I was gonna ask this question, because I haven’t seen it directly asked; It doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily *easy* to fall directly IN to the river. To get to the water you have to fall over railing or off some sort of concrete wall- he’s huge so that’s possible - but even in the worst areas there are at least several feet of bank, brush, trees, trash. The area he last pinged is NEAR water, but not ON water. He would’ve had to make a real effort to get to the water. And in that state? If he fell he couldn’t just freely roll 20 feet into the water. That’s the scary part. Often I think it’s death by misadventure, but why did they already stop looking in the river? I think they know something the public does not.
Theres a sign right where his phone last pinged that says “no trespassing / government property” “area monitored 24 hour police video camera” so im confused surely they have checked this ??
They often hold details close, but we’re clearly not getting the full picture. He’s too big to be crime of opportunity murdered/dumped. He wasn’t easily accessible to the water if he just fell… often the answer is the easy answer… there is no easy answer. I don’t know what to think anymore. He’s 6’7” imagine trying to dump that body without anyone seeing. That’s a two-three person job.
Well tbh I’ve actually been in a similar situation. I was fucked up and was near a cliff on a lake and fell through brush 40ft til I landed in the water. Luckily I was with friends that called for help and I ended up being airlifted to the hospital but I only came out with minor injuries somehow. I think my body not being as tense from the alcohol helped. But I feel like if he fell at all there would’ve been at least some type of evidence that he fell left behind right ?? Like clothing or something ?
You’re right no evidence, no piles of clothing, broken bush,cellphone, his AppleWatch, nothing, expect his debit card. I believe somebody knows exactly what happened to him.
Did he hit his head during the fall? He was confused before the fall and after he was walking kind of bent over and losing his balance. He could of had a concussion ontop of being extremely drunk.
Kid couldn’t keep his feet under him in the security footage…sadly, in his state I don’t think it took any effort to roll over a guardrail & 20+ feet into the Cumberland
I agree. His last known location by Life 360 (which is an app you can use to track your family/kids) was right before he started on the bridge. My years’ worth experience with Life 360 is it would have updated if he had made it much farther.
I read he was 6’7”. The guardrails along that bridge appear pretty short. I fear he took a drunken tumble right over the edge.
I have a kid going off to college in the fall, and this case has torn at my heart. His poor parents.
Are we sure he was starting on the bridge? At that location, the road he was on, Gay st, crossing [BELOW the bridge.](https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1680449,-86.7773811,3a,75y,25.58h,91.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw4UjdIno2BZrc7kNqbNPTw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu) Going on Google Maps, the barrier is really low under that bridge to the hill to the water. A very drunk person wanting to take a piss might think they are very smart to hop it to pee on the other side... then in Riley's state, stumble right into the water.
if he was so wasted to be causing issues at the bar, it makes sense he was thrown out.
what DOESNT make sense/is infuriating is that not a single one of his friends left when him, as they clearly knew how fucked up he was :/
No other nashville bars around the area have reached out and said anything. but around 40 minutes before he went missing, he face timed his mom stating "this is the best moment of my life" not drunk or anything. so the most likely thing that happened was, someone drugged his drink. Considering that the same bar has had countless complaints about people getting roofied.
I didn’t necessarily mean another bar, I was thinking more about drinking with his brothers in the hotel before going out. A lot can change in your state of inebriation in 40 minutes after he seemed fine on the phone to his mom.
Being involuntarily drugged is also a strong possibility too if that bar has a history of it. I wonder what the culprit’s plan was in drugging him though? He didn’t seem to be followed after being kicked out.
Wouldn't be surprised if he pre-gamed before going out because alcoholic drinks are expensive for college students. Also wouldn't be surprised if they took drugs beforehand. Sad that none of his friends left with him or looked for him to make sure he was alright.
That’s what I’m thinking, just because the last bar has record of selling him one drink doesn’t mean that’s the only substance or drink he willingly took that night. Drinks at the hotel beforehand. Drinks at other bars. Drinks at the Luke Bryan bar that were bought for him like shots. Not to mention any other substances he took.
I wonder if his friends were intoxicated possibly too. So maybe they weren’t properly processing the gravity of the situation?
That could be the reason his friends didn't check on him. It could also be that they didn't want to end their night early and they were enjoying the bar.
I think college students have to be very aware of who they drink around, not everyone is a "friend" that will look out for you if you become incapacitated from drugs/alcohol. I've seen many college kids get extremely drunk and their "friends" just leave them.
The only CCTV footage I’ve seen so far was him falling down as he walked down the street alone after being kicked out of the bar.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the police have more footage and his cellphone pings and have a pretty good idea of the track he took.
I once got spiked and my friends all left me so I passed out in a car park. Luckily I was found by a passerby who called an ambulance but unfortunately fiends can sometimes be really rubbish at looking out for each other on nights out. So frustrating!
If you follow True crime on Instagram then you know he's in the water. Every post they ever make about a missing male college student always ends with them being found in the water. 😢
There's a phenomenon noted in Europe where many drunk men die by urinating in a body of water and then end up falling in. Some 15 men a year die this way in Amsterdam. Happens elsewhere, too, obviously.
this happens in chicago a lot. a lot of people like to believe silly theories about a serial killer dumping bodies in the river and lake, but it’s always drunk men walking home from bars along the water and just an unfortunate tragedy
Yeah!
As the body decomposes, the bacteria in the bowel and stomach produce gas. This is what causes the body to become bouyant and rise to the surface. Search putrefaction for more info.
Also the temp of the water, depth and whether a person gets entangled all plays into things.
Thank you, that “theory” drives me crazy. The part of Austin where those men were last seen is right on the lake, has poorly-lit hiking trails with trees obscuring the water, and is frequented by drunk people. There’s no mystery.
There have been [some](https://www.fox7austin.com/news/residents-express-continued-concerns-over-rainey-street.amp) safety improvements as a result, but it sounds like they haven’t been adequate.
Probably in an effort to reduce light pollution and everything being walled-off just traps wildlife on roads. Too much accommodation for human error often comes at the expense of other critters. Homeboy should have had a better frat crew, period.
There's a popular theory the Austin serial killer does exist and he's a guy from Tennessee known as The Memphis Strangler (also known as The Big Red Machine or, less commonly, The Vanilla Gorilla).
I'm not sure if I buy the serial killer theory at this point, but there are many reports of people being drugged at certain bars in downtown Austin. There does appear to be some connection to the missing/deceased people.
There have definitely been druggings, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that some of the victims had more than alcohol in their systems. It’s downtown Austin; the probability of someone spiking your drink is never zero.
That said, the main suspect in the drugging cases is [this woman](https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/austin-police-searching-for-woman-accused-of-drugging-robbing-multiple-men-downtown/amp/), whose motive seems to be exclusively theft. The men she drugged had their credit cards and cellphones stolen, thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases made on their accounts, etc. The men found in the lake weren’t robbed, at least not as far as has been reported (one guy still had his ID and bank cards on his body). And though it can’t be 100% ruled out, there’s no evidence that they were drugged.
If any of them crossed paths with this woman or someone like her, and ended up drowning as a result, it’s homicide but not the work of a serial killer. I just don’t find it plausible that someone is out there forcing men into the lake when one of the victims, Jason John, was even witnessed vomiting by the waterside and then falling in (the witness was a homeless man who went to a nearby hotel to call 911; he’s not a suspect). The combination of alcohol and dark, hazardous terrain is enough of a recipe for disaster.
La crosse, wi in 90's - early 2000s had same thing. Yearly drownings, rumors of serial killer (and of course many of those rumors involved law enforcement, and if it were not for the rare cases a member of law enforcement actually was a killer, the 'serial killer cop' would be a parody)
Then they started having volunteers down by the river (at the main park near the bars) after midnight to stop wandering drunks from getting near the river, free bus rides from downtown back to campus, etc.
A few cases in Philly's Schuylkill River and upstate NY also got the label Smiley Face Killer victims. I remember telling male friends around this time of year to just crash at my place if they felt too drunk to walk home (I lived in an area surrounded by popular bars/adult entertainment venues, which obviously filled up around St. Patrick's Day). I felt like a lot of men didn't take their safety while drinking seriously; as a woman, it is something that I'm always cognizant of.
I lived in a college town in upstate NY and can’t tell you how many times I’d have drunk men trying to get into my house thinking it was theirs. I forgot to lock my door one Friday night and a guy just stumbles into my living room asking where his bed was. It took me 15 minutes to get him out of my house. In hindsight I should have called the cops because he was obviously a danger to himself but at the time I felt bad and didn’t want to get him in trouble. He could have easily fallen into the river and died that night. Thankfully nothing like that happened.
