Riley Strain found: Nashville police locate body of college student who went missing after night out

Nashville, Tennessee, police said on Friday they found the body of Riley Strain, a University of Missouri senior who went missing on March 8 after going out downtown.

Authorities said Strain's body was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville on Friday morning, about 8 miles from downtown. Police said on X that no foul play-related trauma was observed, and an autopsy is pending.

"This morning, around 7:28 a.m., we received a call from a worker on 61st Avenue, at a company that adjourns the Cumberland River, that had been searching for anything that would pop up on the river, especially looking for Riley Strain," Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said during a Friday morning press conference. "As they were removing an object from the river, they noticed what appeared to be Riley Strain."

The fire department retrieved Strain’s body from the river, and the medical examiner’s office reviewed his remains. Strain’s family has been contacted, Drake said.

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Riley Strain disappeared after he went out with friends on Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee, on the evening of March 8. (Family handout)

"There are no signs of foul play at this time, according to the examination here at the riverbank," Drake said. "Mr. Strain still had the shirt on that he was wearing, had the watch and other identifying factors that helped us identify who he is."

The 22-year-old finance student was visiting Nashville for his fraternity's spring formal trip when he vanished. He had been out on Broadway drinking with friends at Luke Bryan's downtown bar, called Luke's 32, when staff asked him to leave.

Riley Strain's body was found in the Cumberland River about 8 miles from where he was last seen by friends downtown on March 8. (Fox News)

Police say his phone pinged for the last time around Gay Street, part of which borders the Cumberland River.

Nashville police released a video of Strain greeting a police officer on Gay Street while the officer was checking parked vehicles for signs of a reported vehicle burglary just before the college student disappeared.

MNPD Chief John Drake said no foul play is suspected in Riley Strain's death at this time. (FOX 17 Nashville)

Police vehicles gather near the scene of a press conference where MNPD Chief Drake announced the discovery of Riley Strain's body in the Cumberland River. (FOX 17 Nashville)

"Shown was Riley's brief exchange of greetings w/ Officer Reginald Young on Gay St., south of the Woodland St. Bridge, on the night of 3/8. Riley did not appear distressed. Officer Young was there on a vehicle burglary call & remained on that portion of Gay St. for 45 min," police said on X. "No video has been discovered that shows Riley away from Gay St after the 9:52 p.m. timeframe."

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Recently released police body-worn camera footage shows Riley Strain greeting an officer on March 8, just before he was reported missing. (MNPD)

Luke's 32 said in a statement that bartenders served Strain one drink before staff asked him to leave.

"At 9:35 p.m., our security team made a decision based on our conduct standards to escort him from the venue through our Broadway exit at the front of our building," the bar said in a March 15 statement. "He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs."

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Authorities released surveillance video showing Riley Strain walking across 1st Avenue North to Gay Street at 9:47 p.m. on March 8, when he was seen wearing the same black and brown shirt his friends last saw him.  (A Voice for the Voiceless/Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)

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TC Restaurant Group indicated that they were working closely with authorities in the search for the missing college student.

Riley Strain was last seen at Luke Bryan's bar in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, just before 10 p.m. Friday, March 8. (Google Maps)

After leaving the bar, Strain told his friends that he would head back to their accommodations at Tempo by Hilton, which is about five blocks away from Luke's 32, as FOX 17 first reported.

When his friends did not see him again at their hotel later that evening, they filed a missing persons report, Strain's cousin, Chelsea Strain, previously told Fox News Digital.

Michelle Strain Whiteid, left, and her husband, Chris Whiteid, speak to the media during a press conference to update the public about the disappearance of University of Missouri student Riley Strain at Public Square Park in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean via USA Today)

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Police are still working to determine exactly how Strain ended up walking in the opposite direction of his hotel. It is possible that he could have entered the wrong destination into a map on his phone, according to family spokesperson Chris Dingman, but authorities continue to investigate all possibilities.

Strain's family flew to Nashville and became involved in the search immediately after his friends reported him missing.