The first real evidence that’s been found since Riley Strain went missing.
The 22-year old University of Missouri student disappeared in Nashville last Friday after being kicked out of Luke Bryan’s bar while in town for a fraternity event.
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 last week, 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.
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.
A woman has claimed that she spotted a homeless man wearing what appeared to be Strain’s distinctive shirt days after he disappeared. And it’s also been reported that Strain was spotted by individuals at two separate homeless camps near the river on the night he disappeared, though as of right now there’s still been no sight of the missing student.
But now, it sounds like search crews may have found the first real evidence since Strain went missing.
A group of civilians searching the river bank near Strain’s last reported location have reportedly found the 22-year old student’s debit card, once again putting him in the location where he was last known to be.
If, as it’s being reported, the debit card was found on the river bank versus on the sidewalk, that either indicates that somebody found the card and placed it there, or that Strain himself was on the river bank himself.
The finding was confirmed by Nick Beres of Newschannel 5 here in Nashville, who’s reporting that it was also confirmed by Strain’s family.
Obviously it’s concerning that Strain didn’t have his debit card on him when he disappeared, and that it was found near the river, where the search this past week has been heavily focused.
But until the student is found, there’s nothing left to do but continue to search and hope that somehow this story has a happy ending.
