Riley Strain seen in video footage approaching river bridge as witnesses reveal they saw him being sick

Graig Graziosi
·3 min read
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His body was found two weeks later by a worker on the Cumberland River (Metro Nashville Police Department)

New surveillance footage containing images of missing University of Missouri student Riley Strain on the night of his disappearance in Nashville has been found, according to family friend Chris Dingman.

Chris Whiteid, Mr Strain's stepfather, said the new footage shows the student walking toward the James Robertson Parkway bridge, which spans the Cumberland River. He revealed the details to NewsNation.

The bridge is in the opposite direction of Mr Strain's hotel. It is unclear why he was walking in that direction.

Chris Salisbury, who offers assistance to homeless individuals in the Nashville area, told Ashleigh Banfield of NewsNation that he spoke with someone who saw a homeless man named Ross wearing Mr Strain's distinctive black and white shirt. Several other people he spoke with claim to have seen the same man wearing the shirt.

One of the women he was speaking with reportedly spoke with Ross, who said he found the shirt hung over a railing and covered in vomit. Ross allegedly wiped off the vomit and began wearing the shirt, according to Mr Salisbury.

He said that he shared the information with police, who were able to identify the individual who allegedly had Mr Strain's shirt in a police database. It is currently unclear if the man has or will be been taken in for questioning by police.

Mr Salisbury said he told both the police and Mr Strain’s family about his discovery. Mr Strain’s family said they had heard similar rumours during their own discussions with area homeless individuals. They also confirmed that they had seen the footage of Mr Strain approaching the bridge, but it was unclear to them if there was vomit on his shirt in that footage.

There is some question over where the shirt was found; the area where the homeless man said he found the shirt was too far away from Mr Strain's known path on the night he disappeared. All known surveillance video of Mr Strain shows him wearing a shirt, and none of the footage appears to show a vomit stain on his shirt.

Police have maintained that the evidence they've collected thus far does not suggest foul play was involved in Mr Strain's disappearance.

Mr Strain disappeared on Friday 8 March after he was removed from Luke Bryan's 32BRIDGE bar in downtown Nashville.

He was visiting the city with his fraternity brothers for their spring formal trip. After he was removed, he told his friends he was going to return to their hotel, but began walking in the opposite direction, which took him toward the banks of the Cumberland River.

It is currently not clear why Mr Strain walked so far from his hotel, or where he may have been going on the night he disappeared.

He was captured walking in the area by several surveillance cameras and had a brief interaction with a police officer, which was captured on bodycam footage.

While Mr Strain does not appear in distress in the bodycam footage, images from another surveillance camera show him running headfirst into a pole, and later holding his head.

Mr Strain was only served a single alcoholic drink at 32BRIDGE, but had visited two other bars before he arrived at the bar. Staff at 32BRIDGE said Mr Strain was removed for violating their conduct policies, but did not provide further detail.