The University of Missouri senior Riley Strain went missing after he left Luke Bryan's 32 Bridge Bar. But why exactly did the bar kick out the 22-year-old? A family friend is shedding more light on why the bar asked Strain to leave.
Videos by Wide Open Country
In a Facebook post via the Independent, family friend Chris Dingman said Strain wasn't acting confrontational or rowdy at the bar. Instead, it's to his understanding, bar operators asked Strain to leave due to his apparent intoxication. An employee "felt like, you know, maybe he had had enough."
While Dingman didn't go into further detail, he affirmed that Strain "was asked to leave not because of a fight, or any type of altercation." In their own statement, the bar said they asked Strain to leave "based on our conduct standards." They also claimed to only serve Strain one alcoholic drink and two waters.
They wrote, "At 9:35 p.m., our security team made a decision based on our conduct standards to escort him from the venue through our Broadway exit at the front of our building. He was followed down the stairs with one member of his party. The individual with Riley did not exit and returned upstairs. Our prayers continue to be with Riley's friends and family during this difficult time and for his safe return."
Riley Strain Disappeared After Leaving the Bar
Before going to Bryan's bar, Strain and his fraternity brothers reportedly hit a couple of other bars including Garth Brooks' bar Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk and Miranda Lambert's Casa Rosa. Additionally, Dingman says that security footage showed Strain walk out of the bar with one of his frat brothers. That friend then returned inside.
According to Dingman, Strain tried to go to a bar across the street. However, employees at the bar denied the college student entry into the establishment. Strain's trail took him near the Cumberland River based on eyewitness reports, an interaction with an officer, and a cell phone ping. Dingman also cast doubt on the narrative that Strain's phone died.
"What we have been told is the phone did not die due to battery capacity," Dingman said. "[It] wasn't even at five percent, which some kids run around on and frustrates us as parents." In an interview, Strain's stepfather Chris Whiteid questioned whether Strain could have possibly been drugged. He said, "I've done a fair amount of drinking in my life, and I still question whether it was alcohol or something else." The search continues for the missing 22-year-old.
