Riley Strain updates: Preliminary autopsy suggests student’s death was ‘accidental’

A Nashville city council member representing the city’s downtown district said he is planning to secure the area of the river where Riley Strain is believed to have slipped into the water.

He issued a statement on Friday after news broke that Mr Strain’s body had been found in the river.

“My heart breaks for Riley’s family and friends,” District 19 city councilor Jacob Kupin said. “Since his disappearance I have been actively working on steps to secure the river area where he likely fell. We will continue these efforts to make sure his death was not in vain.”

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell urged residents and visitors to be cautious and to be mindful of each other in the city in the wake of Riley Strain’s death.

“I think this is an important reminder to everyone to also look out for one another,” Mr O’Connell said during a Friday morning meeting. “You know, I think some of this is just about how we as a city look after each other as neighbors and as people interacting in the entertainment district.”

University of Missouri President Mun Y Choi issued a statement on Friday informing the students and faculty at the college that Riley Strain, a senior, had been found dead.

“I write to you with a heavy heart with the news that the search for MU student Riley Strain has ended tragically,” Mr Choi wrote. “After an exhaustive search by authorities and volunteers, Riley’s body was recovered today in Nashville, Tenn., where he had traveled to attend his fraternity’s spring formal event.”

“As the Mizzou community mourns Riley, we are keeping his family in our thoughts and offering support,” Mr Choi wrote.

University of Missouri student Riley Strain was out with his fraternity brothers in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday 8 March when he disappeared.

He’d been asked to leave a bar the Delta Chi group were hanging out in, shortly before 9.45pm, and said he was going back to their hotel.

Two weeks after he walked out of the bar, his body was discovered in the Cumberland River, some eight miles downstream from Nashville.

Here is everything we know about the disappearance and death of Riley Strain.

What happened to Riley Strain?

In total, more than 200 tips have poured in in connection to the disappearance of Riley Strain.

The student vanished back on 8 March after being kicked out of a bar in downtown Nashville.

Surveillance footage showed him walking close to the Cumberland River.

In the two weeks between his disappearance and the tragic discovery of his body, over 200 tips were sent in by members of the public.

Riley Strain’s family has been informed about the tragic discovery, police said.

“Our heart and prayers go out to you all for this unfortunate and tragic incident,” Nashville Police Chief John Drake said in the briefing.

An autopsy is expected later today.

Riley Strain was still wearing his distinctive shirt when his body was pulled from the river, police said.

On the night he was last seen in downtown Nashville, Strain was sporting a monochrome shirt.

Since his disappearance, reports have emerged that a homeless man had found a shirt matching the description close to the river bank and was later seen wearing it.

But, in the press conference on Friday morning, police said that Strain was still wearing his shirt and watch – and that these items helped to identify him.

Police said that the medical examiner have reviewed the body and confirmed that it belongs to Riley Strain.

An autopy is pending.

But, as it stands, there are no signs of foul play.

In a press briefing, police said that a worker spotted a body in the river around 7.28am that morning.

The worker was removing an object from the river, when the body surfaced, police said.

The Nashville Fire Department was called in to the scene and recovered the body from the water.