Death of Riley Strain, Missouri student found in Nashville river, 'continues to appear accidental'

Matt Lavietes and Corky Siemaszko
·2 min read
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The autopsy of University of Missouri student Riley Strain has uncovered no evidence of "foul play-related trauma," police said Monday.

The death of Strain, whose body was fished out of the Cumberland River on Friday morning about eight miles from downtown Nashville, "continues to appear accidental," Kristin Mumford, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said in an email.

But detectives are still awaiting the results of the toxicological examination that the medical examiner performed on the 22-year-old student, Mumford said.

"The ME does not complete an autopsy report until all testing is back," Mumford said.

What exactly happened to Strain remains under investigation, police said.

Strain went missing on March 8 after being asked to leave Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in downtown Nashville while on a trip to the city with the other members of the Delta Chi Fraternity for a spring formal.

In a statement released a week after his disappearance, Luke’s 32 Bridge + Drink said Strain was served one alcoholic drink and two waters before being escorted out by security around 9:35 p.m. “based on our conduct standards." The establishment did not elaborate further.

Before leaving, Strain told his friends he would return to his hotel, stepfather Chris Whiteid told NBC News affiliate WSMV.

But Strain never made it back to the hotel, Whiteid said in an interview on “Top Story with Tom Llamas.“

Videos released by police showed Strain appearing to stumble around the downtown area after he left the bar and having what appeared to be a friendly exchange with a police officer. His bank card was later found between Gay Street and the river on March 17.

Two weeks after he vanished, a worker at a business in West Nashville discovered Strain’s body after removing an object from the river and called the police, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a press conference Friday.

The medical examiner's office was able to quickly identify Strain because he still had his shirt and other identifiable objects on his body, Drake said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com