Cause of Death Determined for Missouri College Student Discovered in Tennessee River

University of Missouri student Riley Strain’s death was, indeed, accidental, according to autopsy results released three months after the 22-year-old finance major’s body was discovered in a Tennessee river.

The autopsy results, obtained by WSMV, concluded that Strain’s death was an accident and that he died as a result of drowning and intoxication. At the time of his death, he had a blood alcohol content of .228, three times above the legal limit to drive.

Strain had gone missing two weeks before his body was found in the Cumberland River in Nashville on March 22.

Strain was last seen walking in the direction of the river, and his body was removed from the river around 7:30 a.m. on March 22, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department announced on X at the time.

Strain, who was 6-foot-7, had been missing since March 8 when he was visiting Nashville with fraternity brothers, WKRN reported. One of his friends reported him missing the next morning after Strain failed to return to their hotel.

Strain and his friends had been drinking on Broadway Street in Nashville before Strain was told to leave Luke’s 32 Bridge, a bar owned by country singer Luke Bryan, for reasons that have not been disclosed. Family friend Chris Dingman told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas that Strain had been asked to leave because it seemed like “he had had enough” to drink.

TC Restaurant Group, which owns and operates the bar, told the New York Post that Strain was escorted out of their “Broadway exit at the front of our building” at around 9:35 p.m.

“He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs,” the group added.

Strain reportedly told his friends he would see them back at their hotel, but 13 minutes later, Strain was captured on surveillance cameras crossing Gay Street, the opposite direction of the hotel and a nearly 17-minute walk from the bar, The New York Post noted.

Strain appears unsteady and seemingly unsure of where he is going in the video as people pass by.

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Shortly after this, Nashville police officer Reginald Young caught Strain on his body cam as the officer was responding to a vehicle burglary. The officer asked Strain how he was doing, and Strain replied, “Good.” Then, Strain kept walking, not appearing to be in any kind of distress, the Post reported.

Nashville police said Strain was seen at 9:52 p.m. on Gay Street, according to the Post. A local homeless man also claimed to see a “very, very intoxicated” Strain nearly fall into the river, the Post reported previously.

The final ping on Strain’s phone came between 10 and 10:30 p.m. near the sheriff’s office and the river, the Post reported. His final text was sent to a woman he was seeing, which said, “Good lops [sic]” in response to her asking how he was doing on the trip. It is unclear what Strain meant by the text.

Strain’s bank card was found days later on an embankment of the river, where his body was eventually found.

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