TikTok sleuths were livestreaming search for Riley Strain when they found missing college student’s credit card
Two TikTokers taking part in the search for missing college student Riley Strain — livestreaming their search efforts for followers — found his credit card near the Cumberland River in Nashville.
Two TikTok users, @nobodyleftbehind13 and @annaclendening, were sharing their search as it unfolded live with followers when they stumbled across the missing Mizzou student’s credit card.
“S—. I found his credit card,” one user can be heard saying in a video that was later shared to @rileylively’s account, Fox News Digital reported.
Another user filming the search chimes in, “You found his credit card? We found his credit card. We gotta go. We gotta hang up the phone.”
Chris Dingman, a family friend and spokesperson for the Strain family, confirmed to Fox that the 22-year-old’s card was found Sunday under a pile of leaves near Gay Street and the Cumberland River, where he was last seen March 8.
“We did get a great lead yesterday from a TikTok dynamic duo that we are sincerely appreciative of,” Dingman said.
“And we’re appreciative of everybody that’s been out there searching and trying to bring Riley home. They did find this credit card. It was in a location extremely close to where the last ping of his phone was from. It is verified.”
Dingman said the TikTokers “immediately took the broadcast down and reached out” after their discovery. Several police officers with canines were about 100 yards away when they made the finding, he added.
They also found a second card that looked like a common access card with the name Caden on it, though it’s unclear if there is any connection, Dingman said.
While the discovery has left Strain’s family with “a thousand more questions than answers,” Dingman said they were grateful for the TikTok users who made the invaluable discovery.
“These young ladies literally went out and made sure that the family was OK with what was going on beforehand,” Dingman said. “Hats off to those young ladies for what they did and what they’re doing and how they approached this situation with kindness. We sincerely appreciate it.”
Strain’s family held a press conference Tuesday and requested additional resources to aid in the search for their son.
What to know about the mysterious disappearance and death of Riley Strain
- College student Riley Strain, 22, went missing after being kicked out of Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in Nashville on March 8, 2024. Strain told his University of Missouri fraternity brothers that he was going back to his hotel room, but never arrived or contacted his friends.
- Surveillance footage shows him walking toward the hotel before making a wrong turn. His cellphone last pinged about a mile from the bar. A video saw Strain jogging away from his hotel before his disappearance.
- According to the Luke Bryan-owned bar, Strain only purchased one alcoholic drink and two waters the night he went missing. The 22-year-old’s parents have claimed he was “overserved.”
- The student’s bank card was found days later on an embankment of the Cumberland River by two TikTokkers searching the area.
- A local homeless man allegedly saw a “very, very intoxicated” Strain almost fall over the edge of a trail into the river. Strain was also spotted by a police officer near the river, according to body camera footage.
- Strain’s body was found in the river on Saturday by workers clearing the river of debris. According to a preliminary autopsy, Strain’s death was “accidental.”
“With everything that’s gone on in the past few days … we feel that we need the extra resources to come in and help us as we try to get more organized for our family and see if we can bring some more clues to light,” Strain’s stepfather Chris Whiteid said.
David Flagg, national director of operations for the United Cajun Navy, also announced that the group has been assisting with the search and will provide a hovercraft and a pilot to run on the Cumberland River.
Strain, a 22-year-old University of Missouri student, vanished earlier this month after he was kicked out of country star Luke Bryan’s honky-tonk bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, for being too drunk.
The 6-foot-7 finance major had been visiting Nashville with his Delta Chi fraternity brothers for an annual event.
After getting booted from the bar, he told the group he would meet them back at their hotel.
But Strain staggered off in the opposite direction, eventually landing by the James Robertson Bridge, where some transient people live.
Surveillance video last captured Strain near the Cumberland River, though extensive searches using boats, K9s and sonar along the riverfront have not provided authorities with any leads on what might have happened to Strain.
Strain continued in the same direction up First Avenue, but that’s where his trail stopped. No other surveillance footage or cellphone activity goes beyond that point.
While Strain’s parents have claimed the bartender “overserved” their son, the bar has claimed it only served him one alcoholic drink and two waters.
Metro Nashville Police said foul play is not suspected at this point.
