Riley Strain’s Parents Call Out His Frat Brothers For Partying After He Went Missing
on Apr 18, 2024
Riley Strain’s Family Still Seeking Answers About His Tragic Death
Riley Strain’s parents still have a lot of questions about the circumstances that resulted in his tragic death. They also have a lot of questions for Riley’s frat brothers who he was with the night he disappeared.
22-year-old Riley Strain went missing on March 8 after he was kicked out of Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge bar in downtown Nashville. He was at the bar with members of his fraternity, who were celebrating their spring formal.
According to a statement from 32 Bridge, one of Riley’s frat brothers followed him downstairs when he was escorted out of the bar. But that person turned around and returned to 32 Bridge after Riley left.
Surveillance cameras filmed Riley stumbling around downtown Nashville as he attempted to make his way to his hotel. But he never arrived.
After an extensive search, Riley’s body was recovered from the Cumberland River on March 22.
Nashville police have said that foul play is not suspected in Riley’s death. But his parents aren’t so sure about that. They ordered a second autopsy after the initial autopsy showed no sign of water in his lungs. He was also found without his pants, belt, boots, or wallet.
More recently, Riley’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, shared that Riley texted her his drink “didn’t taste good“ on the night of his disappearance. This makes Michelle wonder if “maybe there was something in it that shouldn’t have been.”
The family also expressed their belief that someone may have “helped” Riley into the river where his body was eventually recovered.
Riley Strain’s Parents Claim His Frat Brothers Went Out & Partied Instead Of Helping With The Search
Riley Strain’s parents have also expressed frustration that they haven’t had any help from his frat brothers. His dad, Ryan Gilbert, previously said none of Riley’s frat brothers have reached out to them.
“We haven’t spoke with them,” Ryan said. “We haven’t really heard that much from them. They’re the ones that was with Riley that night, the last night he was with us. There’s a lot of things we’d like to find out from them.“
In a more recent interview with NewsNation, Riley’s parents called out his frat brothers, claiming they continued partying in Nashville after he went missing.
Riley’s mother, Michelle, said:
“When we got there all the boys were out…with a police officer. We had to finish filling out the report, so we completed that and the boys stayed out for a while and then they all of a sudden disappeared, all of the boys, and they ended up back out a little while later in their dress clothes to go out to their formal that night.”
Riley’s stepdad, Chris Whiteid, added:
“We spent the next four, four and a half hours searching every emergency room to see if he was in the hospital. We come back and they’re coming back, some of them, from the party and they’re waving at us as we’re sitting in the truck. How’s that make you feel? 150, 160 of ’em on the ground there from all different chapters. And they told us that they were there, all of ’em were there, if we needed ’em. We didn’t know what we needed at that point in time, but you would have thought that they would have at least been out searching trying to do something.”
Michelle also expressed concern about how long it took the fraternity brothers to contact the police after Riley went missing. Additionally, the family reiterated that none of Riley’s frat brothers have reached out to them with information regarding his disappearance and death.
Watch their full interview in the clip below.
