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

[JSolt1210]

Not to mention, that one drink could have been a Long Island Ice Tea.
IMO, if a drink was a simple vodka/soda they’d specify the drink.

OMG I hadn't thought about that. Yeah, a Long Island Iced Tea would totally have done me in, even in my 20s! Can't imagine if he had that on top of pregaming!

 

[moonriverfarm]

I visit Nashville often. Years ago Broadway was a fun experience. A few months ago we went to a concert at the Ryman. I was shocked walking down Broadway which felt more like Bourbon Street. We watched a large guy fall over in the pay parking lot. We got him up with the help of some other sober people and sat him on the curb while we looked for a cop, because this guy was in no shape to be trying to make his way through the crowd safely. Within a minute he was gone. This part of Nashville REQUIRES you have a sober friend with you if you plan on bar hopping because you can easily just fall in with other drunks and end up who knows where.

 

[Tamalita]

He 1000% went into the water. <modsnip> What a tragedy.

Someone else posted that they used to live in the area where he disappeared and he said there is a fence (chainlink?) around the water so he would have had to climb the fence, which I'm not sure he could do in an inebriated state. Not sure if there are pics of the water showing the fence. Young Navy guy in Chicago drowned after a night of drinking, so I definitely agree with your comment.

 

[CHEL]

Someone else posted that they used to live in the area where he disappeared and he said there is a fence (chainlink?) around the water so he would have had to climb the fence, which I'm not sure he could do in an inebriated state. Not sure if there are pics of the water showing the fence. Young Navy guy in Chicago drowned after a night of drinking, so I definitely agree with your comment.

From the pictures I saw there are some parts with fencing and some without where the drop down is very steep.

 

[LadyL]

Agree. I also read when he was kicked out of the bar, he was standing near the outside door and the bouncer made him leave! WTF? You know the guy is inebriated and you do nothing to help him?? Sad.

I would think that every other person in the bar is inebriated - that's the sole purpose of going for many people. They can't babysit every adult there. JMO

 

[Universecalling]

Luke Bryan had already shared a short statement on Strain’s disappearance earlier this week, calling it “scary” and writing on Instagram that he’s “praying for [Strain’s] safe return.”

Strain family friend Chris Dingman is also hopeful the TABC’s involvement will increase the amount of resources available to search for Riley.

“Authorities are now doing an investigation into the bar,” said Dingman. “What that means to me is all alcohol, beer, liquor, and wine is all federally regulated. So when they got brought into this, that now means we will have even more resources than we currently have with Metropolitan Police.”

Operators of Luke Bryan’s Nashville bar say missing student Riley Strain was only served ‘1 alcoholic drink’

The management of Luke’s 32 Bridge says missing student Riley Strain was escorted out of the venue

fox5sandiego.com

Who, on Luke’s team, thought that angled headline “y’all this is scary” was best as the first public reach out?
Wtf

 

[SMK777]

Sorry if this was already posted:
Crews search Cumberland River in case of missing 22 yr old student

 

[whitelilac]

Not to mention, that one drink could have been a Long Island Ice Tea.
IMO, if a drink was a simple vodka/soda they’d specify the drink.

I just looked up Long Island Iced Tea.
Ignorant me could have ordered that if I wanted a plain Iced Tea. Yikes

 

[mythwrites]

I was checking maps of the area where Riley was last seen. Came across this. What is this?

Looks to be an abandon building per Google Maps street view. Unfortunately, my screen capture is too large to upload and I don't have any photo editing software currently. The address is 414 Gay St.

ETA: I was able to get a smaller pic.
View attachment 490744

Hi I'm local! This is an abandoned pump house that once serviced the streetcars from the 1880s until the 1940s. It was purchased by Barry Walker, a local man who has a passion for historic buildings in Nashville (he revitalized the Marathon Motor Works building), and he has plans to revitalize it.

Apparently, directly beneath it is a tunnel for steam and water. I'm not sure how deep that tunnel extends or what the state of it is.

 

[Universecalling]

I visit Nashville often. Years ago Broadway was a fun experience. A few months ago we went to a concert at the Ryman. I was shocked walking down Broadway which felt more like Bourbon Street. We watched a large guy fall over in the pay parking lot. We got him up with the help of some other sober people and sat him on the curb while we looked for a cop, because this guy was in no shape to be trying to make his way through the crowd safely. Within a minute he was gone. This part of Nashville REQUIRES you have a sober friend with you if you plan on bar hopping because you can easily just fall in with other drunks and end up who knows where.

As a south Florida kid, I’ve had my fair share of Key West trips (still do ).
You see things like what you mentioned all the time. But there’s always cops, mostly on horses. And people will help out if there’s no buddy.
I’m just surprised that Nashville wouldn’t have an increased cop presence on a weekend night.

