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

[SMK777]

I don’t think so. He didn’t plan on leaving that bar until he was forced to, and he even tried to enter another bar afterwards. I think he was just lost, which is easy to do when you’re really drunk in an unfamiliar area.

Yes, good point; I’d forgotten that.

 

[MarcieM]

I don’t think so. He didn’t plan on leaving that bar until he was forced to, and he even tried to enter another bar afterwards. I think he was just lost, which is easy to do when you’re really drunk in an unfamiliar area.

Your right, and the fact that he then crossed the street to another bar and was denied entry puts a snag in that theory but, I feel were missing something. I don't think he he was just lost..

 

[Mimimom]

I agree with those who feel that most of the onus to keep a customer safe should be on the customer and not on the bar owner or

I know this isn’t a very good analogy, but when I buy several cartons of cigarettes, the store clerk does not refuse me because it’s dangerous for my health. In NYC a carton of cigarettes costs $150. They want my money, I want cigarettes, and they will never say “Arkay, you’re cut

We make our own choices, like my taste for cigarettes, and I have to deal with those consequences, not

An intoxicated person is under the influence of a powerful drug. They are a risk to themselves and others.

 

[MassGuy]

Your right, the fact that he then crossed the stree to the bar and was then denied entry puts a snag in that theory but, I feel were missing something. I don't think he he was just lost..

I just don’t see anything that gives me an impression he was anything but lost. People get drunk and lost in places in which they are familiar, and this was a place he was not familiar with.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

I don’t think so. He didn’t plan on leaving that bar until he was forced to, and he even tried to enter another bar afterwards. I think he was just lost, which is easy to do when you’re really drunk in an unfamiliar area.

I think he might have been very lost and inebriated too and I wonder when he saw the Nashville city skyline from that area he probably thought one of those tall well lit fancy buildings had to be his hotel and he if he just walked towards them he would eventually find his way back?

Just a thought because I sometimes I used to use skyscrapers or follow the skyline to navigate my way back big cities when I got lost or couldn’t make sense of the roads I was traveling on.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

So far, this appears to be another botched police investigation

Lands at random. We are not privy to all that LE knows or has done/will do. Always serves me well to keep that in mind.

 

[MassGuy]

I think he might have been very lost and inebriated too and I wonder when he saw the Nashville city skyline from that area he probably thought one of those tall well lit fancy buildings had to be his hotel and he if he just walked towards them he would eventually find his way back?

Just a thought because I sometimes I used to use skyscrapers or follow the skyline to navigate my way back big cities when I got lost or couldn’t make sense of the roads I was traveling on.

It’s as good a reference point as any, and I’ve done the same. Hell, it’s possible he thought a particular building was his hotel, and didn’t realize a river was in the way.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Lands at random. We are not privy to all that LE knows or has done/will do. Always serves me well to keep that in mind.

I can't agree at this point either.

LE isn't omniscient. It takes a day or so to gather momentum in an investigation

They released video of him and the last area where he was seen very quickly and there were boats in the water looking within a couple of days once they had a location to search.

 

[MarcieM]

Even if he was just lost and intoxicated, does no one think it's strange that he would leave the sidewalk and venture down under the bridge? That seems like a very risky thing to do, especially when your unfamiliar with the area and that area in the dark would give off major creepy vibes. If he was lost, it's really unfortunate he didn't ask the officer for directions to his hotel. That was a missed opportunity that could have saved his life.

 

[NCWatcher]

I don’t think so. He didn’t plan on leaving that bar until he was forced to, and he even tried to enter another bar afterwards. I think he was just lost, which is easy to do when you’re really drunk in an unfamiliar area.

I think a big reason he got lost may have been because he apparently tried to go to another bar. I can't find a good MSM source for that but lots of posts here have mentioned that & some have mentioned the other bar was across the street. For the first bar it sounds like he needed to turn left when exiting the bar to walk to the hotel. (And the frat brother who walked out with him may have said "remember, it's to the left" before going back in & leaving RS.) But if he went across the street, he needed to turn right when exiting to head to the hotel. In his inebriated state, he may have forgotten the proper direction to walk would have changed.
MOO

 

[MassGuy]

I think a big reason he got lost may have been because he apparently tried to go to another bar. I can't find a good MSM source for that but lots of posts here have mentioned that & some have mentioned the other bar was across the street. For the first bar it sounds like he needed to turn left when exiting the bar to walk to the hotel. (And the frat brother who walked out with him may have said "remember, it's to the left" before going back in & leaving RS.) But if he went across the street, he needed to turn right when exiting to head to the hotel. In his inebriated state, he may have forgotten the proper direction to walk would have changed.
MOO

That’s a really good point if that does turn out to be the case. It could easily have messed up his reference point.

