Riley Strain‘s unusual last text, “Good lops,” sent to a female friend the night he disappeared on March 8, 2024, was revealed, and online sleuths, Nashville investigators, and Strain’s family aren’t sure what that meant, or if it might offer some insight into what happened to him.
Strain, a 22-year-old Mizzou senior, was in Nashville with fraternity friends when he was separated from the group after he was asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink for violating “conduct standards.” Security footage from downtown Nashville shows Strain appearing intoxicated as he wandered the city alone around 10 p.m. that night. Nashville police said there were no signs of foul play in the case.
Meanwhile, police body cam footage from an officer near the Cumberland River, and Strain’s last cell phone ping, confirm Strain was in that area before he vanished. Strain’s bank card was also discovered on the banks of the river about a week after he was last seen.
All combined it seemed likely that Strain somehow fell into the Cumberland and drowned, and on March 22, the Mizzou student’s body was recovered from the water about eight miles from Strain’s last known location.
Does ‘lops’ mean ‘low on power sorry?’
Although the Riley Strain search has concluded, some may still wonder if his strange last text might indicate what his final few moments were like, or provide some clue as to how or why he ended up in the water. At some point on the evening of March 8, a female friend, not identified in the press, reportedly texted Strain to ask if he was having a good time in Nashville, to which he responded, “Good lops.”
Strain’s friend said she wasn’t sure what “Good lops” meant, and when she received the text, she searched the internet to see if it was some form of slang she wasn’t familiar with, according to NewsNation.
Strain’s cell phone pinged by the Cumberland River, but after that, it lost signal. Some theorized online that “lops” might mean “low on power, “sorry,” or “source,” or that Strain was trying to indicate to his friend his phone was almost out of batteries, and he might not respond. Chris Dingman, however, a family friend, confirmed that Strain’s cell phone had power when it lost its signal.
“That is something that we have been able to find and verify. Riley did have battery power at the time his phone went dark. What we have been told is the phone did not die due to battery capacity,” Dingman told NewsNation.
Was ‘lops’ just a typo, instead?
Another possible theory about Strain’s last text is that “lops” might be a typo, and that Strain meant to text “lol” or possibly “lols,” instead. The security camera footage and comments from 32 Bridge employees suggest he was intoxicated, and some think he may have been drugged at some point that night, explaining the mistake. Typos in texts are common enough, even while sober.
Some think Strain could have also meant, “cops” if the text happened around the same time he encountered the cop near the Cumberland, the interaction captured on body cam footage. Or could Strain have meant “good lost,” instead?
In the end, we may never know what Strain’s last text was about or how he ultimately drowned. When his body was found, Nashville authorities reaffirmed there were no signs of foul play, and an autopsy would be conducted, which might indicate if Strain was drugged the night he died, as some have suspected.
