A body has been found in a Nashville river that missing University of Missouri student Riley Strain was last seen near after he was kicked out of a bar earlier this month, authorities said.
The body was found in the Cumberland River near 61st Avenue North around 7:30 a.m. Friday, news station WKRN reported.
No information about the person’s identity or gender have been released.
Authorities were working to remove the body from the water Friday.
The discovery comes amid the search for Strain, who was visiting the Music City with his Delta Chi fraternity brothers when he vanished leaving country star Luke Bryan’s honky-tonk bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, on March 8.
The 6-foot-7 finance major purchased one alcoholic drink and two drinks of water during his visit, according to TC Restaurant Group — the operator and owner of Luke’s 32 Bridge.
The bar shared that security made the decision based on their “conduct standards” after they noticed Strain’s behavior and then escorted him from the venue through our Broadway exit at the front of our building” at 9:35 p.m.
“He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs.”
Strain told his friends he would return to their room at the Tempo by Hilton, about five blocks from the bar.
However, Strain was seemingly captured crossing Gay Street at around 9:47 p.m. after leaving the bar — about a 17-minute walk from Luke’s 32 Bridge and in the opposite direction of the hotel, according to Nashville Police.
He was then spotted on Nashville Police officer Reginald Young’s body-cam while he walked down Gay Street, the department posted on X.
Young, who was in the area investigating a reported vehicle burglary, briefly interacted with Strain, asking him how he was doing, to which the Missouri senior replied: “Good.”
Strain did not appear to be in any distress during their short interaction.
A local homeless man claimed he saw a “very, very intoxicated” Strain almost fall over the edge of a trail into the Cumberland River.
Police say Strain was spotted one final time on Gay Street at 9:52 p.m. but shared “No video has been discovered that shows Riley away from Gay St. after the 9:52 p.m. timeframe.”
Strain wasn’t reported as missing until about four hours after he was escorted out of Luke’s 32 Bridge at 1:35 a.m. when a friend returned to their hotel to find him not in the room.
His phone last pinged between 10 and 10:30 p.m. in the area of Public Square Park, located near the sheriff’s office and the Cumberland River.
A girl Strain had been romantically involved with said she texted him on the night of his disappearance “to see how he was doing” on the trip.
His Delta Chi fraternity brother, Chris Dingman, said the girl received a bizarre “scripted text” from Strain saying “Good lops.”
Dingman said the girl had trouble understanding what the text meant and resorted to Googling its meaning.
Strain’s fraternity brother noted that the text highlighted his friend’s mental state that night.
On March 17, police found Strain’s bank card on the embankment of the river, but the card has not been used since he went missing.