Death of student Riley Strain "continues to appear accidental" after preliminary autopsy, Nashville police say
College student Riley Strain's death still seemed to be an accident after a preliminary autopsy exam was conducted over the weekend, Nashville police said. Earlier comments from authorities also suggested there was no evidence of foul play as they searched for Strain, the 22-year-old University of Missouri senior who had been missing for nearly two weeks in Tennessee's capital before his body was found early Friday morning in the Cumberland River.
Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Kris Mumford said a detective attended the autopsy and Strain's death "continues to appear accidental," The Tennessean reported Sunday. Mumford said toxicology results were pending, but there is no apparent foul play. A final autopsy won't be complete until all testing is finished.
Police announced Friday that Strain had been found dead in the Cumberland River about 8 miles west of downtown Nashville, and foul play was not suspected.
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said at a news conference that Strain likely fell into the river, as "there is no other evidence that suggests anything other than" that scenario. Strain was found with his clothes, watch and other identifying items still on him, Drake said. Police said no foul play-related trauma was observed on the body.
Police previously said Strain was last seen on the night of March 8 after drinking at Luke's 32 Bridge, a downtown bar where records showed he'd ordered one alcoholic drink and two waters, according to the bar's management company. He was asked to leave and escorted out of the establishment just before 10 p.m. The management company said one of the friends with whom Strain had arrived at the bar exited with him but then returned inside.
University of Missouri officials later said in a message to the school's student body that Strain had traveled to Nashville to attend his fraternity's spring formal event.
A massive search was launched, with just small clues available to help investigators trying to find him, as searchers found his bank card along a riverbank and investigators combed through surveillance footage to track his final moments. The effort joined multiple law enforcement agencies with community volunteers, who in recent days had focused their search on waterways along the massive Cumberland River. But it was workers at a river company who discovered Strain's body before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
"They removed something from the river and as they moved it they noticed Mr. Strain and called it in," Drake said. Officers had planned to search the section of the river where Strain's body was found on Friday, the police chief added, because Strain's height and weight led them to believe that his body could surface in that area soon.