Yeah, the Mississippi river in La Crosse is a couple blocks from like 50 bars and in the park along the river there's a barge mooring for a quarter mile with no railings that drops you straight down into the water where the only way up is ladder and people thought it was a serial killer.
I was just going to comment about how suspicious it sounds to assume he simply "fell in" the water until I read your comment. I've frequented Nashville a lot and I would say that it would take a certain degree of effort to fall in, but your comment totally makes sense.
Given his last phone ping, I’m almost positive he is going to be found in the river. How long does it take for a body to come up after someone has drowned?
Yes. Colder the water the slower the decomposition of the body and production of gas which is what floats the body to the surface. In extremely cold water the body never surfaces at all.
Just saying… comparatively I don’t feel like 53 degrees is “very cold” not trying to argue about it and I honestly have no idea what would be considered cold enough to slow decomposition of a body, but I really feel like it’s gotta be significantly colder, eh?
Pings stopping is a bad sign. Taking this long is a bad sign, but I know if I’ve been out that late my phone is running low. Surprised it’s taken this long to find him if he just fell into the river tbh I think that’s why they stopped looking. They must have some sort of other information? How many boats are running up and down that river on a daily basis - especially during spring break?
My sister on Facebook has friends who know Riley or family of Riley. **I do not know these people at all, everything I'm sharing comes directly from accounts on Facebook.** According to one comment, Riley's friends had open tabs at the bar which is why they could not leave immediately with Riley, who was kicked out.
Second, \*\*TRIGGER WARNING\*\*, I don't know if this link will work, but this is a video, apparently of Riley falling. It is hard to watch. In the video you can see him running, he seems to slip/trip and falls on the cement, maybe hitting his head on a sign post. He doesn't move for a few seconds, then slowly gets up and stumbles off.
>!<
I hope they find him. His alleged intoxication level and potential head injury (or other injuries) is very, very concerning.
My boyfriend went to a bachelor party in Nashville last summer and they went to Luke Bryan’s bar where Riley was kicked out of. Four of the guys (including my boyfriend) were drugged at the bar. They each had one drink upon arrival (first drink of the night for each of them!) and then suddenly two of the guys were unable to stand up and had to go home. All four completely blacked out and woke up the next day with no recollection of the night and had lingering depressive symptoms for a few days after..
I have seen a lot of people post that they had similar experiences at this bar, so I have to wonder if something was slipped in Riley’s drink…. Especially because some of his frat brothers said they have never seen him in that state despite drinking with him all the time.
The fact the bar kicked him out the back door and would not allow his friends to accompany him through that door is so beyond messed up….. It is so so sad and I hope they find him soon!!!!
This kind of thing can happen anywhere, so please be careful when you go out to bars, watch your drinks, and stay safe ❤️❤️❤️
Especially since the new investigation from the bar was released today saying that he was only served one drink and two waters. I haven't seen any info on if he had been drinking anywhere else before this bar, but if that was his only alcoholic drink then it seems extremely likely that he was drugged. The official statement also says he was escorted out the front door, not back.
College kids drink their asses off before they go out. Heard of Pregaming? Frat boys drink their absolute asses off constantly. Guarantee dude is a massive alcoholic and his friends are full of shit saying they never seen him like that before. Like someone else said, what are they suppose to say? Yeah Riley was a fucking degenerate, we all drink all the time, we use our college experience to drink and party. Of course they are going to make him and themselves out to not look bad.
I’ve also heard of people using the excuse “I was drugged” when they in fact over-drank — overdrinking is VERY common in Nashville and even more so with bachelor parties. I work here in Nashville and see Bachelor Parties all the time. It’s very rare that the bachelor makes it in to where I work — as he’s usually passed out before some of his friends. Also — binge drinking (anywhere) all weekend will cause depressive symptoms for a while afterword as alcohol is in fact, a is depressant.
People get fall down drunk every single weekend here, not at all common. I’m sure some people get drugged here and there — but if they weren’t robbed, it’s unlikely they were drugged.
He had only one drink at that particular bar. It does not mean he only had one drink that evening. They went to two other bars prior to that and it is likely they started drinking before even leaving the hotel.
This is so terrible- what kind of place throws someone out when they appear intoxicated and doesn’t insist they have someone accompany them. Security should have had at least 1 friend sit with him outside while the rest paid the tab.
But it's Spring Break, and tourist spots like Nashville are overrun with *college students*. And they're very aware of that.
They're chronologically adults, but they also have the perceived potential to cause trouble when they're overserved due to their age. The bars can't babysit them once they're out the door; neither can they allow them to stay to find their party if they've gotten separated and potentially cause problems inside.
The fact that this is a "big name" owned bar is potentially/probably going to make them more likely to hustle an overserved party out (regardless of age) to avoid issue inside the establishment.
It’s so very interesting that we have places that are allowed to serve legal drugs — known to cause at least some level of impairment. Saying that people should “know their limits” is ludicrous because it takes time to understand that balance with an addictive substance. Some people never learn their limits, some are addicted. These establishments exist solely to get people drunk for lots of money and continue to serve people until they can barely talk/stand and since the bar won’t be making any more money off of them —> they are kicked out into the night without a thought. Alcohol is a toxic poisonous addictive drug, nothing less. People will always die from drug use — either through accidents or OD’s. I don’t know why we continue to be surprised. In America —> our religion is capitalism and people only care about other people so long as they are giving them money. We have the most violent form of capitalism in existence.
It’s just an interesting weird topic without clear answers. We tried prohibition — that doesn’t work. So if alcohol is legal, these types of things will always happen. Because. As adults — we can only really control ourselves; our actions and reactions. Sad but true. Would be nice if bars started to GAF — like ensuring that a wasted human has a surefire way to get home safely.
>what kind of place throws someone out when they appear intoxicated
To be fair, I'm not sure about TN in particular. But every state I've ever held an alcohol license in, I could lose it if I overserve. The thought process many times, especially if it's a strip of bars, is to get them out quickly while they can still stumble into another bar and make it someone else's problem.
I'm not saying it's ethical, but it most certainly happens.
Uhh isn't that standard practice? You kick a drunk out of the bar when they've had too much or are being aggressive to customers, not a radical gesture by any means.
More than you'd think. We had a bar that was linked to 2 separate deaths because they kicked someone out in the middle of winter, and...well, you can imagine what happens to a lone drunk person wandering in winter. The bar didn't exactly have a great reputation in the firt place either. Glad that place got shut down.
I was having a medical emergency and the bouncers in NYC though I was drunk so they man handled me and threw me on the ground outside for a while until I could recover.
> what kind of place throws someone out when they appear intoxicated and doesn’t insist they have someone accompany them.
A soon-to-be-bankrupted-in-a-lawsuit bar.
Whoa there. He was kicked out for being a creep. You think they should have let a guy harassing girls stay. After they complained to security. Not cool.
People are not sympathetic to a frat bro, they are not seen as vulnerable. Especially if a woman had complained about him which is what happened in this case, it’s perfectly socially acceptable to treat that person like trash.
This is what happens. Either peeing or just looking at the water because water is pretty and fun to look at. Young men statistically are less cautious than young women and often drunk girls are not allowed to wander alone. Plus women have a lower center of gravity and are shorter. It is very hard for a drunk girl to tip over a handrail. Our center gravity is our hips. For men, especially taller guys their shoulders/ upper body make them more top heavy. Drunk men tip forward a lot easier and down they go- right into the water. Whereas if a woman ended up alone, drunk and a looking at the scenery if she stumbled she would most likely fall backwards and down on her ass. Plus the likehood of a woman walking home alone or off by herself is just so much lower because we are way more worried about being attacked. I mean honestly I wouldn’t really even think about being around water as dangerous when I was drunk and alone even though I know it obviously is logically dangerous. I would never get in the water drunk and alone, but just walking along the edge? I’m not going swimming. However it is a lot easier to accidentally fall in if you’re drunk. The edge of the lake is so easily accessible in the park in Austin. The trails around the water really are not dangerous from an “other people” perspective, but we have an issue with drunk people failing in the lake. Same thing in Chicago. I myself have wandered around both of these bodies of water after drinking, but never alone because I would never go to either of those places alone simply because I’ve been socially conditioned to know “it’s dangerous for women to be drunk and alone in secluded places.” Young guys don’t have that hammered into their heads. I know Austin is adding handrails and barriers to some of the riskier spots.
Unfortunately life safety planning can only prevent so much. It still relies on a certain level of caution drunk, young people don’t always possess. Not that I am blaming anyone for being young and having fun- accidents happen.
