The search for missing college student Riley Strain has moved to a dam 40 miles from where he was last seen.
Strain, 22, was last seen on March 8 as he stumbled through the streets after being kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in Nashville.
The Delta Chi fraternity member was in Tennessee on a trip for their annual spring formal when he was kicked out of the bar just after 9:30 p.m.
Earlier this week, his bank card was found near the Cumberland River and rescue teams are now scouring a dam miles from where he was last spotted.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) shared a video on Tuesday showing one of their helicopters flying over the Cheatham Dam.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) shared a video on Tuesday showing one of their helicopters flying over the Cheatham Dam
Strain, 22, was last seen on March 8 as he stumbled through the streets of Broadway, Nashville
In their post, they said: ‘Our helicopters continue to fly over the Cumberland River in the ongoing search for Riley Strain.
‘MNPD and Nashville Emergency Operations boats were on the water again today. The Cheatham Co. Sheriff’s Office is also assisting down river.’
WTVF reported that officers had the dam shut down to inspect any debris that floated up to the surface, but did not find anything related to Strain.
David Flagg, director of operations for the United Cajun Navy, told the outlet: ‘Somehow, Riley may have fallen into the river and was swept away by the current. The current was very, very swift on the day that he disappeared.’
His parents Michelle and Chris Whiteid have been in the city since the search began, with Chris telling reporters that his family had started preparing for the worst.
Whiteid said: ‘Put yourself in our shoes. Everybody knows it. Everybody’s thinking it. Those conversations are starting to happen. It’s not what we want.
‘And I understand that people want to know what we’re feeling. We’re feeling frustrated, we’re feeling hurt, we’re feeling depressed. Nobody knows what happened to Riley.’
Michelle Strain Whiteid, left, and her husband, Chris Whiteid, speak to the media during a press conference to update the public about the disappearance of Strain
His parents previously said cops butchered the investigation into his disappearance, as more clues seem to have come from the public than officers
Riley was seen on surveillance video stumbling away from the bar and a homeless person reported Strain was at an encampment the night he went missing.
His parents previously said cops butchered the investigation into his disappearance, as more clues seem to have come from the public than officers.
The parents’ criticism of the cops comes after TikTokers found a crucial piece of evidence that investigators failed to discover over a week after Strain went missing.
Anna Clemdening and Brandy Baenen, had been rummaging through trash along the riverbank when they located Strain’s bank card.
‘My stomach dropped,’ Clendening said, describing the moment she turned over the card to reveal Strain’s name. ‘My innate reaction was to be like, ‘Let’s keep looking.’
Officers have since defended their search efforts. ‘When we start a missing person investigation, we’re looking for a person. We’re not looking for small pieces of evidence,’ Sgt. Robert Nielsen said during a press conference.
‘Can we miss somethings? Sure. But our primary goal is to find Mr. Strain and bring him home safely.
Police previous shared footage on X showing Strain walking along the sidewalk past an officer, who appeared to be inspecting a car with a smashed window.
Officers have been scouring the Cumberland River and now a dam in the search for Strain
The parents’ criticism of the cops comes after TikTokers found a crucial piece of evidence that investigators failed to discover over a week after Strain went missing
Nashville police released this haunting image of Strain walking along the sidewalk on the night he vanished, as he asked a cop how he was before telling him that he was ‘doing good’
Strain says, ‘How are you?’ to the officer, to which the cop responds, ‘How you doing sir?’
‘Good you?’ Strain says. ‘Good,’ the officer said back. Metro Nashville PD said that it is evidence the student was away from Gay St, the last place he was seen alive.
Strain had told his friends that he would meet them back at their hotel, but was nowhere to be seen when the group returned from their night out.
His friends tried contacting him, but received no response and they reported Strain as missing as they failed to locate him via his Snapchat location.
Surveillance footage collected by police from Downtown Smoke & Vape Shop on Church Street showed Strain near the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Church Street.
Strain, 22, was last seen on March 8 at Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink on Broadway, which is owned by country superstar Luke Bryan , according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
The seemingly intoxicated student was wearing a two-toned black and brown shirt and blue jeans and took a tumble, then quickly got back up and continued down the street.
Another camera caught near the intersection of Gay Street and 1st Avenue North just before 10pm taking large strides with his head down as he stumbled through the streets.
The student had reportedly FaceTimed his mom earlier in the evening, and she said nothing seemed out of the ordinary, even though she knew he was bar hopping.
His mother Michelle Whiteid said he’s ‘a great kid’ and normally ‘very communicative’.
‘We miss him and we want him back so bad,’ she told WKRN. ‘He’s always texting me, calling me, FaceTiming me,’ she added. ‘He’s always in touch with me. He’s very communicative.’
