He was last seen on the night of March 8, 2024, and everyone is wondering if Riley Strain has been found. The University of Missouri student vanished after he was asked to leave a local bar in Nashville, having traveled to Tennessee with a group of friends for their annual spring formal. Friends said they last saw him around 10 pm local time.
MU released a statement shortly after Strain’s disappearance, saying: “The safety of our community is our highest priority,” said Angela King Taylor, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs. “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 counseling resources.”
Strain is described as “6’5″ tall with a thin build, blue eyes and light brown hair,” per local police, and was last seen wearing a black/brown button-up shirt with a black chest pocket, blue jeans, brown boots and a black Apple watch.
Here’s everything we know about the 22-year-old’s disappearance and if Riley Strain’s been found.
On March 22, 2024, police announced Riley Strain’s body had been found in the Cumberland River, about 8 miles from where he was last seen two weeks prior. Cops said there was no foul play suspected at this point, nor signs of trauma were observed either. A full autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, TMZ reported. He was 22 years old.
On March 18, 2024, Nashville police released eerie bodycam footage of Riley Strain—it would be the last time he was seen before vanishing. The officer was on Gay Street in response to a burglary call when Strain walked past. You can watch the video here.
“Hey, how you doing,” Strain said to the officer.
“How you doing, sir,” the officer replied.
Strain continued walking, saying “I’m good.”
On March 17, 2024, police confirmed Riley Strain’s bank card had been found in the Cumberland River embankment along Gay Street. It was found by a woman and her friend—regular posters to TikTok—while searching for the missing 22-year-old.
“There is so much trash down there it’s so much to sift through and there’s so many pieces of clothing, shoes, bottles, cans, everything. I don’t really know how we found it. I would love to say just dumb luck divine intervention – it was just sitting there,” Anna Clendening told WSMV.
“It’s a start. It’s a lead. It’s something that I hope leads to more answers,” Jana Wright, who knows the two women who made the discovery, told local NewsChannel5. “Some days we’re a party of 1, some days we’re a party of 3. Somebody just doesn’t just vanish. Like where did he go? Where is he?”
Officials have been combing the banks of the bank of the river for days. “They’ve gone up and down the bank. They’ve done multiple sweeps. Urban search and rescue has checked several areas, including dilapidated buildings as well as storm drains,” Metro Police Sgt. Robert Nielsen said during a news conference on Thursday, March 14.
Riley Strain was reported missing Saturday after he was reportedly kicked out of Luke Bryan’s bar in Nashville on March 8, 2024. He was last seen by friends that night on Broadway, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. He was reportedly kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, country music star Luke Bryan’s restaurant and bar, per the Post Dispatch, FOX affiliate WZTV and NBC affiliate WSMV-TV.
A witness to Strain’s last movements told local news he and his wife had “heard a commotion” as Strain walked past. “We looked back up. He almost fell over. The last bush right there caught him… He was very, very, very intoxicated… I never seen anybody stumble that hard before.”
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