Missing college student's debit card found along Nashville river; police share new video
As the search for a college student missing in Nashville continues into its second week, authorities are sharing new clues with the hope of learning more about what may have happened to 22-year-old Riley Strain the night he disappeared.
First, his debit card was found Sunday on an embankment of the Cumberland River, which runs through the downtown area where he was last seen on Friday, March 8. Then, on Monday, Nashville police shared body camera footage taken by an officer who briefly interacted with Strain that night, in the same general area.
Strain's bank card was found Sunday afternoon along a section of the embankment between Gay Street and the river, Nashville police said in an update posted to social media. Strain had previously been seen in surveillance footage crossing an intersection from 1st Avenue onto Gay Street around 9:50 p.m. ET on the night of his disappearance, after being ordered to leave a bar several blocks from there some 15 minutes earlier.
Riley Strain's bank card was discovered this afternoon on the embankment between Gay St. And the Cumberland River. The search for him continues.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 17, 2024
Police detectives, helicopters and boat crews have been searching that area, including the riverbank, for the better part of 10 days. They had not found any signs of Strain or his belongings before the bank card was discovered, but another video clip released on Monday seemed to corroborate, at least, that he was physically there that night.
Police body camera footage showed Strain walking alone along a portion of Gay Street that runs parallel to the Cumberland River near the Woodland Street Bridge, Nashville police said in a social media post with the video clip. It was recorded by Nashville officer Reginald Young, who was at that location on a burglary call and remained there for about 45 minutes. The police department did not specify what time it was when Young interacted with Strain, who was walking past him, although they noted in a subsequent social media update that "no video has been discovered that shows Riley away from Gay St after the 9:52 p.m. timeframe."
Strain greets Young first in the footage. The officer then replies and asks, "How are you doing, sir?"
"I'm good, how are you?" Strain replies, before continuing to walk past. The exchange is fleeting, and Strain does not turn to look at Young in the video.
Shown was Riley's brief exchange of greetings w/ Officer Reginald Young on Gay St., south of the Woodland St. Bridge, on the night of 3/8. Riley did not appear distressed. Officer Young was there on a vehicle burglary call & remained on that portion of Gay St. for 45 min. pic.twitter.com/z0xeEzeieK
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 18, 2024
Nashville police said they have not found any evidence suggesting foul play was involved in Strain's disappearance. His parents traveled from Springfield, Missouri, to Nashville after he went missing and "received a full briefing on the work being done" to find him when they met with detectives on Sunday evening, the department said.
Strain is from Missouri and studies at Mizzou, the state university in Columbia. Now in his senior year, he had traveled to Nashville for the weekend with some of his fraternity brothers and booked a downtown hotel not far from the bar where he and his friends were out drinking just before he vanished.
The bar, Luke's 32 Bridge, is owned by the country music artist Luke Bryan. After the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced that it would investigate whether Strain had been "overserved" at the bar, its management company said in a joint statement with Bryan over the weekend that their records show the college student only purchased one alcoholic drink and two waters while he was there. Security at Luke's 32 Bridge ultimately escorted Strain out the bar at 9:35 p.m., according to the statement, which called the order for him to leave "a decision based on our conduct standards."
One of Strain's friends reported him missing about four hours after he was escorted from the bar. Attempts to determine Strain's whereabouts using Snapchat's location feature were not successful, and police said they are still working to learn more from his cell phone records. They said earlier in the investigation that his phone last pinged near a cell tower less than two miles from Luke's 32 Bridge.
Strain is 6 feet 5 inches tall, with blue eyes and light brown hair, and police as well as his friends, family and community members now involved in the search have shared multiple photos of him along with descriptions. Video footage of him taken the night of March 8 showed Strain wearing denim pants and a brown button-up shirt with dark short sleeves and a matching dark front pocket.
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Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She covers breaking news, often focusing on crime and extreme weather. Emily Mae has previously written for outlets including the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
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