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

At one point, a debit card on a river embankment was the only major clue in the disappearance of University of Missouri student Riley Strain – and it was discovered by two TikTokers.

Read more from The Independent’s Andrea Cavallier:

“I want to reiterate how thankful we are for everyone and how much we appreciate everyone’s support, love and prayers,” Riley Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, said.

“I just ask that you mamas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please, for me,” she continued.

Their words came at Friday evening press conference, just hours after authorities recovered 22-year-old Strain’s body from the Cumberland River.

“We are quite thankful for everything you’ve done — the grace you’ve given us,” Chris Whiteid, Strain’s stepfather, said. “We have learned through this ordeal that everybody has brought all the good to us. We’ve had a little bad, but it has given us faith in people that sometimes gets clouded by what we are constantly hearing.”

David Flagg, the director of the United Cajun Navy, a disaster relief and search and rescue group volunteering in the search for Riley Strain, told local reporters that the Cumberland River’s current was moving quickly on the day the student disappeared.

“Somehow, Riley may have fallen into the river and was swept away by the current,” Mr Flagg told WTVF. “The current was very, very swift on the day that he disappeared.”

Police searched Cheatham Dam yesterday for any sign of Mr Strain, but did not find any evidence of the student.

As information emerged about Strain’s last known movements, family friend Chris Dingman has revealed the final text message the student sent.

He told NewsNation Strain sent a confusing text to a girl he was speaking with who “texted him to see how he was doing”. Strain responded with: “Good lops.”

Read more from The Independent:

Riley Strain’s parents and relatives gave an emotional statement on Friday evening, all wearing green — the student’s favourite colour.

Riley’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, gave an emotional address to members of the media after her son’s body was recovered from the Cumberland River.

“I just want to reiterate how thankful we are for everyone, how much we appreciate everyone’s support,” Ms Whiteid said.

“I just ask that you mamas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please, for me,” she continued.

Before authorities recovered his body from the Cumberland River, Riley Strain was last seen via surveillance footage after being asked to leave a bar earlier this month.

Authorities discovered Strain’s body approximately 8 miles from downtown Nashville in the Cumberland River, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at a press conference. Workers were removing an object from the river when they stumbled upon Strain’s body.

According to police, Strain was wearing his distinctive black and white shirt when he was found, contradicting earlier claims by that the shirt had been taken and worn by a man named Ross.

An initial autopsy revealed there were no signs of foul play-related trauma, local outlet WKRN reports.

Mr Drake made note of a grim detail during the presser that could shed some light on why it took so long to find Strain; a body matching Strain’s height and weight would typically take approximately 14 to 20 days to surface after being submerged in a body of water. He said the police were expecting to find him sometime this week as a result.

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.”

Riley Strain, the 22-year-old University of Missouri student whose body was recovered from the Cumberland River on Friday, was missing for two weeks.

From The Independent, a timeline of Strain’s disappearance, including the last moments he was seen alive: