Police say University of Missouri student Riley Strain’s death appears ‘accidental’
After having been missing for two weeks, University of Missouri student Riley Strain’s body was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville on the morning of March 22, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). His body was discovered about eight miles away from downtown Nashville. At that time, police reported that there was no visible trauma to Riley’s body and that they suspected no foul play to be involved regarding his death.
According to a recently performed albeit preliminary autopsy, an MNPD spokesperson shared that Riley Strain’s death appears to be “accidental.” The Tennessean went on to report that police were in attendance for the autopsy; and although toxicology reports are still pending, and a finalized autopsy report won’t be available until all testing is completed – the police department’s initial assessment that no foul play was involved with the 22-year-old student’s death still remains accurate.
He went missing after being kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge Food and Drink downtown while on Broadway vacationing with fraternity brothers. Strain was seen on surveillance footage walking around the downtown area, sometimes stumbling. ~ The Tennessean
At a press conference following the recovery of Riley’s body, his mom, Michelle Whiteid thanked all those who had joined in the search for her missing son and added, “I just ask that you mommas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please … please for me, hug your babies tight tonight.”
The New York Post reported that Riley was visiting Music City with his Delta Chi fraternity brothers when he vanished after leaving country star Luke Bryan’s honky-tonk bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, on March 8. His family initially suggested he had been overserved, but the bar’s operators said he had only consumed one alcoholic beverage and two drinks of water at the watering hole.
For more on this tragic tale out of Nashville, see the video accompanying this article.
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(Source and cover photo of Riley Strain: Metro Nashville Police Department)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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