Found Deceased TN - Riley Strain, 22, missing from a bar, Nashville, 8 March 2024

[gitana1]

It was full of very sharp-looking rocks so there should be evidence of a fall such as his blood, torn clothing. I want to know if the Bar's security camera shows Riley was handed back his credit card.

JMO

Not necessarily. His clothes could have contained any blood. And he might just have had bad bruising.

 

[gitana1]

Yes, it was a very hard fall and he was twisted around. Why didn't his credit card fall out of his pocket then?

JMO

Because he didn’t do a somersault? He didn’t roll? He didn’t land a certain way? I mean there are many reasons why his credit card wouldn’t have been dislodged at one moment but was at another.

 

[ForensicToxicologist]

MAR 17, 2024

TikTokers find Riley Strain's bank card in river embankment

On day 9, a new clue found could help bring missing Missouri student Riley Strain home. Metro Police say Riley's bank card was found in the Cumberland River embankment along Gay Street Sunday.

www.newschannel5.com

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A woman says she and her friend, who both regularly post on TikTok, came across the card while searching for Riley.

"It's a start. It's a lead. It's something that I hope leads to more answers," said JW, who knows the two women who made the discovery.

Oh thank goodness there’s photographs and she has gloves on. May have preserved any possible prints (if the elements didn’t already degrade them)

 

[branmuffin]

It is reported the bar stopped serving him alcohol and he had two glasses of water. The reason they did that was because of liability. I've heard no reports that Riley was fighting anyone in that bar. None of the video shows him fighting with anyone outside of the bar.

I think the bar does have liability because they forced him to leave even though he wasn't doing anything wrong.

JMO

I don't think anyone is suggesting that Riley was getting into fights or being combative. I think they were saying his extreme inebriation was putting other people at risk. Imagine a 6 foot 7 individual losing his balance walking up the stairs. He could have bowled over several other patrons in falling down the stairs. I don't know that he fell down the stairs but when I see how fast he was moving and his erratic arm movements in those videos he could have easily socked someone in the face unintentionally.

The reality of it is that Riley was really drunk. There's no getting around that. His friends chose to let him leave by himself. If I was his mother, I would think out of the two choices who should have had Riley's back, it would have been his friends, not the bar management to call him a cab, find out where he was staying and send him on his way. Even if he had gotten back to the hotel he didn't have any key to get in the room. And if his hotel was like many hotels, seeing an extremely drunk person entering their place of business without any ID or proof that he was staying there, he may have been given the boot there, too. I'm not sure why so many people don't understand that. Restaurants, bars and hotels are in the business to make money, not to endanger their patrons or staff members or being a virtual babysitter for some unknown quantity.

 

[branmuffin]

There’s another thing that makes me wonder concerning Riley drinking 2 glasses of water…I remember talking years ago to people partying and ingesting {ecstasy} It causes thirst and people partying will consume lots of water…And the way Riley was walking could mimic a person acting the same way…His friends would have to be truthful if they have knowledge of any of them consuming club drugs !

I don't think he bought two glasses of water; if water was on his tab he bought bottled water.

 

[WildcatRunner]

Speaking of fraternities..... They can come in three or more general flavors:

A- Private Social Fraternities: Pick their own members, bonding pledge process, group residence in a house when possible, lots of social contact with other members.

B- Fraternities based on majors: Open to anybody in the major. May have GPA standards. Very nominal pledging process. Many members would not be close to each other socially.

C- Service / Religious oriented fraternities: Centered around providing volunteer services and / or growing a student's faith.

As this fraternity was engaged in a "bar crawl", I dont think they are a "C". Could well be an "A". But.... they might be a "B". If so, "B" type members do not live as a group and had not gone though a bonding pledge process. Thus..... a possible social dynamic where the members dont feel a high level of responsibility for each other.

This does not mean they willfully endanger somebody. Rather, it could mean: "Well, he Said he was going back to the hotel and looked like he could make it. So.... I let him go" type mentality.

His would be A, in your description. I am familiar with the fraternity he is in, it is on some of the campuses near where I live, as well.

 

[pizzaman12]

Oh thank goodness there’s photographs and she has gloves on. May have preserved any possible prints (if the elements didn’t already degrade them)

Don't touch it. I'm sure everyone is appreciative of their help. Call and let them know you found something. Integrity of physical evidence is more important than tiktok views. Will it apply in this case? Maybe...maybe not. I'm not diminishing their search efforts, however this is usually reiterated dozens of times before SAR/organized efforts.