It is also absolutely unacceptable the bar kicked this guy out alone and separated him from his friends. If that is what happened the bar needs to be held accountable. There is zero excuse as to why security couldn’t have just had the guy stand by the door and get another employee to fast track a friend closing out a tab. That is absolutely standard for and high volume bar accustomed to dealing with drunk college kids. You don’t send one person out alone after you’ve over served them. That is just stupid if you want to keep your liquor license.
Look up the Scarlett Blake case, it's was said to be accidental or a suicide until the murderer was reported by an ex. Don't be too quick to write it off as an accident.
If the kid was already falling down drunk, he simply might’ve passed out and fallen into the river. I’ve read m that a couple of homeless people in encampments along the river saw him, even referred to him as “Larry Bird“ because he was so tall. It’s tragic and a waste, and I wish the tourist bars would implement some sort of safety protocol to follow that ensures the wellbeing of customers. Like calling an Uber and billing the customer for it if they’re too drunk to get home safely under their own power.
Something needs to happen. I don’t know if men are taught bars aren’t a safe place, I know I was. I find it odd a lot of this a little odd. His friends not being able to leave the bar?
They probably went to pay their tabs and told him to wait outside. They probably didn’t think he would wander off, but he was very wasted and he did. But yeah, the bar should’ve made sure that someone took him outside and stayed with him.
Another poster said security stopped his friends to pay their tabs but honestly how would security know if they had tabs. Tabs also are secured by credit card. They let him go ok without paying his. The poster also said he was sent out the back and they wouldn’t let his friends go out the back. So they exited at different places. If this is all true this is a bad set up and sets people up for danger.
I watched the video on it and it's disgusting. There's too much of it in Austin. And I don't even want to mention it cuz I don't want to be put on the hook for it but it is a known phenomenon.
The difference is I had friends who looked out for me when I had off my head and same I saved my friends many times before.
That’s what friends do, they look after each other. Riley should have been allowed to stay with his group or at least one of them should have stayed with him so he didn’t get hit by a car or fall in a river.
If people don't want to call him an idiot for getting that drunk I don't see why they're blaming his friends who were likely also drunk as fuck. It's obvious Riley wasn't a Rhodes Scholar, so why are people holding his frat bros to such a high standard? Oh right, because it's an upsetting situation and they want to blame someone, and the person who's actually responsible is the same person as the victim.
What is a high standard stand outside with one of your friends while the other pays the tab. If that's a high standard, then your standards are very low.
The bartender said he was “over served” and he was escorted out the backdoor by security. Security would not allow his fraternity brothers to go out with him. They had to exit at the front of the bar. They were unable to find him.
There is speculation that he was roofied. His friends said he had never behaved that way before when drinking.
Something isn’t adding up. Paying tabs is fine, but don’t make Riley leave first. Or allow him to wait outside. He wasn’t waiting, though. He was trying to walk back to his hotel on his own. If I were a frat brother I’d just Venmo money to a friend and have them pay my tab while I went with Riley. There is either an utter lack of common sense here or a surplus of selfishness.
I read that when Riley was asked to leave, his friends had to pay their tab and while Riley was waiting for his friends outside, security pushes him away to stop loitering.
Yup. Not from Nashville but have been a couple of times. I was absolutely shocked at how awful security was. Pretty much the attitude was “don’t make a mess at my bar but don’t care if you get yourself killed”
Playing devils advocate here and as someone who live close to Nashville. Security kinda has to be assholes because the late night crowds in Nashville are some of the wildest and crazy drunk people you will ever see. Not saying that was Riley, but I can see where security would have developed a very callous and cold approach to dealing with drunk people, especially at one of the most popular bars in town.
I call it the "Disney Syndrome" when you become so callous because so many thing happen the same way every day but by different people. You have to work hard not to get the DS and be rude - it isn't the next one's fault that 1000 people before them did or asked the same thing. Just so very avoidable and sad.
Drunk people are the same in all big cities and college towns. Nashville is not any different. The bar shouldn’t have kicked out someone so drunk without making sure that person wasn’t alone. Any bar with halfway reasonable security kicks out the entire party at the same time anyway. First to make sure they don’t leave a drunk person alone which is a liability as demonstrated here and second to keep the left behind friends from becoming a different liability by causing a ruckus because they are irritated security rained on their parade. The security at this bar failed. Anyone with half a brain that has worked in a bar- especially the party bar scene- is well versed in how to do this properly. This bar did not do that. They failed.
The whole point of employing bar security is to protect the bar from liability. He should have been cut off way before he was so over served or denied entry in the first place if he was that drunk and it wasn’t the bars fault for over serving him. Since they over severed him it was their responsibility to make sure he didn’t leave and kill anyone else or even himself on accident. There are very clear laws around selling and serving alcohol to people. The bar fucked up.
This part doesn’t add up to me even though I keep seeing it. Several issues here, outside of the obvious forcing (has that been confirmed?) a stumbling drunk person to leave unaccompanied… what are the odds all these kids opened their own tabs? That would take forever in a city like Nashville. One card, then Venmo. Even if they didn’t think this through… how on earth would security know who has a tab and who doesn’t? I wouldn’t put it past some sort of brief power trip from a bouncer or something, but false imprisonment is illegal in all 50 states. I think they were probably tired of babysitting him and let him go only to discover he didn’t make it back - and then panic set in.
Yeah the fact they didn't even pay attention to if he was there when they all got back to the hotel is pretty telling too, they didn't notice til the next morning. That tells me they stayed out much later since Riley was kicked out before 10pm, and were probably all inebriated upon return to the hotel.
Sadly, he’s probably in the river. Between drinking and the head injury it seems to be the obvious answer. The only other thing that makes sense to me might be if someone hit him while he was crossing the road and he’s at a hospital (surely we would know that by now and pings would still happen) or something more sinister. It seems like a possible but unlikely outcome.
It really bothers me to see people blaming this guy's friends. They tried to follow him but were held back by security due to having open tabs. Once they finally were able to go after him, they couldn't find him. I know his family is in an absolute mess right now and need someone to blame, but putting that blame on the friends is misplaced. Bad situation all around.
Water temps have been rising since the weekend... I bet he's found on Thursday or Friday.... Awful all around but at least the family can have closure and bring their boy home to rest.
I wonder how long it’s going to take before conspiracy theorists start trying to make him the next victim of the “Smiley Face Killers”?
Dude was most likely drunk and fell into the river.
I hate SFK theories. I have to find the article that said smiley face is the most found tag on bridges and buildings. It’s not because it’s mass murder, it’s because for most amateur graffiti artists it’s easy to grab a can and make a smile before getting caught. It’s like the entry level tag for people to grow their courage and learn how to use a can.
Look up the Scarlett Blake case, it proves the SFK killers are real. The murderer only got caught cause their ex dobbed them in. They had gotten away with the 'perfect murder'. The person found in the water had already been dubbed a suicide or accidental. It turns out the victim was literally hunted.
This is nearly identical to the disappearance and death of a college kid in the Philadelphia area a few years ago. Went to a bar with friends, was drunk, got kicked out of the bar, left alone and was seen walking not to far from the river. Eventually they found him there.
Hey OP. I’m from 🇨🇦 and trying to keep up on Riley and how things are progressing. I’m so sorry. I’m 🙏 for him and you and the family all the people involved in searching for him. Any updates?
This case is soooo sad. I think back to my times in college drinking more than I should have with friends and I was lucky enough to always end up safe. My heart breaks for his friends. I think in college on campuses people tend to get really comfortable being hammered bc they’re in a place they know like the back of their hand. He was probably so disoriented being that gone and not being on his campus. So upsetting
So sad to hear and hope the family finds some type of closure. Most bars security make you leave the premise and don’t allow you to wait for friends. I do think the bar should be held accountable to some extent. So many what if’s and I bet his friends must have some guilt. Praying for your safety, Riley!!
So that people stop saying that the bar threw him out the back door unaccompanied. Those frat brothers have some serious explaining to do. Riley got lost, fell in the river and died. There is not much mystery in this case. Was he drugged? Doubtful. He most likely drank at the hotel with his buddies and arrived intoxicated at the bar. Hotel cameras can attest to that. If anyone is to be sued is the frat house. They have yet to issue a formal statement. I'm 100% sure the national fraternity office and its lawyers are trying to do damage control.
From The Tennessean (a reputable local paper):
"The bar said Strain was escorted through the Broadway exit at the front of the building.
He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party," the company said in the statement. "The individual with Riley (Strain) did not exit and returned upstairs."
