Mizzou Student Disappears After Being Booted From Luke Bryan’s Bar
on Mar 12, 2024
The search continues for a missing University of Missouri student who disappeared after reportedly being asking to leave Luke Bryan’s Nashville bar.
22-year-old Riley Strain was reported missing Saturday (March 9), the day after he was last seen exiting Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in downtown Nashville.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, Strain and members of his fraternity traveled from Missouri to Nashville for their annual spring formal event. His friends last saw him around 10 p.m. when he left the bar.
Strain’s stepfather, Christopher Whiteid, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that Riley contacted his friends and told them he was returning to the hotel. But he never made it. WSM-TV reported that the friends couldn’t find Strain’s location and calls made to his cell phone went directly to voicemail.
According to a social media post made by his family, Riley’s phone last pinged near the intersection of Main Street and First Ave. N. and the Cumberland River. Authorities have searched local jails and hospitals for Strain, but no leads have been acquired. Repeated attempts to ping his cell phone have also failed.
Whiteid told the Post Dispatch that surveillance footage shows that Riley may have taken the wrong route on his way back to the hotel.
University of Missouri’s interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Angela King Taylor, issued a statement on behalf of the university Monday.
“The safety of our community is our highest priority,” said Taylor said. “Our thoughts are with Riley’s family as the search continues. We will be offering any support to them that we can, and we encourage anyone who needs help to reach out to our counseling resources.”
Nashville residents and visitors are urged to be on the lookout for Strain who is 6′ 6″ “with a thin build, blue eyes and brown hair,” according to local authorities. He was wearing a black & white button-up shirt, blue jeans brown boots and a black Apple watch at the time of his disappearance.
Please call police at 615-862-8600 with any information regarding Riley Strain’s whereabouts.
