic Search
Riley Strain’s body was found Friday in a Nashville river, ending a weeks-long search for the University of Missouri college student, who disappeared after a night out with his fraternity brothers on March 8.
The Metro Nashville Police Department confirmed the body belonged to Strain, 22, because he still had the same shirt on from the night of his disappearance.
Chief John Drake said there was no foul play-related trauma or any other detail that would suggest that Strain’s death was anything other than a case of accidental drowning. He was found by a work crew that spotted his body after they removed an unrelated object from the river, about 8 miles west of downtown Nashville.
Drake said Strain was found around 7:30 a.m. Friday near 61st Avenue North, which is in the general area where a bank card belonging to the college student was found on the riverbank and his phone last pinged.
The grim discovery puts an end a weeks-long search for Strain that involved hundreds of volunteers, the Cajun Navy, and police from Nashville and the surrounding areas.
Luke Bryan’s Nashville Bar Denies Overserving Missing College Student
Strain, a 6-foot-7 finance major in his final year of undergrad, disappeared shortly after a bar said it served him a single alcoholic drink and two glasses of water at Luke’s 32 Bridge, which is owned by the country music star Luke Bryan.
Cops pored over footage from hundreds of security cameras across Nashville in search of clues about Strain’s whereabouts. He appeared on some cameras and was even recorded on an officer’s body-worn camera during a brief conversation with him.
Strain did not appear to be in any distress during the chat, in which he responded “good” when asked if he was OK by the Nashville cop.
Multiple signs pointed to the likelihood that Strain was near the Cumberland River on the night of his disappearance, with security footage released Thursday night showing him jog toward the river from his hotel, the Tempo by Hilton.
A homeless man also claimed to have seen a “very, very, very intoxicated” man who fit Strain’s profile on March 8. He told Fox 17 that man nearly stumbled into the Cumberland River.
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