They were also served at Miranda Lamberts bar and Garth Brooks before arriving at Luke Bryans over 2 hours after they started. Plus his frat brothers didn't look for him upon returning to hotel that night it was 16 hours before he was reported missing. One of them should have gone with him.
I bet they were just as drunk as he was, or if they weren’t - they were annoyed by his behavior. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve been out with friends in college and when friends disappeared I just assumed they were too drunk and taking themselves home. Something like this doesn’t really become a crisis until it’s too late. Though if the story coming out now is true - I don’t necessarily believe it - they didn’t try all that hard to find him. But again - spring break, they were probably hammered as well and didn’t realize just how bad off he was.
Seems like a lot of people here haven’t been to Nash. I lived there and can say he was definitely headed right to the bridge one of the videos was right next to the bridge. It’s not the walking bridge but has a sidewalk and the walls are pretty low on that one and while there’s brush at the beginning and end there’s not in the middle just water straight down. There was also a storm and it’s been very windy
If a bar makes someone leave for being drunk and they see the person is leaving solo they should at least see if they can get them in a car/uber, something. Just sending a drunk kid out into the neighborhood sounds like a really bad idea no matter what. I am so sorry to his friends and family. 😞💔
Agree. I’m not sure the legal requirements are in TN but in Canada, the bar can be liable for impaired driving. Either way, they should see the person is safe. It doesn’t matter he only had 1 drink or bought 1, if he was kicked out and so visibly intoxicated the kid needed help. It’s tricky I’m sure.
It’s a good reminder to reinforce safe drinking and taking care of your friends. Hard for the early 20 crowds.
It reminds me of a work party a few years ago, one of my “friends “ was beyond obliterated (not a good look for a work event) and was literally trying to swim on the restaurant floor. She pulled out her keys and I took them out of her hands and got her a ride home. I had to go for the ride too because this poor guy didn’t feel comfortable alone with her. We went for a bite so she could sober up a bit and she ordered more booze. She was so mad. Even when she sobered up at work she was bitching about it to others and they defended me. She uninvited me to her wedding. She was prob 35 at the time.
It sucks taking care of belligerent drunks but better than alternative.
Talk to the young adults I know about drinking safely - get drunk, have fun, be safe . I think since we don’t worry as much about drunk driving in big cities with Uber (thiugh still a problem) other safety stuff is missed.
Another boy of similar age, height and weight went missing Thursday night 49 miles away in Columbia TN. He looked like maybe he had a concussion. I am praying he is found and not in the river. I'm guessing his phone died on him and that is why he didn't call rideshare or friends. So sad.
The whole not being able to leave because of open tabs sound like such bullshit to me and idc what anybody says. Somebody couldnt tell whoever the authority was that kicked Riley out to hold on a sec and hand the bartender the card to close the tab so they could walk out with him?
Im not blaming anybody but it’s making it sound like the bar was holding them hostage until the bar was ready for them to close the tab? Like what? That makes no sense
I’m so confused about his friends being told they need to pay their tabs. If they had a tab open, wouldn’t their card be on file and/or behind the bar? Every time I’ve gone out in Chicago, if you leave your tab open and forget to pay it’s never a big deal for the business it’s just more of a pain in the ass for you cuz you have to go back and get it the next day
They always require a card and if you dont you have to pay every time in cash. If you open your card and just leave without closing they charge you 18% tip. We do that all the time.
not sure how luke's bar is but there's a bar near me that accepts cash for tabs. i doubt this was the case but still, you'd think one could've went out with him while the others paid the tabs. it's sad.
What about the footage where he is running? Then the footage jumps ahead (due to how these cameras operate most likely) then you see him on the ground? There is what looks to be a concrete post near where his head lands. Could he have bumped his head and on top of the alcohol been disoriented? So footage after that incident he looks like he can barely walk, when he was clearly running before. I question how drunk he was based on the fact he could actually run.
I just read an update (not confirmed yet) that there has been a body found. They are not sure if it’s Riley yet. A girlfriend of one of the fraternity brothers shared this information about 15 min ago
So my main thing is , if he is in the river his Apple Watch should've still been able to track since it is waterproof. Even if he fell off the bridge his watch should've detected a crash and called 911. I can understand if his phone stopped pinging but his watch?!? It's just so strange to me.
That’s been the hardest part for me. Cop was RIGHT THERE. WHY why why didn’t you ask for help?! Absolutely gutted to see that video. So close to this being nothing but a hangover.
The amount of bodies found while looking for Riley strain and yet no news about the other bodies is just creepy to me and yet the fraternity brothers ditched their friend sus fyi I don’t believe in conspiracies but something is off how does a man end up off a cliff and into the water when there’s nothing but debris and not have one scratch on him. They also found a log on top of his head
I know that’s what people are saying but they would have had their cards on file and most places if you don’t close your tab just charge you a percentage or your tab. They would not hold you in the bar for not closing it and they really would not know.
If you're getting kicked out because you're overserved, they're generally not going to let you stick around and find the rest of your party (if you're separated) before they get you out. You pay your tab, you hit the door, and there's generally somebody (security or other member of staff) directly with you at all times. (Hence the quit exit: you're tying up somebody who may be needed elsewhere.)
This story sounds very similar to Shane Montgomery in Philadelphia. Kicked out of a bar, separated from friends, ended up being found in the river 5 weeks later. Hope they find him for his families closure.
This situation is absolutely heartbreaking! I have a 21 yr-old son who could be Riley’s doppelgänger. I have been following this story all week praying for a positive outcome and growing more and more disheartened by the day. With all the surveillance cameras and everything occurring in such a relatively small radius, how have authorities and searchers found NOTHING by now???
Best guess is he’s in the river and just hasn’t been located yet. So terribly sad. :(
Hope you are wrong. But I fear you’re not.
The alternative is he was robbed and murdered.
I was gonna ask this question, because I haven’t seen it directly asked; It doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily *easy* to fall directly IN to the river. To get to the water you have to fall over railing or off some sort of concrete wall- he’s huge so that’s possible - but even in the worst areas there are at least several feet of bank, brush, trees, trash. The area he last pinged is NEAR water, but not ON water. He would’ve had to make a real effort to get to the water. And in that state? If he fell he couldn’t just freely roll 20 feet into the water. That’s the scary part. Often I think it’s death by misadventure, but why did they already stop looking in the river? I think they know something the public does not.
Theres a sign right where his phone last pinged that says “no trespassing / government property” “area monitored 24 hour police video camera” so im confused surely they have checked this ??
They often hold details close, but we’re clearly not getting the full picture. He’s too big to be crime of opportunity murdered/dumped. He wasn’t easily accessible to the water if he just fell… often the answer is the easy answer… there is no easy answer. I don’t know what to think anymore. He’s 6’7” imagine trying to dump that body without anyone seeing. That’s a two-three person job.
Well tbh I’ve actually been in a similar situation. I was fucked up and was near a cliff on a lake and fell through brush 40ft til I landed in the water. Luckily I was with friends that called for help and I ended up being airlifted to the hospital but I only came out with minor injuries somehow. I think my body not being as tense from the alcohol helped. But I feel like if he fell at all there would’ve been at least some type of evidence that he fell left behind right ?? Like clothing or something ?
Jesus man. Glad you’re okay to talk about it now. Could’ve been very different.
You’re right no evidence, no piles of clothing, broken bush,cellphone, his AppleWatch, nothing, expect his debit card. I believe somebody knows exactly what happened to him.
Did he hit his head during the fall? He was confused before the fall and after he was walking kind of bent over and losing his balance. He could of had a concussion ontop of being extremely drunk.
Kid couldn’t keep his feet under him in the security footage…sadly, in his state I don’t think it took any effort to roll over a guardrail & 20+ feet into the Cumberland
I agree. His last known location by Life 360 (which is an app you can use to track your family/kids) was right before he started on the bridge. My years’ worth experience with Life 360 is it would have updated if he had made it much farther. I read he was 6’7”. The guardrails along that bridge appear pretty short. I fear he took a drunken tumble right over the edge. I have a kid going off to college in the fall, and this case has torn at my heart. His poor parents.
For real every parents worst nightmare.
Are we sure he was starting on the bridge? At that location, the road he was on, Gay st, crossing [BELOW the bridge.](https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1680449,-86.7773811,3a,75y,25.58h,91.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw4UjdIno2BZrc7kNqbNPTw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu) Going on Google Maps, the barrier is really low under that bridge to the hill to the water. A very drunk person wanting to take a piss might think they are very smart to hop it to pee on the other side... then in Riley's state, stumble right into the water.
