Found Deceased TN - Riley Strain, 22, missing after leaving bar, Nashville, 8 March 2024 #2

[Cindizzi]

This may have already been posted, I’m a couple pages behind.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769698147754811562

 

[arielilane]

According to the 911 caller (RS’s friend B) he described RS’s shirt as a half black & half light brown shirt and his last location was outside around the sheriff’s department, by the river over there...

 

[Sustained]

This is an overhead view from Google Earth of the area where Riley's phone last pinged.

https://imgur.com/NH2Ypeq

The A.A.Birch building is in the top right and N.1st St bisects the photo. Given the embankment slope in the CC video and foliage in the Google earth photo, IMO there is no chance Riley fell into the water from the sidewalk. Someone at the homeless camp reported they heard a commotion above them and figured a drunk had fallen into a bush. If Riley had fallen into the water almost directly below the homeless encampment, would they have not heard a splash/commotion ?

Given it was dark, I can see how he may have ventured off the sidewalk to urinate, but if he had fallen down the slope, surely we'd have some other evidence besides the CC.

 

[Van Helsing]

Based on the video with the officer, I have pinpointed the officer to have been standing by the red truck in the video where the pin is in my screenshot. Riley's last known phone ping was at Gay St/James Robertson Pkwy (circled area). Is this also where the credit card was found, below the James Robertson Pkwy bridge? It was not a far distance from his interaction with the officer if that is where he entered the water.

View attachment 491393

The place where the surveillance camera captured someone running at about the same time as when his phone was turned off is just a little farther north on Gay St.

 

[arielilane]

Most recent news about the electronics, unless someone else can found something more recent.

...

"Some of the data we are still waiting on," Nielsen said. "There's a legal process when you're getting some of this information, so sometimes it's multiple steps and a lot of it depends on the company that you're trying to get that information, whether social media or cell phone company."

Police are also looking for information on the Apple Watch Strain was wearing.

A phone location specialist told WSMV4 that in some of these cases, the company that created the phones or watches can track down more precise locations of the devices before they turned off.


"Right now, we have requested some of that information. We have done emergency pings and are just trying to get that information from them," Nielsen said.

Nielsen said they're hoping to get new information from Strain's phone or watch as soon as possible.

Nashville police trying to pinpoint missing student Riley Strain's location by phone, watch pings

Authorities have asked for data on the last pinged locations of Riley Strain's devices. The college student was last seen on March 8 after leaving a Nashville bar.

abc7ny.com

 

[arielilane]

Friday, March 8​

Strain and his fraternity brothers from Mizzou come to Nashville for a fraternity event. They were reportedly staying at the Tempo Hotel downtown.

Strain went to Luke’s 32 Bridge on Broadway Friday night, where records show he purchased and was served one alcoholic drink and two waters. Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, said she FaceTimed with him just a few hours before he went missing.


Timeline continues at link...

Timeline: The disappearance of Missouri student Riley Strain, what we know so far

For nearly a week, there have been no signs of 22-year-old University of Missouri student Riley Strain.

cw39.com

 

[PawneeDew]

Yes of course. IMO, the few people whose instinct is to rob and kill people (versus possibly shoplifting and other forms of theft) are very unlikely to be living in a homeless encampment. Firstly, they'll be able to make enough money to live somewhere, 2ndly, they wouldn''t be tolerated in the camp because they'd have been robbing and killing other homeless people.

JMO

I kind of disagree....drug addicts will definitely rob people in order to feed their addiction. Homeless or not homeless. He would be an easy mark if he was drunk.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

Not trying to make excuses but I wonder if one reason why Strain’s friends didn’t leave with him or the bar was comfortable with kicking him out is because the street Luke Bryant is on, Broadway, is usually very busy with a lot of bars around and patrons and visitors milling about on the street. Nashville is also a very friendly city (Southern charm and all, IMO) and Broadway is pretty well lit. In addition to Strain having no trouble walking back to the hotel safely, I wonder if his friends and the bar employees assumed that if something were to happen to him that there would be plenty of people and witnesses around to respond and to assist him so they wouldn’t have to worry?

If Strain did get lost, I wonder if it is possible for investigators to remotely to see if Strain tried using his Map app or Google maps to try find his way back? Even if he was too inebriated to type the hotel name or address, navigating Nashville’s streets is pretty easy since they are sort of built using a grid system. Plus, even if he didn’t know where he was, the apps would know and mark it for him so he could still make sense of his location even while inebriated.

