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

[moonrise]

I'm not local to Nashville so I'm not familiar with the area, but how hard would it be to purposely get to the water in the general area that his debit card was found?

This theory might be a little "outside the box", but what if he was trying to sober up, and decided it would be a "smart idea" to take a dip in the river, thinking the cool water might help? He might've even taken off his valuables (phone, watch, wallet, some clothing?) on the way down to the water, so they wouldn't get wet, and hid them nearby. The debit card could've fallen out of his pocket unnoticed as he was removing his phone. Once he reached the water, he may have lost his footing or underestimated the current. If something like this happened, his valuables could potentially still be there, hidden, or someone else could've found it (perhaps with the intent of selling it), not noticing the debit card that could've been a distance away.

This popped into my head because of an experience I had waaaay back in college. Someone I know (not me! LOL!) had the "brilliant idea" that he should jog up and down the road in his underwear to try to sober up. To him, it seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do at the time. (We stopped him.)

I hope that Riley is still out there somewhere, alive and safe, but the most logical answer (to me) is that the river took him. I'd soooo love to be wrong!

Prayers for his family and friends. I can't even imagine!

MOO, etc.

 

[Universecalling]

In the body cam video, does anyone else hear Riley say something right after the policeman turns around? I think I hear something but I can't make it out. Something like "park" or "car" maybe? And then a few seconds later, there's a sound like a car door slamming closed. Orrrr maybe it's just time for me to go to bed lol JMO
video for reference:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769773032086659404

I definitely hear something like that. At .13 mark, a silver or white car is either turning and slowing down, or just slowing down.
There is another car at the end of the video, so it could be a slight turn there because that car also engages the brakes.
Great catch on that bit!

 

[SMK777]

“Did he get in a vehicle. Because at 6’ 5”, 6’ 6”, blonde hair, blue-eyed boy, you just don’t vanish like he has. " says Dingman.
It's so sad. I think family just doesn't want to consider the river at all. I can't blame them, holding on to hope....

I agree, and I feel so sad for them, clinging to hope.

 

[MollyHarps]

They're scaling back the search. But family...they want more tips, more resources, more police involvement, more eyes...etc.
He's just not there imo.
What about searches elsewhere, down river, the river banks, much further down, way past the bridges, with drones, boats, helicopters....

“Did he get in a vehicle. Because at 6’ 5”, 6’ 6”, blonde hair, blue-eyed boy, you just don’t vanish like he has. " says Dingman.
It's so sad. I think family just doesn't want to consider the river at all. I can't blame them, holding on to hope....

‘You just don’t vanish like he has’: Search scales back 10 days after Riley Strain’s disappearance

The search for missing University of Missouri student Riley Strain continued into its tenth day Monday.

www.wkrn.com

I get him trying to cling onto hope but Unfortunately, people do just vanish like this especially when a vast body of water is the likely outcome

Just look at the NB case she wasn’t found for quite a period of time and police were on the scene in this case literally within a few hours - that water is also nowhere near as vast or fast moving as the water I believe Riley has entered.

 

[SMK777]

I get him trying to cling onto hope but Unfortunately, people do just vanish like this especially when a vast body of water is the likely outcome

Just look at the NB case she wasn’t found for quite a period of time and police were on the scene in this case literally within a few hours - that water is also nowhere near as vast or fast moving as the water I believe Riley has entered.

Yes, the most logical scenario which answers all the questions is that he fell into the water. For his parents it’s understandably a scenario which destroys all hope, so they cling to alternatives.

You can’t blame them, because this whole thing which began on March 8 just totally blindsided them. I’m sure there was a lot of happy anticipation about this trip and the fact that it was the end of 22 year old Riley is just incomprehensible.

 

[Trebor5591]

They're scaling back the search. But family...they want more tips, more resources, more police involvement, more eyes...etc.
He's just not there imo.
What about searches elsewhere, down river, the river banks, much further down, way past the bridges, with drones, boats, helicopters....

“Did he get in a vehicle. Because at 6’ 5”, 6’ 6”, blonde hair, blue-eyed boy, you just don’t vanish like he has. " says Dingman.
It's so sad. I think family just doesn't want to consider the river at all. I can't blame them, holding on to hope....

‘You just don’t vanish like he has’: Search scales back 10 days after Riley Strain’s disappearance

The search for missing University of Missouri student Riley Strain continued into its tenth day Monday.

www.wkrn.com

"Then, on Sunday, March 17, police announced Strain’s bank card was found on the embankment between Gay Street and the Cumberland River amid the ongoing search effort for the missing college student."

