What Riley Strain's autopsy report says about the Missouri student's Nashville death
Riley Strain, a Missouri college student whose body was recovered from the Cumberland River two weeks after he went missing during a night out in Nashville with fraternity brothers, drowned after over-indulging, according to the autospy report.
The Davidson County Medical Examiner's office released Strain's autopsy report Tuesday, declaring his death an accident from drowning and ethanol intoxication. His blood-alcohol level was nearly three times that of the legal limit.
Strain's body was discovered about eight miles from where he was last seen in downtown Nashville after a two-week search for the missing 22-year-old.
He went missing after he was kicked out of Luke's 32 Bridge Food and Drink downtown while on Broadway. He had one alcoholic drink and two waters before he was kicked out of the bar on March 8 due to conduct standards, the bar's owner and operator, TC Restaurant Group, said in a statement.
Strain was seen on surveillance footage walking around the downtown area, sometimes stumbling.
He had a friendly exchange with a police officer near 1st Avenue North and Gay Street. His bank card was discovered near the Cumberland River on March 17, five days before his body was recovered.
Riley Strain's autopsy results
Strain's body was in some stages of decompostion when he was recovered from the river.
According to the report, he was found wearing the black and tan button-down shirt he was last seen wearing, underwear, black socks, his watch and two necklaces. An examination of his body revealed no signs of trauma.
Strain showed signs of pulmonary edema and pleural effusions, which happens when too much fluid builds up in the lungs and chest cavity.
At the end of March, a friend of Strain's family told news outlets that his family wanted a second autopsy.
While there was evidence of fluid in his chest cavity, and medical conditions that occur when there is too much water in the lungs, there was no mention of water present in his lungs at the time of the autopsy, according to the report.
The friend said the lack of water in his lungs, and the missing articles of clothing, raises questions about if he was alive when he went into the water.
Riley Strain's toxicology report
Strain had a massive amount of alcohol the night he went missing, according to the autopsy report.
His blood-alcohol level was .228, nearly three times the legal limit for driving.
He also had levels of nicotine and THC in his system. According to the report, Strain had Delta-9 in his system, a legal form of THC available in Tennessee.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Riley Strain autopsy: Medical examiner rules death accidental drowning