 

[gitana1]

from whomever didn't give it back to him at the bar.

JMO

If his card got stolen by someone at the bar, that doesn’t negate that Riley left the bar and walked a distance without being apparently followed.

 

[ForensicToxicologist]

Don't touch it. I'm sure everyone is appreciative of their help. Call and let them know you found something. Integrity of physical evidence is more important than tiktok views. Will it apply in this case? Maybe...maybe not. I'm not diminishing their search efforts, however this is usually reiterated dozens of times before SAR/organized efforts.

As someone in forensics, I fully agree with you. However, in this case I think it is very likely that they didn’t know what they had found without touching it. The amount of trash, size of the object, etc. would make it hard to tell what you’re dealing with without touching it. I do believe they did the best they could to protect any potential evidence they stumbled across given the circumstances. I also sadly doubt there’s anything of value on the card to protect

 

[gitana1]

Just caught up on this whole thread water cases really get to me after Chris’ death.

My heart breaks for his family especially his mother - it seems they were incredibly close.

I hope the body is recovered ASAP so the family can lay him to rest.

My theory is that he got into a state of panic when he couldn’t find his way back to the hotel - hence him running and falling in the CCTV clip early on - I believe his state of panic would have risen when he found himself in the homeless area as I could imagine it being very eerie and then he’s either tripped and fallen into the river or he’s in such a state of panic and fear that he’s decided to jump in the river - all MOO of course.

Was his phone out of juice? Why didn’t he call or text one of his friends to say he was lost, I wonder? I wish he had. Or called his mom.

 

[MyBelle]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that Riley was getting into fights or being combative. I think they were saying his extreme inebriation was putting other people at risk. Imagine a 6 foot 7 individual losing his balance walking up the stairs. He could have bowled over several other patrons in falling down the stairs. I don't know that he fell down the stairs but when I see how fast he was moving and his erratic arm movements in those videos he could have easily socked someone in the face unintentionally.

The reality of it is that Riley was really drunk. There's no getting around that. His friends chose to let him leave by himself. If I was his mother, I would think out of the two choices who should have had Riley's back, it would have been his friends, not the bar management to call him a cab, find out where he was staying and send him on his way. Even if he had gotten back to the hotel he didn't have any key to get in the room. And if his hotel was like many hotels, seeing an extremely drunk person entering their place of business without any ID or proof that he was staying there, he may have been given the boot there, too. I'm not sure why so many people don't understand that. Restaurants, bars and hotels are in the business to make money, not to endanger their patrons or staff members or being a virtual babysitter for some unknown quantity.

BBM. Riley's friends didn't call him an Uber because they were too focused on themselves.

Where do you get the idea that Riley had no ID?

JMO

 

[gitana1]

IMO, I truly believe he was drugged. I know I don't have tell you guys how many cases there are out there right now EXACTLY like this one. College male at a bar, disappears after leaving said bar, found in a body of water days/weeks later. Case in point..Lady Bird Lake Austin, Tx. No, I dont believe in the Smiley Face killer. But I do believe in organized groups...bartender/waitress working in tandem with certain bar patrons to drug and rob single guys. This is happening in wealthy college towns all over America. It just happened to a group of guys from the affluent neighborhood of Buckhead in Ga.

With those cases in Austin, was foul play ever determined?

The GA cases are scary and a possibility in this case. Especially since he was only served one alcoholic drink at that bar but was so wasted when he left. But what makes me think that’s probably not what happened is:

1. He wasn’t driven around. He was forced out of the bar, hung around for a moment until he was told to move along and he is seen walking by himself without being pursued.
2. No one used his cash apps or bank accounts to transfer money as happened immediately with the people in the GA case (and I’m sure many other, similar cases). No one has used his credit card.
3. The young men we know of who were drugged and robbed, did not disappear. They weren’t killed.

 

[WildcatRunner]

Drinking, drinking, and more drinking. That’s exactly what I’d expect from students that age.

I also seem to recall early on his mom stated he called or text her from each bar they went to earlier in the night (Someone quoted it in here earlier, but I don't know where to find it now). If that's true, then your statement is correct, and sounds pretty common for a group of frat guys on a road trip anyway.