Finding Riley's bank card on the ground adds a more sinister element to this, in my opinion. No matter how drunk he was, he wouldn't take out his wallet and extract then drop his bank card. Based on this new evidence, it seems to me that Riley was "rolled" and pushed into the water. Likely any cash he had was taken and the wallet and the card dropped to the ground during this process. Then, wallet cards thrown into the river. Deepest condolences to his family.

 

[GDawg89]

Based on this report it seems as if the Cumberland River streamflow and gage height was up a lot higher (almost 5 times as much) on the 8th-9th than it is now.
View attachment 491423View attachment 491424

Cumberland River At Nashville Flow Report | Tennessee USGS 03431500

Streamflow levels and water data for Cumberland River At Nashville, TN. Access stream gauge data and latest weather forecast for Tennessee USGS Gauge: 03431500.

snoflo.org

March 9th streamflow: 47800cfs
March 9th gage height: 24.69ft
March 18th steamflow: 9890cfs
March 18th gage height: 17.90ft

If he did go into the river it's a lot lower now so his body is more likely to be found.

Just speculation here pertaining to the location on river bank of the "found bank card", can anyone determine/estimate if the bank card location was above or below the estimated water line height on 3/8/24? I have not read every thread but if the card was found down near the shoreline that may pose some interesting scenarios as to how that bank card ended up there after the fact. AMOO

 

[BeachSky]

Or “got lost”….

I can see that also if it was - talk to text.
It can type “Helen” instead of “he then”

 

[SMK777]

"Then, on Sunday, March 17, police announced Strain’s bank card was found on the embankment between Gay Street and the Cumberland River amid the ongoing search effort for the missing college student."

Finding Riley's bank card on the ground adds a more sinister element to this, in my opinion. No matter how drunk he was, he wouldn't take out his wallet and extract then drop his bank card. Based on this new evidence, it seems to me that Riley was "rolled" and pushed into the water. Likely any cash he had was taken and the wallet and the card dropped to the ground during this process. Then, wallet cards thrown into the river. Deepest condolences to his family.

The problem with this scenario is that law enforcement stated they don’t believe he was robbed of card and expensive phone because there is no activity on any of it.

 

[DoctorRose]

He might not have. Dulled senses. Turned around but didn't know it.

I think so too. It looks like on that map that someone else shared earlier that he went “up” on the map the right amount but then turned left instead of right. So he might have been thinking I know I’m in the right area why haven’t I seen it yet and kept going thinking it must be just ahead. When really he would have needed to turn around and go the other way.

I have really awful spatial skills and would never try to get back without using my map app but I can see how someone who’s usually good at that would think it’s super close, it’s right up this way, and then expect they’ll get there if they keep going. Especially if he was disoriented to time and didn’t realize how long he’d been walking.

 

[DoctorRose]

As for the card, have you seen how much trash is there?

There apparently was not an altercation, and police are still looking for witnesses. We did hear about “a commotion,” which was the description of him stumbling into some bushes or something.

Police have given the reason he was thrown out of the bar, but the family friend didn’t want to talk about it.

The bar isn’t going to release that video to the public, and the police have no reason to. The family has seen it however, and they aren’t pushing for its release. What matters is what came after.

Agree with all of the above. The women were meticulously looking at each piece of trash it sound like.

I assume they don’t want to release the reason or footage of him being kicked out because it probably isn’t flattering and they’re being respectful to him and his family. My only question would be whether another person was affected by whatever it was who could have got angry. But it appears that wasn’t the case or wasn’t relevant.

It could have been him falling over, throwing up or something rather than him actually saying or doing something wrong. But regardless he wasn’t in his right mind so whatever it was was not necessarily indicative of him as a person. So it might just not seem right to share it.

 

[DoctorRose]

That’s an interesting view, @branmuffin - glad you shared it - I hadn’t thought of it that way. I see the general population interested in finding Riley differently, in that Riley is getting excellent media in part because he’s a relatable male college student to many who are in power and class-advantaged in America, guys who do things like run media outlets. And TV stations. And news sites. Guys who came out of places like Mizzou with honors and became successful corporate guys with influence and metaphorical bullhorns. Those guys are watching this story (or their brilliant web sleuthing type wives are and are telling them about it, which is probably equally likely) and thinking, man, I remember leaving bars when I was just destroyed and staggering around and getting denied at the bar across the street and wandering and weaving, but it coulda been me.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Dave Portnoy or a Joe Rogan talk about this case solely because they find it personally relatable.

I pray searchers find him.

This is a good point. I hadn’t thought of it this way. I was taking the perspective of him being my kid and seeing him as young and vulnerable. This makes a lot of sense though.

