Missing Missouri student Riley Strain seen in newly released bodycam video

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A police officer with the Metro Nashville Police Department interacted with missing college student Riley Strain on the night he went missing, as seen in newly released video.

On Monday, March 18, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) released bodycam video from Officer Reginald Young, showing Young briefly speaking with a man identified as Strain while the former was patrolling the area of Gay Street and Woodland Street on Friday, March 8.

Metro police said Strain “did not appear distressed” as he exchanged greetings with the officer.

“How are you doing, sir?” Young asks Strain, as the two cross paths.

“I’m good. How are you?” Strain replies before walking out of frame.

Young then says “good” in response. 

MNPD confirmed to Nexstar’s WKRN that the bodycam video was captured at approximately 9:50 p.m. on March 8, which would have been shortly after Strain was escorted from a bar on Broadway, according to a previous statement from the operators of the venue.

Officer Young was reportedly in the area on a vehicle burglary call and remained on that portion of Gay Street for 45 minutes, according to police.

Strain’s father told Nexstar’s WKRN the family has seen this video. He said Strain looked like he was doing better than in previously released video.

A screengrab from bodycam video shared by the Nashville police appears to show missing student Riley Strain walking on Gay St. on the evening of March 8. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department)

University of Missouri student Riley Strain disappeared while on a fraternity trip in Nashville on March 8.

Strain’s friends have claimed they last saw him at Luke’s 32 Bridge on Broadway, just before he was removed from the venue at 9:35 p.m. for violating the bar’s “conduct standards,” according to the management.

Surveillance video from a downtown business later caught Strain stumbling and falling in a parking lot at 3rd Avenue and Church Street around 9:45 p.m. Then, at 9:47 p.m., surveillance footage caught Strain crossing 1st Avenue North to Gay Street.

Strain’s phone last pinged near James Robertson Parkway and Gay Street between 9:55 p.m. and 10 p.m. Detectives said the last phone conversation Strain had with one of his friends was also during that same time period, but the ping covered about a two-mile radius and didn’t give them a direction of travel or any more details about where Strain might have gone.

A friend of the 22-year-old called 911 on Saturday, March 9, after saying he went to the Central Police Precinct and called the sheriff’s office to file a missing person’s report.

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said its Urban Search and Rescue team has been searching the area around Strain’s last known location near the Cumberland River.

On Thursday, March 14, investigators said there had been no indication of foul play, or of Strain being involved in any type of fight or argument.

His bank card was discovered Sunday on an embankment by the Cumberland River.

Strain is 6-feet, 5-inches tall, with a slender build, blonde hair, and blue eyes, according to his family. Anyone with information on Strain’s whereabouts is urged to call the MNPD at 615-862-8600.