Riley Strain’s mom, family speak out after student’s body is found in Nashville river: ‘Hug your babies tight tonight’
The parents and stepfather of Riley Strain heartbrokenly spoke out following the discovery of the college student’s body in the Cumberland River in Tennessee on Friday.
“I just ask that you mommas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please,” Riley’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, told reporters on Friday, according to Fox 17.
“Please for me, hug your babies tight tonight.”
Strain’s parents and several other family members wore green, Strain’s favorite color, to honor the University of Missouri student’s memory in the press conference.
Strain went missing earlier this month after being kicked out of a Nashville bar on a trip with his fraternity brothers.
Ryan Gilbert, Strain’s father, thanked the Nashville Police Department, the United Cajun Navy, the community, and his family back home for helping search for his son.
“It’s just unbelievable what they’ve done for us,” Gilbert said.
The finance major’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, described the last two weeks as an “emotional roller-coaster.”
“We’re quite thankful for everything that you’ve done for our family. The grace that you’ve given us, it means a lot, more than you’ll ever know,” Chris Whiteid said.
“To the people of Nashville, I can’t thank you enough for the support, the love, the encouragement that you’ve shown myself and my wife. You don’t understand how much that meant to us in some of our darkest hours.”
Family, friends, and members of the Nashville community held a candlelight vigil to honor Strain’s family on Gay Street Friday night, one of the last locations where the 22-year-old was last seen.
In a statement provided to The Post Friday, Strain’s Fraternity, Delta Chi, spoke glowingly of their departed brother.
“The Delta Chi Fraternity is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our esteemed fraternity brother, Riley Strain,” it wrote.
“Our hearts go out to Riley’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time as we work to provide support and resources to all those affected by this tragedy.”
What to know about the mysterious disappearance and death of Riley Strain
- College student Riley Strain, 22, went missing after being kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in Nashville on March 8, 2024. Strain told his University of Missouri fraternity brothers that he was going back to his hotel room, but never arrived or contacted his friends.
- Surveillance footage shows him walking toward the hotel before making a wrong turn. His cellphone last pinged about a mile from the bar. A video saw Strain jogging away from his hotel before his disappearance.
- According to the Luke Bryan-owned bar, Strain only purchased one alcoholic drink and two waters the night he went missing. The 22-year-old’s parents have claimed he was “overserved.”
- The student’s bank card was found days later on an embankment of the Cumberland River by two TikTokkers searching the area.
- A local homeless man allegedly saw a “very, very intoxicated” Strain almost fall over the edge of a trail into the river. Strain was also spotted by a police officer near the river, according to body camera footage.
- Strain’s body was found in the river on Saturday by workers clearing the river of debris. According to a preliminary autopsy, Strain’s death was “accidental.”
Strain vanished after he left country star Luke Bryan’s honky-tonk bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, on March 8.
Over the next two weeks, authorities followed a breadcrumb trail of phone pings and grainy surveillance footage, even finding a bank card in his name on the river’s shore earlier this week.
Strain’s body was discovered floating in the river by a worker clearing debris from the shoreline of the Cumberland River at around 7:30 a.m., according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police.
The fire department worked quickly to remove the body from the water before cops confirmed it was the 22-year-old a few hours later.
No foul play is suspected, but an autopsy has been scheduled, police said.
Police Chief John Drake told reporters Strain had been wearing the same shirt, watch, and “other identifying items” that initially led investigators to believe they had found the missing student.
His body was found exactly two weeks after he was last seen.
