Riley Strain Consumed 12 to 15 Alcoholic Drinks Before Accidental Drowning, Police Investigation Found: Report
An investigation has revealed more details about the 22-year-old student's last moments before his death in March
Metro Nashville Police Department
Riley Strain.Newly obtained files from the police investigation into the events leading up to college student Riley Strain's death in Tennessee have revealed more details about his alcohol consumption before he died.
Strain is estimated by authorities to have consumed 12 to 15 alcoholic drinks before he vanished on March 8 and was found dead from accidental drowning two weeks later in Nashville, based on what Strain's college fraternity brothers told the Metro Nashville Police Department, local TV station WSMV reports, citing the investigative file.
The body of the 22-year-old University of Missouri student was found in the Cumberland River in Nashville on March 22. The search for answers into what happened to him made national headlines for weeks.
An autopsy report obtained by PEOPLE in June stated that his blood alcohol content was .228, with no foul play involved.
According to interviews conducted by the police with Strain’s fraternity, he had traveled to Nashville with Delta Chi by four buses for a formal, per WSMV.
Two members told police that during the journey “the group was drinking,” despite there being a no-alcohol policy on the buses.
Related: A Complete Timeline of Missing Student Riley Strain's Disappearance
One fraternity brother said in a police interview that Strain consumed at least five drinks, including two vodka shots and three beers, on the journey.
The group arrived in Nashville around 4:30 p.m. local time on March 8.
An incident report from the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC), previously obtained by PEOPLE as part of the agency's investigation into whether Strain was overserved at any bars, states that from the hotel, Strain and other fraternity members went to multiple bars after Strain had been drinking on the bus.
Before 8 p.m., he'd also had a margarita at one establishment and then five or six drinks at another, the TABC incident report states.
Around 8:30 p.m., at one of the bars, his roommate "got him two waters because Riley began slurring his speech," according to what the roommate later told authorities. Once the "bartender heard Riley's slurred speech, she informed [the] bouncer to eject Riley [from] roof top bar," the TABC report states.
His roommate later said that Strain was supposed to go back to his hotel, and the two spoke on the phone "within 2-3 minutes of ejection of bar and Riley stated [that] he was a few blocks up on his way to hotel," according to the report.
At some point later, he drowned.
WSMV reported that the full details of exactly where and how Strain drank the police estimated 12-15 alcoholic beverages were not clear.
A TABC spokesperson said in a statement to PEOPLE in June, in part, that "there is no clear evidence that [Strain] was served an alcoholic beverage while visibly intoxicated at a licensed premises."
TABC concluded in its report that "it appears overserving to a visibly intoxicated person did not occur to Riley Strain during his visits in all (4) premises. Mr. Strain remained stable on his feet with no visible signs of overserving."
According to the police investigation obtained by WSMV, Strain began to stumble repeatedly by 8:40 p.m. on March 8, notes from investigators on video footage reviewed by police stated.
Additionally, authorities said that he was escorted from Luke 32′s Bridge restaurant at 9:38 p.m. following an argument with staff, per WSMV. The restaurant is the last location where Strain was seen alive.
Per WSMV, the investigative file stated that one fraternity member told officials he called Strain at 9:47 p.m. That fraternity member said Strain's speech was slurred and he had given indication he was heading back to the hotel they were staying at.
Fraternity members later returned to find Strain missing from his room and said that he was not picking up his phone after 1 a.m. They reported him missing at 1:46 a.m. the next day, according to 911 phone records, WSMV 4.
According to the Delta Chi fraternity’s alcohol policy, which was set in 2019, members are prohibited to consume "any alcohol product containing more than 15% alcohol-by-volume (ABV) at any chapter facility or chapter event, except when served by a licensed third-party vendor."
The police investigative file didn’t state if a licensed third party was serving the drinks, per WSMV 4.
PEOPLE has reached out to the MNPD for further comment.
Related: Riley Strain's Cause of Death Revealed
A spokesman for the University of Missouri stated in an email, per WSMV, that the fraternity formal was a private event and the fraternity has no outstanding student/organization conduct violations.
Strain was seen in final video footage released by police walking toward a bridge after going missing on March 21.
His body was later found in the river with no foul play-related trauma observed, MNPD said in a statement at the time.
In June, Strain's cause of death was revealed in an autopsy report obtained by TMZ and WSMV 4 as drowning and ethanol intoxication. His manner of death was listed as accidental, with no signs of significant trauma.
Michelle Whiteid, Strain's mother, told PEOPLE in March that she spoke with him on the night he was last seen.
"I said, ‘Well, you boys be safe. Make good choices. I love you guys.’ And he said, 'I love you, too.' And that’s it. That’s the last I have heard from him," she said.
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