Riley Strain wasn’t served too much before his death by drowning in Nashville
Riley Strain’s family speaks in Nashville after student’s body found
The family of Riley Strain entered a small room at Metro Nashville Police headquarters on Friday evening, March 22, 2024, to thank the community after his body was found.
Investigators believe Riley Strain, the Missouri college student who died in March after disappearing from Broadway, was neither visibly drunk nor served too much at Luke’s Bryan’s bar in Nashville the night he disappeared.
The new findings were released Thursday by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), which launched an investigation to determine whether Luke’s 32 Bridge Strain had over-served before ejecting him from the bar, leading to his disappearance and a search effort that made national headlines.
Strain’s body was recovered from the Cumberland River two weeks after his disappearance. The Davidson County Coroner concluded that his death was caused by accidental drowning and alcohol intoxication. His blood alcohol level was .228, nearly three times the legal limit, according to the autopsy report.
Before his death, Strain and his fraternity brothers visited four bars on Broadway, the TABC report said.
“It appears that during his visits to all (four) establishments, Riley Strain did not over-serve a visibly intoxicated person,” the report states. “Mr. Strain was stable on his feet and showed no visible signs of over-serving.”
A friend of Strain’s family told news outlets that his family wants a second autopsy.
More: No fines for serving drunk customers: Why it’s so difficult to control consumption on Lower Broadway
More: Nashville examines safety at downtown riverfront after death of Riley Strain
According to autopsy findings, Strain showed signs of pulmonary edema and pleural effusion, which occur when too much fluid accumulates in the lungs and chest.
Strain was served one alcoholic drink and two waters before being ejected from Luke Bryan’s bar on March 8 for code of conduct violations, the bar’s owner and operator, TC Restaurant Group, said in an earlier statement.
Thursday’s TABC report said Strain was thrown out of the bar when a bartender heard Strain slurring his pronunciation.
TABC investigators interviewed three of Strain’s friends who accompanied him on the trip.
Strain’s roommate Braden Baltz told authorities he and Strain were with a group on March 8 and walked to Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa at 4:30 p.m. There, Strain ordered a margarita, Baltz said, adding he wasn’t sure if Strain had any other alcoholic beverages.
The group next visited Garth Brooks Friends at Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk around 5:30 p.m., Baltz said in the TABC report. Records show that Strain purchased two whiskey-coke drinks, one rum-coke drink and two 5% alcohol sparkling water drinks at that establishment.
At 7:45 p.m., Baltz said, the group walked to Luke’s 32 Bridge, where Strain said he had another rum and coke.
They left the bar and went to Kid Rick’s Honky Tonk at 10 p.m., Baltz told investigators, noting that he wasn’t sure if Strain had had any drinks at the bar.
When the group returned to Luke’s 32 Bridge at 10:30 p.m., Baltz said he ordered two waters from Strain after hearing his slurred pronunciation. But when a bartender heard Strain’s slurred pronunciation, a bouncer was called to kick the 22-year-old out of the rooftop bar, the TABC report said.
Investigators did not say in their report whether Strain had been drinking before his outing that evening, whether he paid for his drinks with cash rather than a credit card, or whether he drank drinks paid for by others.
When the bouncer removed Strain from Luke’s 32 Bridge, the group said they would meet Strain back at the hotel, but Strain never returned, Baltz said in the report.
Baltz called Strain within two to three minutes of being kicked out and told investigators that Strain said he was “a few blocks” away from the hotel, about a half-mile from the bar, the report said.
Fraternity brothers who were with Strain when he was thrown out of the bar talked to him downstairs and later went back upstairs, the report said.
Surveillance footage shows Strain walking through downtown Nashville, occasionally stumbling.
He had a friendly conversation with a police officer near 1st Avenue North and Gay Street. His bank card was found near the Cumberland River on March 17, five days before his body was pulled from the water.
Old Firehouse proposes a dictionary, a dark novel and a fantasy
 "Is Taylor Swift skipping her annual 4th of July party?")
Is Taylor Swift skipping her annual 4th of July party?
NIJISANJI & NIJISANJI EN announce “Farewell Voice”
About The Author