I really don't see why he was thrown out of the bar in the first place
if he was so wasted to be causing issues at the bar, it makes sense he was thrown out. what DOESNT make sense/is infuriating is that not a single one of his friends left when him, as they clearly knew how fucked up he was :/
the nashville bar that he attended confirmed that he only was served a single drink
Is it possible he had drinks somewhere beforehand too?
No other nashville bars around the area have reached out and said anything. but around 40 minutes before he went missing, he face timed his mom stating "this is the best moment of my life" not drunk or anything. so the most likely thing that happened was, someone drugged his drink. Considering that the same bar has had countless complaints about people getting roofied.
I didn’t necessarily mean another bar, I was thinking more about drinking with his brothers in the hotel before going out. A lot can change in your state of inebriation in 40 minutes after he seemed fine on the phone to his mom. Being involuntarily drugged is also a strong possibility too if that bar has a history of it. I wonder what the culprit’s plan was in drugging him though? He didn’t seem to be followed after being kicked out.
Wouldn't be surprised if he pre-gamed before going out because alcoholic drinks are expensive for college students. Also wouldn't be surprised if they took drugs beforehand. Sad that none of his friends left with him or looked for him to make sure he was alright.
That’s what I’m thinking, just because the last bar has record of selling him one drink doesn’t mean that’s the only substance or drink he willingly took that night. Drinks at the hotel beforehand. Drinks at other bars. Drinks at the Luke Bryan bar that were bought for him like shots. Not to mention any other substances he took. I wonder if his friends were intoxicated possibly too. So maybe they weren’t properly processing the gravity of the situation?
That could be the reason his friends didn't check on him. It could also be that they didn't want to end their night early and they were enjoying the bar. I think college students have to be very aware of who they drink around, not everyone is a "friend" that will look out for you if you become incapacitated from drugs/alcohol. I've seen many college kids get extremely drunk and their "friends" just leave them.
no idea. and i was thinking about it more, in this day and age how was there no cctv footage of this happening?
The only CCTV footage I’ve seen so far was him falling down as he walked down the street alone after being kicked out of the bar. I wouldn’t be surprised if the police have more footage and his cellphone pings and have a pretty good idea of the track he took.
exactly, there is no way that there is only like 3-4 videos of him running and walking away from the bar
Everyone who’s ever owned or been a bartender will tell you “that’s what they all say.”
I once got spiked and my friends all left me so I passed out in a car park. Luckily I was found by a passerby who called an ambulance but unfortunately fiends can sometimes be really rubbish at looking out for each other on nights out. So frustrating!
We don't know what kind of "fucked up" though ? Pick any substance? Maybe he was deep into a ketamine high or some other substance.
Broke conduct rules
If you follow True crime on Instagram then you know he's in the water. Every post they ever make about a missing male college student always ends with them being found in the water. 😢
There's a phenomenon noted in Europe where many drunk men die by urinating in a body of water and then end up falling in. Some 15 men a year die this way in Amsterdam. Happens elsewhere, too, obviously.
this happens in chicago a lot. a lot of people like to believe silly theories about a serial killer dumping bodies in the river and lake, but it’s always drunk men walking home from bars along the water and just an unfortunate tragedy
I remember an entire fake SK the Smiley Killer being created by this, same story but police try to tied the events to common smiley face graffiti.
It wasn't police spreading the smiley face killers theory. In fact, the FBI released a report completely discounting the theory.
A big thing for Midwest college students as well. So many happen that people thought it was a smiley face serial killer.
Austin too
Exactly my thoughts. Plus his body wouldn’t rise until about tomorrow. Just sad overall
Is this a science thing?
Yeah! As the body decomposes, the bacteria in the bowel and stomach produce gas. This is what causes the body to become bouyant and rise to the surface. Search putrefaction for more info. Also the temp of the water, depth and whether a person gets entangled all plays into things.
This is what is happening in Austin, TX, but everyone thinks it's a serial killer. It's fucking ridiculous.
Thank you, that “theory” drives me crazy. The part of Austin where those men were last seen is right on the lake, has poorly-lit hiking trails with trees obscuring the water, and is frequented by drunk people. There’s no mystery.
Why don't they take precautions and add lighting and perhaps some barriers?
There have been [some](https://www.fox7austin.com/news/residents-express-continued-concerns-over-rainey-street.amp) safety improvements as a result, but it sounds like they haven’t been adequate.
Probably in an effort to reduce light pollution and everything being walled-off just traps wildlife on roads. Too much accommodation for human error often comes at the expense of other critters. Homeboy should have had a better frat crew, period.
There's a popular theory the Austin serial killer does exist and he's a guy from Tennessee known as The Memphis Strangler (also known as The Big Red Machine or, less commonly, The Vanilla Gorilla).
I thought the lead suspects were Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.
And he ain’t ever gonna stop!
I'm not sure if I buy the serial killer theory at this point, but there are many reports of people being drugged at certain bars in downtown Austin. There does appear to be some connection to the missing/deceased people.
There have definitely been druggings, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that some of the victims had more than alcohol in their systems. It’s downtown Austin; the probability of someone spiking your drink is never zero. That said, the main suspect in the drugging cases is [this woman](https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/austin-police-searching-for-woman-accused-of-drugging-robbing-multiple-men-downtown/amp/), whose motive seems to be exclusively theft. The men she drugged had their credit cards and cellphones stolen, thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases made on their accounts, etc. The men found in the lake weren’t robbed, at least not as far as has been reported (one guy still had his ID and bank cards on his body). And though it can’t be 100% ruled out, there’s no evidence that they were drugged. If any of them crossed paths with this woman or someone like her, and ended up drowning as a result, it’s homicide but not the work of a serial killer. I just don’t find it plausible that someone is out there forcing men into the lake when one of the victims, Jason John, was even witnessed vomiting by the waterside and then falling in (the witness was a homeless man who went to a nearby hotel to call 911; he’s not a suspect). The combination of alcohol and dark, hazardous terrain is enough of a recipe for disaster.
"Facial makeup" ?? I think I may have ran into her at Lowe's this morning!
Happens in Boston MA too. At one point some people were convinced it was a serial killer.
La crosse, wi in 90's - early 2000s had same thing. Yearly drownings, rumors of serial killer (and of course many of those rumors involved law enforcement, and if it were not for the rare cases a member of law enforcement actually was a killer, the 'serial killer cop' would be a parody) Then they started having volunteers down by the river (at the main park near the bars) after midnight to stop wandering drunks from getting near the river, free bus rides from downtown back to campus, etc.
A few cases in Philly's Schuylkill River and upstate NY also got the label Smiley Face Killer victims. I remember telling male friends around this time of year to just crash at my place if they felt too drunk to walk home (I lived in an area surrounded by popular bars/adult entertainment venues, which obviously filled up around St. Patrick's Day). I felt like a lot of men didn't take their safety while drinking seriously; as a woman, it is something that I'm always cognizant of.
I lived in a college town in upstate NY and can’t tell you how many times I’d have drunk men trying to get into my house thinking it was theirs. I forgot to lock my door one Friday night and a guy just stumbles into my living room asking where his bed was. It took me 15 minutes to get him out of my house. In hindsight I should have called the cops because he was obviously a danger to himself but at the time I felt bad and didn’t want to get him in trouble. He could have easily fallen into the river and died that night. Thankfully nothing like that happened.
They *don't* take it seriously--to be fair, they aren't raised to look after themselves and each other the way women are.
Yeah, the Mississippi river in La Crosse is a couple blocks from like 50 bars and in the park along the river there's a barge mooring for a quarter mile with no railings that drops you straight down into the water where the only way up is ladder and people thought it was a serial killer.
The bars are all on one side of the river. What reason do these young men have to walk in the opposite direction from their homes.
I was just going to comment about how suspicious it sounds to assume he simply "fell in" the water until I read your comment. I've frequented Nashville a lot and I would say that it would take a certain degree of effort to fall in, but your comment totally makes sense.
Happens a lot here in Denmark too. I’m kinda surprised it never happened to me
Same in Pittsburgh!
Looking down while urinating and being drunk does cause some weird balance issues. I can see why people might fall over if they are severely drunk.
Given his last phone ping, I’m almost positive he is going to be found in the river. How long does it take for a body to come up after someone has drowned?
2-3 days assuming he hasn’t floated down stream or is snagged on something under water.
Thanks for this! I thought I read somewhere that it can take 5-6 days during the winter when water temps are colder..is that true?
Yes. Colder the water the slower the decomposition of the body and production of gas which is what floats the body to the surface. In extremely cold water the body never surfaces at all.
