The college student whose body was found in a Nashville river this spring had consumed as many as 15 alcoholic beverages before he died, according to police.
Riley Strain, 22, whose body was found in the Cumberland River on March 22, had been heavily drinking before he vanished during a night out with his Delta Chi fraternity brothers in Nashville on March 8, police told news station WSMV.
Based on interviews with Stain’s fraternity brothers, the police investigation determined that the University of Missouri student had 12 to 15 drinks before he died, WSMV 4 reported.
The Delta Chi members told authorities that the group had traveled up to Nashville on four buses for a fraternity formal.
Strain’s bus driver was enforcing a “no alcohol on the bus” rule, but the group kept partying during the journey, the brothers told police.
One fraternity brother recalled that Strain had at least five drinks, plus two vodka shots and three IPAs.
The amount of alcohol in those drinks violates Delta Chi’s own rules, David Easlick, an attorney who sues fraternities for student deaths or injuries, told WSMV 4.
A webinar for parents on the Delta Chi national fraternity’s website stipulated that no drink with more than 15% alcohol content can be served at a fraternity function unless a licensed third party serves it.
The hours before Strain disappeared were “basically an out-of-control party situation” by fraternity standards, Easlick said.
The fraternity brothers arrived in Nashville around 4:30 p.m. on March 8. Less than 30 minutes later, Strain was seen on surveillance footage sipping a margarita, WSMV said.
He visited multiple bars that night, and investigators found that he was served alcohol three times – though there was no indication he was visibly drunk when he was served.
By 8: 40 p.m., he was seen stumbling repeatedly.
He was last seen being escorted out of Luke Bryan’s bar around 9:38 p.m., after he got into an argument with the staff.
Footage of Strain leaving the bar showed him laughing as he stumbled down the stairs.
One fraternity brother told police that he called Strain at 9:47 p.m., and noted that he sounded slurred and said he was going to their hotel.
Another surveillance camera caught Strain staggering down a Nashville street before he disappeared into the night.
A homeless man later told police that he saw a “very, very intoxicated” young man nearly stumble over the edge of a trail into the Cumberland River.
Strain was reported missing by his friends on March 9. His body was found eight miles downstream from where he was last seen two weeks later
The young man’s family suspected he was the victim of foul play, but the autopsy confirmed that his death was a tragic accident.
The autopsy determined that his cause of death was “drowning and ethanol intoxication,” with a blood alcohol content of .228.
Despite the staggering amount of alcohol in his system, the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission determined that he had not been overserved by the bars downtown.
A spokesperson for the University of Missouri told WSMV 4 that the Delta Chi formal was a private event, and the group had no current conduct violations.
