TABC Says No Evidence Riley Strain Was Over Served By Broadway Bars On The Night Of His Disappearance In Nashville

Another update on the tragic Riley Strain story. It’s been three months now since the body of Riley Strain, the 22-year old University of Missouri student who went missing on March 8 in downtown Nashville, was found in the Cumberland River after a two-week search. Strain was in town for a fraternity formal when he went missing, and was last seen after being asked to leave Luke's 32 Bridge, Luke Bryan’s lower Broadway. After he was removed from the establishment, he walked in the opposite direction of his hotel, and it's believed that he later fell into the river. Authorities said at the time there was no sign of foul play, and Luke’s bar released a statement during the search clarifying that he was served only one alcoholic drink and two waters at their bar before being asked to leave. And a more recent update from Strain's autopsy, performed by the Davidson County Medical Examiner, revealed that his blood alcohol content was .228 at the time of his death. To clarify, that's nearly 3 times the legal limit to drive of .08, and he was also found to have Delta-9 THC in his system, which is a hemp-derived version of THC that’s legal and widely available in Tennessee. The most important part of the toxicology report was that there were no signs of Rohypnol, or roofies, in his system at the time of his death, after questions arose surrounding a concerning text sent by Strain not long before his death. And now, the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission has released their findings after a multiple-month investigation into the claim that the 22-year-old was over-served by Broadway bars on the night of his death. Using credit card receipts, Strain's family was able to piece together his movements before his disappearance to determine that he had visited Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa, Garth Brooks’ Friends In Low Places, and Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk before ending up at Luke’s 32 Bridge. They came to the conclusion that there was no proof of Riley Strain being overserved, and they emphasized that they followed every lead and intensely analyzed "extensive video footage" that was provided by businesses that Riley visited that night. TABC spokesperson Aaron Rummage provided this statement in regards to finding no evidence of wrongdoing: "While the circumstances of Mr. Strain’s death are tragic, the TABC investigation into whether he was served alcohol while visibly intoxicated on the night of March 8, 2024, did not result in any concrete evidence in the form of eyewitness testimony or video proof of a violation. Evidence including toxicology reports demonstrate that Mr. Strain became intoxicated over the course of the evening, but there is no clear evidence that he was served an alcoholic beverage while visibly intoxicated at a licensed premises." That conclusion adds to a pile of evidence that suggests that there was no foul play. Unfortunately, we may never know the specifics that lead to the death of Strain, though every finding so far points towards it being a tragic accident.