The last place that the missing college student was seen by his friends.
In case you missed it, Nashville police are currently searching for 22-year old Riley Strain, a student at the University of Missouri who was in Nashville along with 200+ other members of his fraternity for their formal.
But unfortunately, Strain became separated from his friends after being kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge, which is Luke Bryan’s bar on Broadway.
After being asked to leave the bar, Strain’s friends called him, but he told them he would just walk back to their hotel. The group was staying at the Tempo Hotel, which is just off of Broadway on 8th Avenue, and just a few blocks from Luke’s bar.
But for some reason, it appears that Strain walked in the opposite direction of his hotel, because the last location that his phone pinged was near the Davidson County Courthouse at around 9:53 pm.
Friends say when they got back to their hotel, they assumed that Strain was just in another room. But the next morning, they realized that he was missing and went to the local police precinct to file a missing persons report.
The 911 call made by Riley’s fraternity brother, Brayden Baltz, was also released, and provides more detail about what went on the night he went missing.
And just a little while ago, Metro Nashville Police released footage of Strain from just minutes before his phone stopped sharing his location.
In the video, a clearly intoxicated Strain can be seen crossing the street near Public Square Park and the Davidson County Courthouse. Strain, in his distinctive black and white shirt, is crossing 1st Ave N. and headed towards Gay Street – and towards the Cumberland River, in the opposite direction of his hotel.
MNPD reports that the video, which appears to be from a street camera, was taken at 9:47 pm, just minutes before Strain disappeared after his phone stopped sharing his location. He’s also seen talking to some of his fellow pedestrians, who I’m sure the police are working to track down in hopes of getting more information about what happened after they walked out of view of the camera.
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 đź“ž 615-742-7463. pic.twitter.com/fE86dlqeOC
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 12, 2024
Strain’s friends and family attempted to track his location with both the Life360 app and Snapchat, but unfortunately the phone was turned off around 10 pm on Friday night. And since then, his parents have traveled to Nashville to assist the search for their son.
The Metro Nashville Police Department posted on Twitter yesterday that they were searching for Riley, including by helicopter and searches of the riverbank along the Cumberland River where his phone last reported a location.
Police say they’ve done a search of jail and hospital records with no success, so for now the police are asking anybody with tips or who might have seen Riley on Friday night to call them at 615-862-8600 with any information.
And obviously much of the attention has been on Luke Bryan’s bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge located at 301 Broadway, since that was the last place that Strain was seen by his friends.
Luke’s is less than a 10 minute walk from the spot that Strain was seen in the video released by police, and obviously on a Friday night Broadway and the surrounding areas are full of partygoers.
TC Restaurant Group, the operator and owner of Luke’s bar, released a statement on Strain’s disappearance this afternoon, indicating that they’re working closely with authorities in the search for the missing college student:
“TC Restaurant Group, operator and owner of Luke’s 32 Bridge, is continuing to work closely with the Metro Nashville Police Department to provide security camera footage and any other potentially helpful information to aid in the search for Riley Strain. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones for his safe return.”
The group runs not only Luke’s, but also Jason Aldean’s Bar + Rooftop Kitchen, Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa, FGL House and several other bars and restaurants in downtown Nashville.
Unfortunately, most of the venues owned by TC aren’t on the path that it appears Strain took after being asked to leave the bar, so any security camera footage from their other bars (if it even exists) probably won’t shed any light on what happened after he left.
But right now, it’s all hands on deck trying to figure out what led up to his disappearance and where he could be.