 

[Cryptic]

I think they were "barred from leaving" until they paid their bill

Just a few more details to further explain @MassGuy 's good observation that this is very unlikely (not every one is a bar goer /or even drinks alcohol).....

As people "walking on tabs" in a huge problem, large bars- and a good number of smaller bars require that a tab be started via a credit card before they will serve a customer.

Drinks and food are then charged to the card as they are consumed. The bar will also state that they add a generous 20% tip if the tab is not closed out. Thus patrons effectively "pay as they go".

It is very likely that the friends could have left at any time with missing person had they been inclined to do so. The card would then be auto charged- with the 20% tip.

But... even that would probably not lightning fast as staff would not immediately realize that the friend(s) had left. Rather, they very likely would have been able to take their friend back to the hotel and return over say, a 30-45 minute period and then return with their tabs still open.

Likewise, I imagine that even at a busy large bar in an entertainment district, tabs can be closed very quickly in response to: "I need to tab out fast- My friend just got kicked out and I want to leave with him."

 

[arielilane]

Edited to include:
Around the 4:50 timestamp: family friend: We've had such an excellent outpouring of people of Nashville sending us information - one trying to help find Riley -- sending us information similar to Riley’s -- We’ve had over 100’s of those send to us that happened there in the last three years...




For those interested, if already watched, please scroll on. Thank you

Details surrounding Riley Strain disappearance 'don't track': Family friend | Banfield​

Riley Strain, a 22-year-old student at the University of Missouri, was last seen Friday night in Nashville, where he was attending a fraternity conference. His cousin Chelsea Strain and family friend Chris Dingman join "Banfield" to discuss.

 

[Lyanna]

I just looked up Long Island Iced Tea.
Ignorant me could have ordered that if I wanted a plain Iced Tea. Yikes

You ever tried a Bullfrog?
Lethal

Moo

 

[mythwrites]

They did go bar hopping. In fact Riley either texted or face timed his mom (can't remember which), with pictures I believe, of various bars and said he was having a good time. His mom I don't think sensed any issues, but was happy he was having a good time.

This is what has me feeling funny about the timing. This conversation was allegedly an hour before he was removed from Luke's. If there are photos and timestamps of bars they hopped, I'm sure mom has handed those to LE, but I sure would like to know more about the night prior to Luke's

 

[chimpface]

I just looked up Long Island Iced Tea.
Ignorant me could have ordered that if I wanted a plain Iced Tea. Yikes

Good way to get pished very quickly (for the drinkers amongst us).

 

[SMK777]

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department look for tips in case of missing student

 

[diggndeeperstill]

This changes things a bit..

TC Restaurant Group released a statement, giving more details into what happened at Luke Bryan’s bar the night Riley Strain disappeared. They say he was given one drink and then escorted out the Broadway entrance.

There’s no comment on why Riley’s friend did not follow him out. The parents say it was because he had to pay a bar tab.

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Update: The restaurant group that owns Luke Bryan’s bar replied to my inquiry, and says that no one from Riley’s group was required to stay to pay a tab, or prevented from leaving with Riley. I will check again with Riley’s fraternity brothers. Many of you online were asking about this, bar protocol, etc., so I went ahead and inquired.

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[arielilane]

@wpdeabc15

THE SEARCH CONTINUES: Crews search Nashville river, area near homeless camp for missing student Riley Strain. https://bit.ly/3IHEiwB

https://twitter.com/x/status/1768754854883668401

 

[MassGuy]

This changes things a bit..

TC Restaurant Group released a statement, giving more details into what happened at Luke Bryan’s bar the night Riley Strain disappeared. They say he was given one drink and then escorted out the Broadway entrance.

There’s no comment on why Riley’s friend did not follow him out. The parents say it was because he had to pay a bar tab.
View attachment 490793

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Update: The restaurant group that owns Luke Bryan’s bar replied to my inquiry, and says that no one from Riley’s group was required to stay to pay a tab, or prevented from leaving with Riley. I will check again with Riley’s fraternity brothers. Many of you online were asking about this, bar protocol, etc., so I went ahead and inquired.

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View attachment 490795

Solid clarification there. This family friend has been repeating things told to him second hand, and some of these claims have sounded dubious.

This bar operates just like any similar one I’ve ever been to. I think they just weren’t ready to leave, especially if there was a cover charge.

 

[Tamalita]

Riley could've personally bought just one drink, but his friends could've bought other drinks for him.

There must be cameras inside the bar, right? I haven't heard or read anything about cameras but know the cops don't divulge everything in these cases.