On March 8, a University of Missouri student named Riley Strain went missing during a trip to Music City, causing family, friends, and the Nashville and Mizzou communities, respectively, to frantically look for him, hoping for his reappearance sooner rather than later. As of March 18 — despite finding his bank card in the Cumberland River embankment along Gay Street just 24 hours prior — the 22-year-old is still missing, and the search for Riley Strain is still underway.
Strain was last seen by his friends at 9:52 pm, when he was kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge — a bar owned by country music superstar and American Idol panelist, Luke Bryan — for being far too intoxicated. Telling his friends that he was headed back to their hotel, surveillance footage shows Strain walking alone and stumbling down the streets of Nashville in the opposite direction of his hotel, implying that he made a wrong turn on his way home. According to the surveillance footage, there is no confirmed trace of him beyond the James Robertson Parkway bridge and Gay Street, however, individuals have been searching by foot, by boat, and by drone for the future Northwestern Mutual Financial Representative.
With this case being at the forefront of everyone’s minds as of late, those who have been closely following the disappearance of Riley Strain have dozens of questions about the missing individual, such as where he was from, who he was with, and what he was doing in Nashville before his disappearance. Keep scrolling for everything we know about the University of Missouri student…
Strain, a Missouri native, traveled to Nashville with his fraternity brothers for a formal. Given that he is a member of Delta Chi — and given the fact that he was in Music City for a Delta Chi function — the fraternity shared a post via Facebook expressing that they are deeply concerned for his safety and hope he is found soon:
“The Delta Chi Fraternity is deeply concerned for the safety of #RileyStrain, a valued member of our Missouri Chapter, reported missing over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. Our thoughts and hopes are with Riley’s family and our Missouri Chapter during this challenging time.”
In fact, one of his fraternity brothers is responsible for calling 911 as soon as they realized that Strain was missing once and for all. Upon returning to the hotel later that night, Strain’s friends assumed he was in another room, as around 50 Delta Chi members were in Music City that weekend. When they realized that Strain had not returned to their hotel room the following morning, his friends came to the Central Precinct on Korean Veterans Parkway, hoping to report him missing, but the building was closed. In that moment, Brayden Baltz called 911 — as well as Strain’s family — beginning the ongoing search for the 22-year-old.
With Nashville Police Sergeant Robert Nielsen confirming that “there’s no indication of foul play and no indication Strain was in a fight or argument with anyone that night,” it is unclear as to what exactly happened to Riley Strain. Because of this, anyone with further information regarding his disappearance is asked to call Nashville Crime Stoppers at (615) 742-7463.