 

[Angelcat13]

Saw the news article and immediately pulled up a map, have they been searching the river? So many young men end up in a body of water after a night out.

I have always wondered about this and wondered if they “go off the path/sidewalk” to pee (very common if you’ve been drinking), lose their footing because of being under the influence and tragically fall into the river / water?

 

[schooling]

I've been in a state similar to Riley before. When you're aware that you're pretty close to passing out and not in the right state and you just want to get back to your bed and pass out. Though I've never gotten lost to the point of having to sleep outside on a bench or in a hotel hallway (in the wrong hotel), I have friends who have.

I'm familiar with where Riley was walking. I was there not too long ago for a friend's GF's birthday. I can see how someone who has been drinking could gravitate towards the river. As it's slightly darker than the main roads and their's less foot traffic at that time of night. Meaning that you're less likely to be stopped/discovered/interrupted/embarassed in your drunken state on your mission back to your hotel room.

I think that last part is also the most likely explanation for a lot of the men across the country that end up in predicament's like this.

The way he was stumbling and the amount of variance in his long wide gait almost any immediate proximity to that river is too close.

 

[schooling]

I have always wondered about this and wondered if they “go off the path/sidewalk” to pee (very common if you’ve been drinking), lose their footing because of being under the influence and tragically fall into the river / water?

I just wrote about it above but I think it's to avoid people and objects in general and take a more direct path. But to be more specific, law enforcement and civilians (out of embarrassment). Especially since you are generally aware that you're not in a good physical and mental state and might get sick.

I can empathize. I've done this walk and we've gone searching for friends who have done this walk

Peeing is a good point though. I bet that accounts for some of the cases too.

 

[Odeto BJ]

Oh thank goodness there’s photographs and she has gloves on. May have preserved any possible prints (if the elements didn’t already degrade them)

The photo of the area where the card was found (if that is in fact accurate...) from above posts is taken from the North side of the Woodland Bridge, and looking downhill. After finding that on Google Street there is a short run of a wood post and rail fence right there, maybe 90 feet from the bridge abutment and almost parallel to Gay; past the end of that fence there is nothing between the sidewalk and the brush on the river bank. From the TikTok video, it appears the card was found within a few feet of the water.

The GH video puts him past the Hwy 41 Bridge. Those bridges are only maybe 320 feet apart but I don't think he got that far. It appears he was at least on the steep bank in the area of the Woodland Bridge. Once again the location of the "last bush" indicated by the homeless man would be indicative but it sure feels like he was off the sidewalk and near the river's edge well South of the Hwy 41 Bridge.

 

[branmuffin]

I can think of numerous reasons for the waters. It could be his friends trying to help. It could be the kid trying to get right. Both are common every day of the week across the globe.

Liquid iv, Nuun, Gatorade, etc...are carried by many people I know of all ages (many in college, high school, etc...)

If you've been around sororities and fraternities your whole life, this shouldn't surprise you. It happens all the time. (and we don't even have the information, so it's all speculative)

I know I've have this conversation with my children, but I hope others aren't relying on brotherhood/sisterhood to protect them at all costs. They're still young.

Danny Santulli - Where was his fraternity? Oh wait.

I can't see bars where they want patrons to be paying customers allow them to bring in bottles of Gatorade.

BBM. Riley's friends didn't call him an Uber because they were too focused on themselves.

Where do you get the idea that Riley had no ID?

JMO

I don't know that he had ID on him. I know he lost his credit card. So it's not much of a stretch that he lost his ID, too. I'm going with the law of averages here, until I get verification of the facts. Considering everyone's input here is pure speculation.

 

[WildcatRunner]

I can't see bars where they want patrons to be paying customers allow them to bring in bottles of Gatorade.

I don't know that he had ID on him. I know he lost his credit card. So it's not much of a stretch that he lost his ID, too. I'm going with the law of averages here, until I get verification of the facts. Considering everyone's input here is pure speculation.

I think original poster was referring to the Gatorade that is in a single serve powder form.

 

[MyBelle]

I can't see bars where they want patrons to be paying customers allow them to bring in bottles of Gatorade.

I don't know that he had ID on him. I know he lost his credit card. So it's not much of a stretch that he lost his ID, too. I'm going with the law of averages here, until I get verification of the facts. Considering everyone's input here is pure speculation.

I seriously doubt Riley lost his ID. I truly believe his is a crime victim who local LE failed to investigate properly.

JMO