Missing college student Riley Strain has been found dead eight miles from downtown Nashville.
“The body of Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown,” the Nashville PD tweeted on Friday, March 22. “No foul play-related trauma was observed. An autopsy is pending.”
Local news outlet WKRN reported that a body was discovered in the water at around 7:30 a.m. ET and was taken by a medical examiner van to be analyzed.
Police had been searching for Strain, 22, who went missing in Nashville on March 8 while on a trip with his University of Missouri fraternity, Delta Chi. He disappeared after leaving Luke Bryan’s Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink restaurant.
Strain was reported missing not long after when his fellow students did not find him in his hotel room. “The boys called him, and he said, ‘I’m walking back to my hotel,’” Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told local news outlet WSMV on March 11. “They didn’t think anything about it.”
Chris went on to note that he and Strain’s Mother, Michelle Whiteid, were contacted by Strain’s fraternity brothers and drove from Missouri to Tennessee. Strain was seen via security footage taking a wrong turn away from where his hotel was.
Michelle told WSMV that her son’s disappearance had been “so hard” on her, adding, “I just need to know where my son is.”
Amid the search, Strain’s bank card was found near Cumberland River and Gay Street on March 17. In addition to being spotted walking around intoxicated by a local homeless man, Strain reportedly sent a text which read “Good lops” to a girl he was romantically involved with, according to The New York Post. The girl was unsure of the meaning behind the message.
Police also looked into Strain’s time at Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink. The restaurant and its owner, TC Restaurant Group, revealed in a March 15 statement that Strain was only served one alcoholic drink and two waters before he was asked to leave, per NBC News.
Neither Bryan, 47, nor his establishment have publicly addressed the news of Strain’s death. Us Weekly has reached out to the country singer’s rep for comment.
Strain was last seen around 9:52 p.m. on the night of his disappearance. In a police body cam video released on Monday, March 18, the student interacted with an officer who responded to a vehicle burglary near Cumberland River and Gay Street.
“How are you doing, sir?” the officer asks Strains, who was walking on a sidewalk, to which he replied, “I’m good. How are you?”