 

[stormymama]

Back in my glory, err, college days, I was kicked out of a bar. I wasn't belligerent or anything, just clearly beyond needing to go home and sleep it off. So I was escorted out and commenced to puke all in the gutter while I waited for the rest of my friends to come out and take me home.

I think we are so fine-tuned to look for a crime in anything because that's what we do here. We sleuth crimes or potential crimes. Sometimes there's just not one. moo

 

[SMK777]

Really hoping he’s going to be found soon as it’s heartbreaking to see the denial ​

​

Mr Strain’s parents say they are still ‘hopeful’​

The parents of University of Missouri student Riley Strain said they will “continue to search” after more than a week has passed since the college senior vanished.

Mr Strain was last seen on 8 March when he went to Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink bar in Nashville as part of a fraternity trip but was asked to leave the nightspot.

“We’re still, you know, actively planning to bring Riley home with us,” Chris Whiteid, Mr Strain’s stepfather told NBC News on 16 March.

This case has been “taxing” due to them “not getting more updates of what’s going on,” Mr Whiteid said. Still, “we continue to search,” added Mr Whiteid.

“We’re very hopeful and we’re moving forward as, you know, he’s coming home and we’re graduating in May and life goes on just as normal,” he continued.

Riley Strain’s final text message and new footage revealed: Live

Newly-released video shows Missouri student spoke briefly to a police officer minutes after leaving Nashville bar

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Janitor101]

Does Gay Street dead end into a homeless camp? If not, I'm curious as to why he would have left the sidewalk and wound up attempting to navigate a potentially dangerous embankment leading to a river. Yes, I'm aware he may have needed to relieve himself, but how far down an embankment would be enough to avoid the unwanted attention of others? Could this be what started that so-called "commotion"? Riley trying to relieve himself and someone close by turned hostile causing Riley to run from this potential altercation and eventually losing his balance. With his towering height though, I can't imagine his limbs not getting caught up on bushes, jagged rocks, and other assorted debris.

 

[Mortalwombat1218]

This case is perplexing me. I just can’t imagine a kid would willingly decide to get into a body of water like that at that hour in that condition especially not in an unfamiliar city. Even blackout drunk, it just doesn’t seem plausible and isn’t something I’ve really heard of anyone doing. That said, I’m a female and I know the male brain operates a little differently. I’m leaning towards the theory that he encountered someone and either that person had nefarious intention off the jump or there was an altercation or escalation that ended badly. Puzzling to me that they haven’t found any more physical evidence.

I keep checking for updates and hoping for a happy outcome to this one but at this point it’s looking grim. Something to consider that I haven’t seen mentioned yet - many people in present times do not know phone numbers by heart, even those closest to them. Could see him struggling to contact anyone for a couple of days maybe if he lost access to his phone, but at this point I’m sure he would have found a way to reach someone especially considering the media coverage. Prayers for this young man and all who know him.

 

[Sustained]

This case is perplexing me. I just can’t imagine a kid would willingly decide to get into a body of water like that at that hour in that condition especially not in an unfamiliar city. Even blackout drunk, it just doesn’t seem plausible and isn’t something I’ve really heard of anyone doing. That said, I’m a female and I know the male brain operates a little differently. I’m leaning towards the theory that he encountered someone and either that person had nefarious intention off the jump or there was an altercation or escalation that ended badly. Puzzling to me that they haven’t found any more physical evidence.

I keep checking for updates and hoping for a happy outcome to this one but at this point it’s looking grim. Something to consider that I haven’t seen mentioned yet - many people in present times do not know phone numbers by heart, even those closest to them. Could see him struggling to contact anyone for a couple of days maybe if he lost access to his phone, but at this point I’m sure he would have found a way to reach someone especially considering the media coverage. Prayers for this young man and all who know him.

BBM -

This guy willingly got into the river after drinking -

Autopsy: Dakota Bingham found in river died as result of drowning (tennessean.com)

 

[Mortalwombat1218]

BBM -

This guy willingly got into the river after drinking -

Autopsy: Dakota Bingham found in river died as result of drowning (tennessean.com)

Wow, thanks for this. Just seems so strange and unlikely to go out of your way alone late at night and hop into some random river. Could see a group of intoxicated people doing this more than one lone individual, but clearly has happened before. Interesting, appreciate the article!

 

[DoctorRose]

“Good lops” has me over here listing possible typos. Could “lops” be “oops”?

 

[mst]

It's possible he got a concussion after banging his head, started to not feel well so he went somewhere quiet to sit for a minute, passed out, and as gross as it sounds, choked on his own vomit. Someone could have gone thru his pockets after the fact looking for cash or anything valuable. A homeless person may not have wanted credit cards because it would be awfully suspicious to look and be homeless and suddenly have a cc. Just all alternative theory