‘Where did Riley go?’: Family friend sifting through countless online leads, plans search in Nashville

Kendall Ashman
·2 min read
2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Family friends are hoping a fresh set of eyes can help in the search for missing Missouri student Riley Strain.

This comes after TikTokers found Riley’s bank card on Sunday along the Cumberland River. On Tuesday afternoon, the United Cajun Navy also announced they would be aiding in the search during a press conference.

What is the United Cajun Navy?

“Where did Riley go? It’s the question of the day and we are going to keep asking it until someone answers it and we get our boy home,” Chris Dingman, Strain’s family friend said.

It’s a question asked by people across the country. Strain’s disappearance has captured national attention. “We have had people from Europe, Australia, and Japan reach out and send love to this family,” Dingman said.

Dingman has been actively involved in the search efforts online and is part of a Facebook group with over 55,000 followers. “The media, the TikTok searchers, the people on Twitter and Instagram that are providing for us at this moment that’s what we have to go on.”

TIMELINE: The disappearance of Missouri student Riley Strain, what we know so far

He said the biggest breakthrough so far was made by TikTokers who found Riley’s bank card along the Cumberland River on Sunday. “It’s the only breakthrough that we have. That is literally the only viable lead that we have that we know.”

So now he’s hoping to have his boots on the ground Wednesday and work alongside the United Cajun Navy.

“Fresh eyes can see things that we may just be blinded by because we have been looking at it so hard…The debit card [was] found where literally thousands of people have been religiously, daily, and it just shows up,” Dingman said.

Riley Strain Continuing Coverage | The latest in the search for the missing Missouri student

Volunteers are asked to work with the United Cajun Navy for an organized search effort.

Strain is 6-feet, 5-inches tall, with a slender build, blonde hair, and blue eyes, according to his family. If you see Strain or have any information about where he may be, you are asked to call the MNPD at 615-862-8600.

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