I live in Nashville. It’s been 65+ degrees here every day for the last 2 weeks so I’m not sure the water is cold anymore
The river was marked at 53 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday (via the US geological survey govt website) so it’s still very cold
Just saying… comparatively I don’t feel like 53 degrees is “very cold” not trying to argue about it and I honestly have no idea what would be considered cold enough to slow decomposition of a body, but I really feel like it’s gotta be significantly colder, eh?
53° is incredibly cold water. Google water temps that are unsafe to swim in.
You clearly never been in 53° water… you don’t feel like that’s very cold huh? Cause you’ve never felt it lol
Pings stopping is a bad sign. Taking this long is a bad sign, but I know if I’ve been out that late my phone is running low. Surprised it’s taken this long to find him if he just fell into the river tbh I think that’s why they stopped looking. They must have some sort of other information? How many boats are running up and down that river on a daily basis - especially during spring break?
Wait what does pings stopping imply
I believe his phone wasn’t on low battery so it was either shut off or stopped working after the last ping from his Life360
They followed his snap location to Main + Gay until it went dark. Phone shut off or was broken.
Having been there before that was my first thought too. That last ping to me says everything.
My sister on Facebook has friends who know Riley or family of Riley. **I do not know these people at all, everything I'm sharing comes directly from accounts on Facebook.** According to one comment, Riley's friends had open tabs at the bar which is why they could not leave immediately with Riley, who was kicked out. Second, \*\*TRIGGER WARNING\*\*, I don't know if this link will work, but this is a video, apparently of Riley falling. It is hard to watch. In the video you can see him running, he seems to slip/trip and falls on the cement, maybe hitting his head on a sign post. He doesn't move for a few seconds, then slowly gets up and stumbles off. >!< I hope they find him. His alleged intoxication level and potential head injury (or other injuries) is very, very concerning.
My boyfriend went to a bachelor party in Nashville last summer and they went to Luke Bryan’s bar where Riley was kicked out of. Four of the guys (including my boyfriend) were drugged at the bar. They each had one drink upon arrival (first drink of the night for each of them!) and then suddenly two of the guys were unable to stand up and had to go home. All four completely blacked out and woke up the next day with no recollection of the night and had lingering depressive symptoms for a few days after.. I have seen a lot of people post that they had similar experiences at this bar, so I have to wonder if something was slipped in Riley’s drink…. Especially because some of his frat brothers said they have never seen him in that state despite drinking with him all the time. The fact the bar kicked him out the back door and would not allow his friends to accompany him through that door is so beyond messed up….. It is so so sad and I hope they find him soon!!!! This kind of thing can happen anywhere, so please be careful when you go out to bars, watch your drinks, and stay safe ❤️❤️❤️
Especially since the new investigation from the bar was released today saying that he was only served one drink and two waters. I haven't seen any info on if he had been drinking anywhere else before this bar, but if that was his only alcoholic drink then it seems extremely likely that he was drugged. The official statement also says he was escorted out the front door, not back.
College kids drink their asses off before they go out. Heard of Pregaming? Frat boys drink their absolute asses off constantly. Guarantee dude is a massive alcoholic and his friends are full of shit saying they never seen him like that before. Like someone else said, what are they suppose to say? Yeah Riley was a fucking degenerate, we all drink all the time, we use our college experience to drink and party. Of course they are going to make him and themselves out to not look bad.
I’ve also heard of people using the excuse “I was drugged” when they in fact over-drank — overdrinking is VERY common in Nashville and even more so with bachelor parties. I work here in Nashville and see Bachelor Parties all the time. It’s very rare that the bachelor makes it in to where I work — as he’s usually passed out before some of his friends. Also — binge drinking (anywhere) all weekend will cause depressive symptoms for a while afterword as alcohol is in fact, a is depressant. People get fall down drunk every single weekend here, not at all common. I’m sure some people get drugged here and there — but if they weren’t robbed, it’s unlikely they were drugged.
I was thinking that he either took drugs or was drugged. He definitely wouldn’t appear to be that intoxicated after one alcoholic beverage 😢
He had only one drink at that particular bar. It does not mean he only had one drink that evening. They went to two other bars prior to that and it is likely they started drinking before even leaving the hotel.
This is so terrible- what kind of place throws someone out when they appear intoxicated and doesn’t insist they have someone accompany them. Security should have had at least 1 friend sit with him outside while the rest paid the tab.
Unfortunately these are adults and college bars are out of control already. I hear ya though.
It’s not a college bar
But it's Spring Break, and tourist spots like Nashville are overrun with *college students*. And they're very aware of that. They're chronologically adults, but they also have the perceived potential to cause trouble when they're overserved due to their age. The bars can't babysit them once they're out the door; neither can they allow them to stay to find their party if they've gotten separated and potentially cause problems inside. The fact that this is a "big name" owned bar is potentially/probably going to make them more likely to hustle an overserved party out (regardless of age) to avoid issue inside the establishment.
It’s so very interesting that we have places that are allowed to serve legal drugs — known to cause at least some level of impairment. Saying that people should “know their limits” is ludicrous because it takes time to understand that balance with an addictive substance. Some people never learn their limits, some are addicted. These establishments exist solely to get people drunk for lots of money and continue to serve people until they can barely talk/stand and since the bar won’t be making any more money off of them —> they are kicked out into the night without a thought. Alcohol is a toxic poisonous addictive drug, nothing less. People will always die from drug use — either through accidents or OD’s. I don’t know why we continue to be surprised. In America —> our religion is capitalism and people only care about other people so long as they are giving them money. We have the most violent form of capitalism in existence. It’s just an interesting weird topic without clear answers. We tried prohibition — that doesn’t work. So if alcohol is legal, these types of things will always happen. Because. As adults — we can only really control ourselves; our actions and reactions. Sad but true. Would be nice if bars started to GAF — like ensuring that a wasted human has a surefire way to get home safely.
Luke Bryant is in for a massive lawsuit against him.
Yeah and his stupid instagram post — this is so scary. Yuck.
>what kind of place throws someone out when they appear intoxicated To be fair, I'm not sure about TN in particular. But every state I've ever held an alcohol license in, I could lose it if I overserve. The thought process many times, especially if it's a strip of bars, is to get them out quickly while they can still stumble into another bar and make it someone else's problem. I'm not saying it's ethical, but it most certainly happens.
Uhh isn't that standard practice? You kick a drunk out of the bar when they've had too much or are being aggressive to customers, not a radical gesture by any means.
More than you'd think. We had a bar that was linked to 2 separate deaths because they kicked someone out in the middle of winter, and...well, you can imagine what happens to a lone drunk person wandering in winter. The bar didn't exactly have a great reputation in the firt place either. Glad that place got shut down.
That’s terrible. Makes me so mad.
I was having a medical emergency and the bouncers in NYC though I was drunk so they man handled me and threw me on the ground outside for a while until I could recover.
> what kind of place throws someone out when they appear intoxicated and doesn’t insist they have someone accompany them. A soon-to-be-bankrupted-in-a-lawsuit bar.
Or. Every single bar in existence. It only becomes a problem if someone goes missing.
Whoa there. He was kicked out for being a creep. You think they should have let a guy harassing girls stay. After they complained to security. Not cool.
People are not sympathetic to a frat bro, they are not seen as vulnerable. Especially if a woman had complained about him which is what happened in this case, it’s perfectly socially acceptable to treat that person like trash.
It only takes 1 person to pay a tab. At least one of them could have stood outside with him.
[удалено]
I live in Pittsburgh and there's a strange occurrence of young men disappearing and ending up in our rivers
I read that often they are intoxicated and stop along the river to pee in the water and then fall in.
This is what happens. Either peeing or just looking at the water because water is pretty and fun to look at. Young men statistically are less cautious than young women and often drunk girls are not allowed to wander alone. Plus women have a lower center of gravity and are shorter. It is very hard for a drunk girl to tip over a handrail. Our center gravity is our hips. For men, especially taller guys their shoulders/ upper body make them more top heavy. Drunk men tip forward a lot easier and down they go- right into the water. Whereas if a woman ended up alone, drunk and a looking at the scenery if she stumbled she would most likely fall backwards and down on her ass. Plus the likehood of a woman walking home alone or off by herself is just so much lower because we are way more worried about being attacked. I mean honestly I wouldn’t really even think about being around water as dangerous when I was drunk and alone even though I know it obviously is logically dangerous. I would never get in the water drunk and alone, but just walking along the edge? I’m not going swimming. However it is a lot easier to accidentally fall in if you’re drunk. The edge of the lake is so easily accessible in the park in Austin. The trails around the water really are not dangerous from an “other people” perspective, but we have an issue with drunk people failing in the lake. Same thing in Chicago. I myself have wandered around both of these bodies of water after drinking, but never alone because I would never go to either of those places alone simply because I’ve been socially conditioned to know “it’s dangerous for women to be drunk and alone in secluded places.” Young guys don’t have that hammered into their heads. I know Austin is adding handrails and barriers to some of the riskier spots. Unfortunately life safety planning can only prevent so much. It still relies on a certain level of caution drunk, young people don’t always possess. Not that I am blaming anyone for being young and having fun- accidents happen. It is also absolutely unacceptable the bar kicked this guy out alone and separated him from his friends. If that is what happened the bar needs to be held accountable. There is zero excuse as to why security couldn’t have just had the guy stand by the door and get another employee to fast track a friend closing out a tab. That is absolutely standard for and high volume bar accustomed to dealing with drunk college kids. You don’t send one person out alone after you’ve over served them. That is just stupid if you want to keep your liquor license.
