The family of Riley Strain, 22, a University of Missouri student, urgently seeks information about his whereabouts. Riley was last seen by friends at a bar in Nashville’s Broadway area on Friday night, according to the Nashville police.
According to reports from the St. Louis-Post Dispatch, Riley Strain and his Delta Chi fraternity brothers were in Nashville for their spring formal.
Unfortunately, they became separated after Riley was asked to leave Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, a bar owned by country singer Luke Bryan, as his family informed NBC affiliate WSMV of Nashville.
Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told the station that at around 9:45 p.m., Riley was asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar. Subsequently, they got separated, and when the boys called him, Riley mentioned that he was walking back to his hotel. At that moment, they didn’t perceive any cause for concern.
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Upon returning to Tempo Hotel, located approximately a half-mile away, Strain’s friends noticed his room key but found no trace of him. Their attempts to reach him by phone proved futile as his device was discovered to be dead.
The young men searched, examining his Snapchat locations and inspecting other fraternity brothers’ rooms, but Strain remained elusive.
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Eventually, they contacted his parents. Upon receiving the distressing news, Riley’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, and his wife, Michelle Whiteid, journeyed from Springfield, Missouri, to Nashville to join the search efforts.
Michelle Whiteid expressed the distressing reality of the situation, stating, “We talk every day, multiple times a day. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without talking to him.”
Her husband echoed her sentiments, conveying the surreal nature of their experience, “We’re in a bad dream. Can we wake up? Please, just let us wake up.”
Chris Whiteid told NBC News during an interview on Top Story with Tom Llamas on Tuesday that Strain never returned to the hotel. He emphasized that it’s unusual for him not to be in contact with their family.
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“It’s very odd. Friday night when they got there, he had sent pictures, he called,” Whiteid said. “Yes, we’re hurting and everything, but right now we’re still expecting a positive outcome.”
Chris Whiteid informed the Post-Dispatch that based on security footage, Strain seemed to be on his way back to the hotel but may have taken a wrong turn, though the origin of the video remains unclear.
Despite Monday’s searches, including helicopter sweeps of Gay Street, where Strain was last spotted, and riverbank and ground searches, authorities found no sign of him.
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