Nashville authorities said Riley Strain’s death was likely an “accident” and not the result of foul play, according to local news.
Workers along the Cumberland River west of Nashville found Strain, a 22-year-old University of Missouri senior who went missing after going downtown on March 8, in the water on the morning of March 22.
The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) told FOX News Digital that detectives attended Strain’s autopsy and preliminary results indicate that Strain’s death “continues to be accidental” and “doesn’t appear to be a criminal act.” “There were no associated injuries,” he said.
Toxicology results are pending. The Davidson County Coroner’s Office said Strain’s autopsy is still underway and will take approximately 12 weeks to conclude.
Riley Strain Found: Nashville Police Find Body of College Student Missing After Night Out
Riley Strain was found dead on the night of March 8th after going to Broadway in Nashville with friends. (Handouts for families)
The student’s body was recovered about 13 miles from downtown, authorities said. Strain’s parents spoke at a news conference Friday after the 22-year-old’s body was discovered.
“To all the mothers out there, hold your babies tight tonight,” Strain’s mother, Michelle Whyid, told reporters, according to WKRN.
TikTokers find ‘great clue’ in Nashville for missing Riley Strain while searching for missing student: Friend
Michelle Strain Whyid and her husband Chris Whyid speak to the media during a press conference to inform the public about the disappearance of University of Missouri student Riley Strain on March 19, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. March 19, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean, from USA Today)
Strain’s father, Ryan Gilbert, said Strain “touched the hearts of people across the country” and thanked “everyone for their thoughts, prayers and efforts to find him.”
Police find missing college student Riley Strain’s bank card near a Nashville-area river
The university student’s disappearance attracted national attention. Strain went missing on the night of March 8th while visiting Nashville on his fraternity’s official spring trip. Strain was drinking with her friends at Luke’s 32, Luke Bryan’s bar on downtown Broadway, when staff asked her to leave.
Riley Strain’s body was found in the Cumberland River on March 8, about 13 miles from where she was last seen by friends downtown. (Fox News)
“At 9:35 p.m., our security team made the decision, consistent with our standards of conduct, to escort him from the venue to the Broadway exit in front of our building,” the bar said in a March 15 statement. Stated. “He went down the stairs with one of the members of the party. The person who was with Riley did not come out and went back upstairs.”
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Riley Strain was last seen at Luke Bryan’s bar in downtown Nashville just before 10 p.m. on March 8. His body was found two weeks later in the Cumberland River. (Google Maps/Voices of the Voiceless)
Friends who filed a missing person report said Strain was supposed to walk to a hotel that night, but never returned.
Police are still trying to determine exactly how Strain ended up walking in the opposite direction from the hotel. Family spokesman Chris Dingman said it’s possible the man entered the wrong destination on his phone’s map, but authorities are continuing to investigate all possibilities.
