A student from the University of Missouri at Columbia went missing Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, while visiting with his fraternity.
Nashville police said Riley Ray Strain, a senior at Mizzou, was last seen about 10 p.m. Friday leaving a bar on Broadway in downtown Nashville.
Strain’s stepfather, Christopher Whiteid, said in an interview Monday that the past few days have been “pure hell.â€
Strain, 22, is a member of the Delta Chi fraternity at Mizzou. The group traveled to Tennessee for their annual spring formal this past weekend, but Strain went missing after being kicked out of country music star Luke Bryan’s bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, on Friday evening.
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Several of Strain’s family members, including Whiteid, traveled to Nashville from Springfield, Missouri, on Saturday after being alerted of his disappearance by Delta Chi members.
Whiteid said Strain usually talks to his mother, Michelle Whiteid, four to five times a day and had FaceTimed her from a bar a few hours before he went missing.
The family has been walking the streets of downtown Nashville the past three days, searching “everywhere from the river to all the way up to Broadway,†Christopher Whiteid said.
Whiteid said Strain called his fraternity brothers after leaving the bar and told them he was going back to the hotel.
A representative of the bar declined comment.
From surveillance footage, Whiteid said it looked like Strain was heading back to the hotel but took a wrong turn.
One of Strain’s fraternity brothers called police from the Tempo Hotel on Rosa Parks Boulevard to report Strain missing on Saturday.
The friend told officers that he and others unsuccessfully tried using Strain’s Snapchat location to find him. They tried calling him several times Friday and Saturday, but the calls kept going to voicemail.
Strain is 6-foot-5, 160 pounds and has blue eyes and blonde hair. He was wearing a black-and-brown button-up shirt with blue jeans and brown boots.
Strain’s stepdad said this is not the first Delta Chi formal Strain has attended. Strain is set to graduate this May with a degree in business and finance.
“The safety of our community is our highest priority,†Angela King Taylor, interim vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Our thoughts are with Riley’s family as the search continues. We will be offering any support to them that we can, and we encourage anyone who needs help to reach out to our counseling resources.â€
Fraternities at Mizzou have come under fire for several incidents in recent years.
In 2021, the university suspended all fraternity activities after a freshman was found unresponsive at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. The student was left blind, unable to walk or speak, and with brain damage after drinking a liter of vodka as a form of hazing.
In 2016, the same year another student was hospitalized for drinking, the Post-Dispatch reported that almost half of the fraternities on Mizzou’s campus were on probation due to instances involving alcohol abuse.
Delta Chi, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, said Monday that it is aware Strain was reported missing.
“Delta Chi is hopeful for Riley’s safe return; our thoughts are with his family and the members of the Missouri Chapter during this difficult time,†the statement reads.
The fraternity said it is providing in-person resources to local chapter members and virtual access to crisis counselors to all members.
Delta Chi has over 118,000 members across nearly 150 chapters.
Missouri chapter president A.J. Thompson said the chapter did not wish to comment.