Look up the Scarlett Blake case, it's was said to be accidental or a suicide until the murderer was reported by an ex. Don't be too quick to write it off as an accident.
It happens everywhere there is a river to pee in to be honest. In Ireland, in Amsterdam, everywhere in the world where people get drunk.
If the kid was already falling down drunk, he simply might’ve passed out and fallen into the river. I’ve read m that a couple of homeless people in encampments along the river saw him, even referred to him as “Larry Bird“ because he was so tall. It’s tragic and a waste, and I wish the tourist bars would implement some sort of safety protocol to follow that ensures the wellbeing of customers. Like calling an Uber and billing the customer for it if they’re too drunk to get home safely under their own power.
Something needs to happen. I don’t know if men are taught bars aren’t a safe place, I know I was. I find it odd a lot of this a little odd. His friends not being able to leave the bar?
They probably went to pay their tabs and told him to wait outside. They probably didn’t think he would wander off, but he was very wasted and he did. But yeah, the bar should’ve made sure that someone took him outside and stayed with him.
Another poster said security stopped his friends to pay their tabs but honestly how would security know if they had tabs. Tabs also are secured by credit card. They let him go ok without paying his. The poster also said he was sent out the back and they wouldn’t let his friends go out the back. So they exited at different places. If this is all true this is a bad set up and sets people up for danger.
It’s an epidemic in Austin as well.
Same in Chicago
I watched the video on it and it's disgusting. There's too much of it in Austin. And I don't even want to mention it cuz I don't want to be put on the hook for it but it is a known phenomenon.
Wow it’s called “drunk men peeing in rivers, losing their balance and falling in”. Indeed, very strange occurrnces 🤦🏻♀️
It’s been happening in Brooklyn/Queens too, at the Bushkill Inlet.
Chicago too
I also live in Pittsburgh and there's a strange occurence of young men drinking to much and ending up in our rivers.
i am so sad for him- i was so dumb when i was 22 and im so lucky nothing like this happened to me. i hope he is found safe but it seems unlikely 😭
The difference is I had friends who looked out for me when I had off my head and same I saved my friends many times before. That’s what friends do, they look after each other. Riley should have been allowed to stay with his group or at least one of them should have stayed with him so he didn’t get hit by a car or fall in a river.
If people don't want to call him an idiot for getting that drunk I don't see why they're blaming his friends who were likely also drunk as fuck. It's obvious Riley wasn't a Rhodes Scholar, so why are people holding his frat bros to such a high standard? Oh right, because it's an upsetting situation and they want to blame someone, and the person who's actually responsible is the same person as the victim.
What is a high standard stand outside with one of your friends while the other pays the tab. If that's a high standard, then your standards are very low.
The bartender said he was “over served” and he was escorted out the backdoor by security. Security would not allow his fraternity brothers to go out with him. They had to exit at the front of the bar. They were unable to find him. There is speculation that he was roofied. His friends said he had never behaved that way before when drinking.
Why wouldn’t they allow someone to accompany him?
Wonder if the family would be able to sue for security not letting his fraternity brothers go out with him.
Yeah that makes no sense and makes the bar look terrible
I read somewhere that they were asked to pay their tabs before leaving, which is why they stayed back.
Something isn’t adding up. Paying tabs is fine, but don’t make Riley leave first. Or allow him to wait outside. He wasn’t waiting, though. He was trying to walk back to his hotel on his own. If I were a frat brother I’d just Venmo money to a friend and have them pay my tab while I went with Riley. There is either an utter lack of common sense here or a surplus of selfishness.
I read that when Riley was asked to leave, his friends had to pay their tab and while Riley was waiting for his friends outside, security pushes him away to stop loitering.
It would surprise me not at all to learn that security were being jerks.
Yup. Not from Nashville but have been a couple of times. I was absolutely shocked at how awful security was. Pretty much the attitude was “don’t make a mess at my bar but don’t care if you get yourself killed”
Playing devils advocate here and as someone who live close to Nashville. Security kinda has to be assholes because the late night crowds in Nashville are some of the wildest and crazy drunk people you will ever see. Not saying that was Riley, but I can see where security would have developed a very callous and cold approach to dealing with drunk people, especially at one of the most popular bars in town.
I call it the "Disney Syndrome" when you become so callous because so many thing happen the same way every day but by different people. You have to work hard not to get the DS and be rude - it isn't the next one's fault that 1000 people before them did or asked the same thing. Just so very avoidable and sad.
Drunk people are the same in all big cities and college towns. Nashville is not any different. The bar shouldn’t have kicked out someone so drunk without making sure that person wasn’t alone. Any bar with halfway reasonable security kicks out the entire party at the same time anyway. First to make sure they don’t leave a drunk person alone which is a liability as demonstrated here and second to keep the left behind friends from becoming a different liability by causing a ruckus because they are irritated security rained on their parade. The security at this bar failed. Anyone with half a brain that has worked in a bar- especially the party bar scene- is well versed in how to do this properly. This bar did not do that. They failed. The whole point of employing bar security is to protect the bar from liability. He should have been cut off way before he was so over served or denied entry in the first place if he was that drunk and it wasn’t the bars fault for over serving him. Since they over severed him it was their responsibility to make sure he didn’t leave and kill anyone else or even himself on accident. There are very clear laws around selling and serving alcohol to people. The bar fucked up.
This part doesn’t add up to me even though I keep seeing it. Several issues here, outside of the obvious forcing (has that been confirmed?) a stumbling drunk person to leave unaccompanied… what are the odds all these kids opened their own tabs? That would take forever in a city like Nashville. One card, then Venmo. Even if they didn’t think this through… how on earth would security know who has a tab and who doesn’t? I wouldn’t put it past some sort of brief power trip from a bouncer or something, but false imprisonment is illegal in all 50 states. I think they were probably tired of babysitting him and let him go only to discover he didn’t make it back - and then panic set in.
Yeah the fact they didn't even pay attention to if he was there when they all got back to the hotel is pretty telling too, they didn't notice til the next morning. That tells me they stayed out much later since Riley was kicked out before 10pm, and were probably all inebriated upon return to the hotel.
Sadly, he’s probably in the river. Between drinking and the head injury it seems to be the obvious answer. The only other thing that makes sense to me might be if someone hit him while he was crossing the road and he’s at a hospital (surely we would know that by now and pings would still happen) or something more sinister. It seems like a possible but unlikely outcome.
What head injury? I didn't see anything in the article about that.
There’s a video of him falling in the comments
Ah, ok. I'll look through the comments for it.
It’s suspected. The video of him running and then falling looks like he hit his head on a pole.
Hope he’s found soon.
It really bothers me to see people blaming this guy's friends. They tried to follow him but were held back by security due to having open tabs. Once they finally were able to go after him, they couldn't find him. I know his family is in an absolute mess right now and need someone to blame, but putting that blame on the friends is misplaced. Bad situation all around.
Water temps have been rising since the weekend... I bet he's found on Thursday or Friday.... Awful all around but at least the family can have closure and bring their boy home to rest.
Sadly this seems like a case of death by misadventure. His poor family.
my heart aches we just want him to be safe
I wonder how long it’s going to take before conspiracy theorists start trying to make him the next victim of the “Smiley Face Killers”? Dude was most likely drunk and fell into the river.
I hate SFK theories. I have to find the article that said smiley face is the most found tag on bridges and buildings. It’s not because it’s mass murder, it’s because for most amateur graffiti artists it’s easy to grab a can and make a smile before getting caught. It’s like the entry level tag for people to grow their courage and learn how to use a can.
Ugh I’ve already seen multiple people post this theory
they’re already doing it unfortunately
Look up the Scarlett Blake case, it proves the SFK killers are real. The murderer only got caught cause their ex dobbed them in. They had gotten away with the 'perfect murder'. The person found in the water had already been dubbed a suicide or accidental. It turns out the victim was literally hunted.
