The parents of a missing college student are working with authorities to place their son's last minutes before he vanished on a trip to five days ago.
Riley Strain , a 22-year-old student at the University of Missouri , was last seen leaving Luke Bryan's bar, Luke's 32 Bridge, in Tennessee , around 9:40 p.m. in Tennessee after being booted for drinking too much. He was there visiting with college friends, and they were all out for a night of drinking.
The Strain family is now in Nashville , working with the Metro Police to find their son. Riley's father, Ryan Gilbert, was told by the student's friends that he got separated from the group when he was kicked out of the bar. They left the bar soon after as well, but Riley was already gone.
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Mr Gilbert told local media: "He was put out of the bar by himself, and there was a time that went by that his friend wasn't able to get out. We believe they were taking care of the bar tab or whatnot. By the time they got outside, he just wasn't there any longer." He added: "There's been no activity on his banking accounts."
According to the Metro Police, the bar gave the police and the family that night's surveillance footage of Riley, but the authorities have not released it to the public. His parents also created a map of his path after leaving the bar.
Since asking for the public's help, at least one unhoused individual described a run-in with Riley. Police are trying to pinpoint the moment he disappeared and find him, despite the long absence.
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At 9:45 p.m. on Friday, March 8, he was asked to leave a bar owned by country star Luke Bryan. The 22-year-old told his Delta Chi friends he was returning to their hotel. His friends exited minutes later, but Riley never made it. His friends called the police the next day to report him missing.
At 9.46 pm, just a minute after being kicked out of the bar, the 6ft5, slight student was spotted on CCTV outside the Downtown Smoke Shop, on Church Street. He was sporting a two-tone black and brown shirt, jeans and boots as he stumbled down the road.
At points, he could be seen hunched over on the pavement with a few cars and a cyclist driving past. One minute later at 9.47 pm, footage caught him on 1st Avenue North to Gay Street which ran near the Cumberland River.
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The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management have been searching near riverbanks for the missing young man. They've scoured for clues and used boats and sonar equipment. On Tuesday a nonprofit called the United Cajun Navy assisted in the search.
A spokesperson at Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency highlighted the dangers of the river, telling The Tennessean that "the river is narrow, and the river current is the greater danger."
Riley's family said that he was spotted by someone in person near a homeless camp adjacent to the Cumberland River.
"I was talking to family members currently in downtown Nashville searching, and we have found another homeless person that had acknowledged that Riley had been in that area," family friend Chris Dingman said.
Separately, Riley's phone reportedly pinged on Life360 and Snapchat near two homeless camps also near the river. It also pinged near a Verizon tower near Public Square Park between 30 to 45 minutes after leaving the bar. It hasn't been active since.
Police have been requesting data from his phone and Apple Watch, which they're hoping may help lead them to the college senior by tracking down more precise locations of the devices before they switched off.
Local News
