Riley Strain has been missing since early March.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As the search for missing University of Missouri student Riley Strain continued into its 11th day Tuesday, his family says they have asked the United Cajun Navy for help organizing search parties.
During a press conference in downtown Nashville on Tuesday, which you can see in the video player above, Strain's mother cried as his stepfather, Chris Whiteid, expressed his gratitude for everything that’s been done so far to help find Strain.
“We appreciate more than you’ll ever know the outpouring that we’ve received from the community, from the press, and everyone else involved,” Whiteid said. “Our goal is still to bring Riley home. We feel that is still a very pliable goal.”
He went on to explain that the family feels it needs extra resources to continue searching for Riley.
"We've had an airboat here on the river, we've had people involved behind the scenes, and following this and understanding what's been happening here," said Dave Flagg, the national director of operations for the United Cajun Navy. The nonprofit agency, which was formed after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, responds to natural disasters to conduct search and rescue operations.
According to Flagg, the group has been involved since learning about Strain's disappearance.
"...Our main focus, obviously, is to find Riley. Our secondary focus is to ensure the safety of the people who are out here searching," Flagg continued during Tuesday's press conference, adding that the United Cajun Navy is stepping in to help organize volunteer search efforts for Strain.
Detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department have also been collaborating with the United Cajun Army in the search for Strain.
At this time, police said there is still no evidence pointing to foul play. Investigators are continuing to follow up on multiple leads, and Sgt. Robert Nielsen said they will not stop until they have answers.
“This is not going away any time soon. I have detectives that work cold case homicides that are decades old, and we continue to work on those,” Nielsen said. “In fact, one of my detectives was able to close two of them last year… we keep going until we have absolutely nothing.”
Strain has been missing since March 8, when he disappeared while on a fraternity trip in Nashville. Surveillance video caught Strain stumbling and falling in a parking lot at around 9:45 p.m. that night, before additional surveillance footage caught him crossing the street two minutes later.
Strain’s last phone ping was 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.
On Sunday, March 17, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed Strain’s bank card was found off of Gay Street along the riverbank. The next day, police released a new video showing Strain interacting with an officer near the area where his phone was last pinged. The officer had been called to the area to investigate a car burglary.
Police noted in a post on X that Strain did not appear to be in distress.
“If an altercation, a physical altercation would’ve happened with Riley - a fight, an argument, or something - as family, we’re hoping, man, that cop would’ve heard something. He’s down there looking for mischief,” close family friend Chris Dingman said. “Did he get in a vehicle? Because at 6-foot-5-, 6-foot-6-inches, blonde hair, blue-eyed boy, you just don’t vanish like he has. Somebody, if there is a crime involved, eight days into this has perfectly created the perfect crime.”
Dingman said so far there were no signs of blood or Strain’s clothing in the area around the Cumberland River. He wondered if Riley had gotten into a vehicle.
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.
The Nashville Office of Emergency Management (OEM) told Nexstar's WKRN they had not been called in to assist with search efforts Monday. Previously, crews had been searching along the Cumberland River with boats, drones, and K-9s.
The MNPD told WKRN they believed helicopters would fly over the area Monday, but detectives were focused on sorting through tips and looking into cellphone data.
The women who discovered Strain’s bank card Sunday continued to search throughout the day Monday.
Strain’s loved ones previously said they would like to see more resources devoted to the search, including agencies like the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), FBI, and Department of Homeland Security.
“More eyes, if we have more eyes, more investigators, and more resources, maybe we can find him quicker. They find a card that we have been by every day - the police have been by every day - and find it miraculously. You couldn’t put two and two more together on why we should have more police involvement. I even mentioned the FBI,” Dingman said.
The TBI told WKRN their agency has forwarded several tips to the MNPD, however, their assistance had not been formally requested, which is a requirement for the agency to get involved.
“We first thought the area had been searched pretty well and they find this little, small debit card. It just leaves you to question how well it was searched, maybe here in the future when these more organized search parties come through here, maybe they’ll find something else. We just remain hopeful. Riley’s captured the hearts of people across the country and we thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers and their efforts on trying to find him,” Strain’s father, Ryan Gilbert, said.
Strain's family told WKRN they had reviewed surveillance footage with police and were able to see footage of Strain inside Luke’s 32 Bridge, as well as near a food truck.
The MNPD said investigators have found no evidence of foul play.