 

[Megnut]

Even if he was just lost and intoxicated, does no one think it's strange that he would leave the sidewalk and venture down under the bridge? That seems like a very risky thing to do, especially when your unfamiliar with the area and that area in the dark would give off major creepy vibes. If he was lost, it's really unfortunate he didn't ask the officer for directions to his hotel. That was a missed opportunity that could have saved his life.

He didn't expect to get tossed. Didn't expect to go the wrong way or even know he had. Didn't know he was going to DIE. He may have had to go to the bathroom. Hence, Bar #2. Hence, running. Then suddenly there's a cop, sober him up a bit, but nature still calls. Can't do that anywhere near a cop. So he goes off-roading. None of that shouldn't been deadly! But the combinations of what did happen that night were deadly. Makes me think of people who trip headlong onto light rail tracks. Everything was normal, reasonable, survivable until it was not.

JMO

 

[Van Helsing]

I think he might have been very lost and inebriated too and I wonder when he saw the Nashville city skyline from that area he probably thought one of those tall well lit fancy buildings had to be his hotel and he if he just walked towards them he would eventually find his way back?

Just a thought because I sometimes I used to use skyscrapers or follow the skyline to navigate my way back big cities when I got lost or couldn’t make sense of the roads I was traveling on.

I think he was walking away from the city skyline, then sort of parallel to it on Gay st. Nissan Stadium would have been prominent just across the river on his right. I think it is probably always illuminated in the evening, but could be wrong.
My theory (without the benefit of a detailed timeline or associated locations): I believe he was mistakenly heading to the Your Tempo studio using his phone's GPS. When he encountered the LE officer on Gay, while the officer's back was turned, he may have decided to go into the bushes to avoid arrest. Very shortly thereafter he may have slipped and fell into the water or heavy foliage. (JMO)
This is such a very very sad scenario. There were so many little decisions that if any one of them had been different, we probably wouldn't even know RS. We had a saying at work that seven things had to go wrong for something really bad to happen (basically condemning the whole organization if something did). This is almost like that.

 

[SMK777]

Even if he was just lost and intoxicated, does no one think it's strange that he would leave the sidewalk and venture down under the bridge? That seems like a very risky thing to do, especially when your unfamiliar with the area and that area in the dark would give off major creepy vibes. If he was lost, it's really unfortunate he didn't ask the officer for directions to his hotel. That was a missed opportunity that could have saved his life.

Maybe needed to relieve himself in bushes?
Yes, upsetting to see the exchange with the officer, but neither he nor Riley knew what the near future held.

 

[SMK777]

I think a big reason he got lost may have been because he apparently tried to go to another bar. I can't find a good MSM source for that but lots of posts here have mentioned that & some have mentioned the other bar was across the street. For the first bar it sounds like he needed to turn left when exiting the bar to walk to the hotel. (And the frat brother who walked out with him may have said "remember, it's to the left" before going back in & leaving RS.) But if he went across the street, he needed to turn right when exiting to head to the hotel. In his inebriated state, he may have forgotten the proper direction to walk would have changed.
MOO

I’ve experienced confusion like that in NYC when I’m sober. I go to buy a soda and it screws up my sense of where I’m supposed to be heading. Have had to retrace and begin all over again. So when inebriated as Riley was, this would be doubly confusing. Good observation.

 

[investigatefred]

The dad has been on the boat with the Cajun Navy searching today

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

The only argument I have is that neither cigarettes nor high-fat food is going to kill you right after the transaction.

cars, guns - all have the potential to kill us right after we legally purchase them. Where do we draw the line...

 

[MarcieM]

But, you know we're all assuming he didn't know his way around Nashville. I read his Mom and step Dad drove up from Springfield when they found out he was missing. Springfield is not far away at all, maybe they go to Nashville sometimes. Plus, if the Frat party last year was also in Nashville, maybe Riley is not as much of a stranger to the city as we're all thinking...

 

[Ozarka]

At a hunting camp that my son knew like the back of his hand, he walked straight off an embankment into a creek while intoxicated. Thankfully, there was only about a foot of water in it and several people around so he was quickly back on dry land. When asked what made him do that he basically said that he had to pee and it was dark in that direction. I can see the same scenario here except that it’s a river and no one was around to know.

 

[Megnut]

At a hunting camp that my son knew like the back of his hand, he walked straight off an embankment into a creek while intoxicated. Thankfully, there was only about a foot of water in it and several people around so he was quickly back on dry land. When asked what made him do that he basically said that he had to pee and it was dark in that direction. I can see the same scenario here except that it’s a river and no one is around to know.

And, if not for the cop, he may have chosen public urination from the sidewalk as some people sometimes do. How absolutely tragic if that's how it happened -- if not for this, that.

Jmo