‘Prayer isn’t the least we can do, it’s the most we can do’: Vigil honoring Riley Strain planned for Friday night
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The disappearance of Missouri student Riley Strain in Nashville captured the hearts of people across the country.
Many volunteers focused their efforts on Gay Street, the last place Strain was seen on surveillance video. One group of volunteers placed more than a thousand missing person flyers of Strain with hopes of bringing him home.
“They get to bring him home and that’s, if you can read my shirt, why we didn’t put missing we just want to bring him home,” volunteer Jennifer Ward told News 2.
Riley Strain’s body found in Cumberland River
Ward has volunteered every day over the last two weeks saying, as a mother, she felt personally invested.
Friday night she worked to hold a prayer vigil in Strain’s honor at 7:30 p.m. under the bridge near where he was last seen.
“You know prayer isn’t the least we can do, it’s the most we can do. Today starts day one in their journey…I couldn’t imagine what they feel today,” volunteer Brandi Maige said.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell posted on social media Friday that he can’t imagine the family’s heartbreak, saying he will continue working on improvements in safety in a variety of ways.
District 19 Metro Councilman Jacob Kupin told News 2 that he has been looking at ways to ensure the riverfront is a safe area while preserving the look of the river.
“Since Riley’s disappearance, I’ve been down here a number of times looking at the scene, looking at what might have happened, what can we as a city do to make sure nothing ever happened again. Of course, we don’t know exactly what happened to him, but we’ve been in conversations with multiple departments looking at potential barriers or barricades to this space making sure people understand there is a cliff, there is a drop off in this area and to be safe and cognizant of that,” said Kupin.
Riley Strain Continuing Coverage | The latest in the search for the missing Missouri student
Metro police say the preliminary investigation shows there was no foul play in Strain’s case.
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