Like with designated driver, I do like the idea mentioned earlier of a group friends having one or more designated sober buddies when they go out and plan to drink. My friend and I usually volunteer for this position when we go out just because I am in school and due to my tight budget I am too cheap to buy more than one or two drinks when we go out dancing and such. I also second drinking a lot of water before or after a few drinks helps sober up and avoid hangovers. I tend to drink 3-4 glasses of water and make my friends do so when drunk to avoid nausea. A peppermint and ginger gummy helps with the nausea and headaches too that can come with drinking.

 

[caradana]

MOO: Occam’s Razor: the simplest answer is most often the right one.
1) He stumbled down an embankment and drunkenly fell into the water.
2) He, as a 6’7” white man surrounded by non-street-smart tourists in an area with remarkably large foot traffic, was opportunistically attacked by the homeless who subsequently did a stunningly good job hiding his body and never attempted to use his cards.

Let’s together be realists.

 

[MassGuy]

I kind of disagree....drug addicts will definitely rob people in order to feed their addiction. Homeless or not homeless. He would be an easy mark if he was drunk.

True, but it wouldn’t require any force because he was such an easy mark. And even if it did require force, there’s no reason to take things any further, and not use the items you killed him for.

 

[SMK777]

True, but it wouldn’t require any force because he was such an easy mark. And even if it did require force, there’s no reason to take things any further, and not use the items you killed him for.

I think the strongest evidence that he was not robbed and killed is that the phone and cards show no activity. I can think of at least 3-4 cases over the years where a person has gone missing, has made no contact at all with family or friends or coworkers, yet mysterious activity shows up on cards and phone, ie, Some other party is using them.

 

[Hanoi2009]

Now that we’ve heard that Riley’s parents met with the police and were given an update, I am wondering what, if anything, was said to help them manage their expectations. If someone is lost in a lake or on a mountain or something, they often switch from a “search and rescue” to a “search and recover.” It doesn’t seem that he has been recategorized from a “missing person”; I am wondering if they’ve given the parents any statistics, brought in a social worker, or done anything to help them manage their expectations. JMO

 

[whitelilac]

Do we know whether air and boat searches have been taking place today, particularly down river, even around the first bend?

 

[MyBelle]

I think the strongest evidence that he was not robbed and killed is that the phone and cards show no activity. I can think of at least 3-4 cases over the years where a person has gone missing, has made no contact at all with family or friends or coworkers, yet mysterious activity shows up on cards and phone, ie, Some other party is using them.

This is an ongoing investigation by LE so I doubt the public would be told about any activity.

JMO

 

[dms]

Riley was falling-down drunk, had just knocked himself half silly and was last seen by the (higher-than-normal, fast-moving) river. Much as I hate to say it, this is easy math. They will most likely find him soon, maybe further downstream than expected.

 

[Sustained]

True, but it wouldn’t require any force because he was such an easy mark. And even if it did require force, there’s no reason to take things any further, and not use the items you killed him for.

What items ? Maybe he only had the one debit card - an experienced phone thief would know to shut the phone off and remove the SIM card even if the plan was just to sell the phone.

I know him being attacked is a long shot with no evidence to date, but I have a hard time seeing him navigate the slope and into the water without him falling on the way down. If he fell into the water, why didn't anyone at the homeless camp hear the splash/commotion ?

 

[SMK777]

QUESTION which just came to mind: @MassGuy

If a phone is stolen, the SIM card removed, and the phone reformatted in order to sell it:
will that activity be visible?

 

[Van Helsing]

I've been following this case slightly. Hopefully RS will be found safe; however, unfortunately the more time passes the less likely there will be a good outcome here.

In the very brief video of him in post #114 (also making the rounds online), he does not appear to be extremely impaired. He's not staggering all over the street; he's not slurring his words; etc. Sure, he may definitely be too drunk to drive - but he also seems to be functional.

I've been reading a lot of criticism online of his friends for letting him leave alone & of the bar for throwing him out. However, I don't like the blaming game here. At some point we as adults have to take responsibility for our own actions.

Again, hopefully he will be found safe.

I think I read early in this thread (or something linked) that his friends realized he was gone and called him on his phone and that's when he told them that he was on his way back to the hotel. I'll see if I can find that again.

 

[SMK777]

This is an ongoing investigation by LE so I doubt the public would be told about any activity.

JMO

True enough. I’m also considering for argument’s sake the idea that an expensive phone could be stolen, the SIM card removed, and reformatted for a quick sale, without necessarily leaving a trace.

 

[SMK777]

I think I read early in this thread (or something linked) that his friends realized he was gone and called him on his phone and that's when he told them that he was on his way back to the hotel. I'll see if I can find that again.

Yes, I know I read that also.