This story keeps getting more bizarre…
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 over the weekend 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 last Friday.
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 yesterday, 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 📞 615-742-7463. pic.twitter.com/fE86dlqeOC
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 12, 2024
There has also been additional video released that shows Strain stumbling and even falling at one point as he crosses a parking lot, possibly hitting his head as he fell to the ground. And honestly, it’s just hard to watch.
And a reporter here in Nashville says that there is video footage of Strain making it as far as the Jefferson Street Bridge, which is over half a mile away from where his phone reported his last location.
I can tell you that Riley got as far as the Jefferson Street bridge, according to his family. There’s been no surveillance video since that point in time. The search for more surveillance video and any indications as to where Riley may be continues. @FOXNashville
— Kelly Avellino (@KellyAvellino) 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 this week 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. The United Cajun Navy, a group that helps with water searches, is also involved and assisting with the search for Riley.
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 yesterday 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.”
But according to Riley’s family, the bar refused to let his friends accompany him when he was kicked out of the bar.
During an interview with NewsNation, Strain’s parents say that their son was asked to leave the bar due to being “over served.” But they also claim that the bar would not let his friends leave with him at that point.
Now, it goes without saying that that sounds not only strange but also completely irresponsible of the bar if it’s true. There have been claims online that Strain was escorted out through a back door of the bar and that’s why his friends weren’t allowed to accompany him, which is when his friends lost sight of him before getting him on the phone and Strain saying that he would be walking back to his hotel. But none of this has been confirmed by the bar or the police.
Strain’s parents also claim that he called them just an hour or two before disappearing and that he seemed fine, so obviously that raises concerns that the student could have been drugged while drinking at the bar, but of course that’s just speculation that has been raised online at this point. But when you see the video of him walking away, it’s clear that he wasn’t in great shape.
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.