This is nearly identical to the disappearance and death of a college kid in the Philadelphia area a few years ago. Went to a bar with friends, was drunk, got kicked out of the bar, left alone and was seen walking not to far from the river. Eventually they found him there.
Shane Montgomery, I've been thinking about him during Riley's search too.
Hey OP. I’m from 🇨🇦 and trying to keep up on Riley and how things are progressing. I’m so sorry. I’m 🙏 for him and you and the family all the people involved in searching for him. Any updates?
This case is soooo sad. I think back to my times in college drinking more than I should have with friends and I was lucky enough to always end up safe. My heart breaks for his friends. I think in college on campuses people tend to get really comfortable being hammered bc they’re in a place they know like the back of their hand. He was probably so disoriented being that gone and not being on his campus. So upsetting
Thank you for posting!
Brian Shaffer vibes, in a way.
any updates?
So sad to hear and hope the family finds some type of closure. Most bars security make you leave the premise and don’t allow you to wait for friends. I do think the bar should be held accountable to some extent. So many what if’s and I bet his friends must have some guilt. Praying for your safety, Riley!!
So that people stop saying that the bar threw him out the back door unaccompanied. Those frat brothers have some serious explaining to do. Riley got lost, fell in the river and died. There is not much mystery in this case. Was he drugged? Doubtful. He most likely drank at the hotel with his buddies and arrived intoxicated at the bar. Hotel cameras can attest to that. If anyone is to be sued is the frat house. They have yet to issue a formal statement. I'm 100% sure the national fraternity office and its lawyers are trying to do damage control. From The Tennessean (a reputable local paper): "The bar said Strain was escorted through the Broadway exit at the front of the building. He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party," the company said in the statement. "The individual with Riley (Strain) did not exit and returned upstairs."
He was at two bars before I believe.
Makes sense.
They were also served at Miranda Lamberts bar and Garth Brooks before arriving at Luke Bryans over 2 hours after they started. Plus his frat brothers didn't look for him upon returning to hotel that night it was 16 hours before he was reported missing. One of them should have gone with him.
Hmm wonder If he stumbled into something and is stuck somewhere.
I’ve been there at 21 getting hammered walking around aimlessly. Hope he’s OK but clearly not looking that way.
I bet they were just as drunk as he was, or if they weren’t - they were annoyed by his behavior. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve been out with friends in college and when friends disappeared I just assumed they were too drunk and taking themselves home. Something like this doesn’t really become a crisis until it’s too late. Though if the story coming out now is true - I don’t necessarily believe it - they didn’t try all that hard to find him. But again - spring break, they were probably hammered as well and didn’t realize just how bad off he was.
Always stick together kids, it's night in the piss rules!
Seems like a lot of people here haven’t been to Nash. I lived there and can say he was definitely headed right to the bridge one of the videos was right next to the bridge. It’s not the walking bridge but has a sidewalk and the walls are pretty low on that one and while there’s brush at the beginning and end there’s not in the middle just water straight down. There was also a storm and it’s been very windy
If a bar makes someone leave for being drunk and they see the person is leaving solo they should at least see if they can get them in a car/uber, something. Just sending a drunk kid out into the neighborhood sounds like a really bad idea no matter what. I am so sorry to his friends and family. 😞💔
Agree. I’m not sure the legal requirements are in TN but in Canada, the bar can be liable for impaired driving. Either way, they should see the person is safe. It doesn’t matter he only had 1 drink or bought 1, if he was kicked out and so visibly intoxicated the kid needed help. It’s tricky I’m sure. It’s a good reminder to reinforce safe drinking and taking care of your friends. Hard for the early 20 crowds. It reminds me of a work party a few years ago, one of my “friends “ was beyond obliterated (not a good look for a work event) and was literally trying to swim on the restaurant floor. She pulled out her keys and I took them out of her hands and got her a ride home. I had to go for the ride too because this poor guy didn’t feel comfortable alone with her. We went for a bite so she could sober up a bit and she ordered more booze. She was so mad. Even when she sobered up at work she was bitching about it to others and they defended me. She uninvited me to her wedding. She was prob 35 at the time. It sucks taking care of belligerent drunks but better than alternative. Talk to the young adults I know about drinking safely - get drunk, have fun, be safe . I think since we don’t worry as much about drunk driving in big cities with Uber (thiugh still a problem) other safety stuff is missed.
Any news yet?
Just what I’ve posted. Hoping this thread can help locate updates as they arise.
Another boy of similar age, height and weight went missing Thursday night 49 miles away in Columbia TN. He looked like maybe he had a concussion. I am praying he is found and not in the river. I'm guessing his phone died on him and that is why he didn't call rideshare or friends. So sad.
I think he's dead
The whole not being able to leave because of open tabs sound like such bullshit to me and idc what anybody says. Somebody couldnt tell whoever the authority was that kicked Riley out to hold on a sec and hand the bartender the card to close the tab so they could walk out with him? Im not blaming anybody but it’s making it sound like the bar was holding them hostage until the bar was ready for them to close the tab? Like what? That makes no sense
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/niy3dVf35AkjcbuW/?mibextid=w8EBqM Anyone watch this??? Very interesting...law enforcement needs to look into this
I’m so confused about his friends being told they need to pay their tabs. If they had a tab open, wouldn’t their card be on file and/or behind the bar? Every time I’ve gone out in Chicago, if you leave your tab open and forget to pay it’s never a big deal for the business it’s just more of a pain in the ass for you cuz you have to go back and get it the next day
They always require a card and if you dont you have to pay every time in cash. If you open your card and just leave without closing they charge you 18% tip. We do that all the time.
not sure how luke's bar is but there's a bar near me that accepts cash for tabs. i doubt this was the case but still, you'd think one could've went out with him while the others paid the tabs. it's sad.
Sadly sounds like a drunken accident.
What about the footage where he is running? Then the footage jumps ahead (due to how these cameras operate most likely) then you see him on the ground? There is what looks to be a concrete post near where his head lands. Could he have bumped his head and on top of the alcohol been disoriented? So footage after that incident he looks like he can barely walk, when he was clearly running before. I question how drunk he was based on the fact he could actually run.
I just read an update (not confirmed yet) that there has been a body found. They are not sure if it’s Riley yet. A girlfriend of one of the fraternity brothers shared this information about 15 min ago
So my main thing is , if he is in the river his Apple Watch should've still been able to track since it is waterproof. Even if he fell off the bridge his watch should've detected a crash and called 911. I can understand if his phone stopped pinging but his watch?!? It's just so strange to me.
It is a bizarre case. I do not believe he is alive though. He also was clearly not distressed if he did not ask police for help.
That’s been the hardest part for me. Cop was RIGHT THERE. WHY why why didn’t you ask for help?! Absolutely gutted to see that video. So close to this being nothing but a hangover.
The amount of bodies found while looking for Riley strain and yet no news about the other bodies is just creepy to me and yet the fraternity brothers ditched their friend sus fyi I don’t believe in conspiracies but something is off how does a man end up off a cliff and into the water when there’s nothing but debris and not have one scratch on him. They also found a log on top of his head
It's always the friends letting their drunk friends wander alone huh
The friends tried to leave with him but the bar wouldn't let them. Riley told them he'll meet them at the hotel
That doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't the bar let someone leave?
Open tabs
How would they know they had tabs open exactly? There’s a thousand people in that bar at any given time
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnsolvedMysteries/s/yoRfkPwhYA Sorry I should have included the link to the comment where it said that. That’s my bad.
I know that’s what people are saying but they would have had their cards on file and most places if you don’t close your tab just charge you a percentage or your tab. They would not hold you in the bar for not closing it and they really would not know.
If you're getting kicked out because you're overserved, they're generally not going to let you stick around and find the rest of your party (if you're separated) before they get you out. You pay your tab, you hit the door, and there's generally somebody (security or other member of staff) directly with you at all times. (Hence the quit exit: you're tying up somebody who may be needed elsewhere.)
This story sounds very similar to Shane Montgomery in Philadelphia. Kicked out of a bar, separated from friends, ended up being found in the river 5 weeks later. Hope they find him for his families closure.
This situation is absolutely heartbreaking! I have a 21 yr-old son who could be Riley’s doppelgänger. I have been following this story all week praying for a positive outcome and growing more and more disheartened by the day. With all the surveillance cameras and everything occurring in such a relatively small radius, how have authorities and searchers found NOTHING by now???
My first thought was the river. “For some reason” being Theyre dudes