A Missouri college student went missing in Nashville. Police now know what killed him

Rebekah Riess and Christina Zdanowicz, CNN
Tue, June 18, 2024 at 7:47 PM EDT
2 min read

Riley Strain, a Missouri college student who went missing after leaving a downtown Nashville bar and whose body was later found in a river, died of accidental drowning and alcohol poisoning, the medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.

Strain’s body was found in the Cumberland River in West Nashville on the morning of March 22, several miles from where he had gone missing. The 22-year-old University of Missouri student had been in town on a weekend trip two weeks earlier when he was kicked out of a bar, authorities said.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said the autopsy, released Tuesday, corroborates the findings of their missing person detectives, and the department is now officially classifying Strain’s death as accidental. … The autopsy report said Strain’s blood alcohol level was 0.228, which is almost three times the legal driving limit. The cannabis compound Delta-9 THC was also found in his system, the report said.

Police found Strain had consumed “multiple alcoholic drinks” at different establishments in Nashville, became separated from his friends and was “noticeably impaired” as he walked onto Gay Street, adjacent to the Cumberland River on the night of March 8. … Detectives concluded Strain, unfamiliar with the terrain and walking in the dark, stepped toward an overgrown area and fell down the steep embankment leading to the river and into the water. Due to recent rain, the river was very high that night with a swift current, police said.

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