Riley Strain was found dead in the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee after he went missing on a trip with his fraternity. The initial autopsy ruled Strain’s death was accidental. Strain’s family ordered a second autopsy, and Strain’s mother has now revealed the final text she received from her son.
The March 2024 search for Strain captured headlines and went viral on social media, as security footage from downtown Nashville suggested that Strain may have been intoxicated the night he vanished or possibly drugged. According to Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, the last text from Strain the night he disappeared suggests the latter may have been the case.
Strain’s rum and coke “didn’t taste good,” he said
On the night he disappeared, Riley Strain, 22. had been kicked out of Luke Bryan’s Nashville bar, and it was learned that Strain and his Mizzou fraternity friends had been at other bars before he went missing. Exactly how much Strain had to drink that night is unclear, but Bryan’s establishment said it served him one alcoholic drink and two glasses of water before asking him to leave because he seemed overserved.
According to Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, speaking with NewsNation, however, Strain texted her at some point that night and told her he was drinking a rum and coke that “didn’t taste good.” Where Strain was when he sent that text and who served him that drink is unclear. Strain told his mom the drink tasted like “barbecue.” She told him he shouldn’t drink it. Whiteid now thinks that text might indicate that “there was something in it that shouldn’t have been,” she said.
Roofies, or “date rape” drugs, which some surmise may have been slipped into Strain’s drink that night, most often have no taste or smell, making them particularly dangerous. GHB, however, or gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, sometimes called Liquid Ecstasy, can sometimes taste salty when mixed in a drink, depending on how it’s produced. GHB effects can include drowsiness, seizures, loss of consciousness, and even death.
The second Strain autopsy
While Strain’s initial autopsy indicated that his death was accidental, that there were no signs of foul play, and that he had drowned, his family ordered a second autopsy for several reasons; one being the suspicious text, also what he was wearing when his body was recovered, and that no water was detected in his lungs. Strain’s pants, wallet, and boots were missing when he was found.
In another NewsNation interview, forensic analyst Joseph Scott Morgan agreed Strain being partially clothed was cause for further investigation. Dr. Michelle Dupre, however, said the lack of water in Strain’s lungs did not rule out drowning. Dupre described “dry drowning,” or when the body closes off airways to prevent water and oxygen from reaching the lungs, as a possible scenario.
Referring to the lingering questions he has about how his son died, Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, said, “If he fell and truly fell in the water, and you can prove that to me, show me. I’ll accept it. But I can tell you from all the stuff that we’ve done as far as searching and looking, taking pictures — I don’t feel like it’s really possible that happened. He may have fallen, but someone helped him in the water.”
