Riley Strain's Family's Private Investigator Uncovers 'Important' Surveillance Evidence

Riley Strain's family hired a private investigator to look into the disappearance and death of the 22-year-old University of Missouri student.

As The Blast previously reported, Riley's body was found in the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee, after a comprehensive two-week search. Preliminary findings from the toxicology report and autopsy indicated that Riley's death was accidental, caused by drowning, with no signs of foul play.

The family of Riley Strain believes there is more to the story, so they hired a private investigator to investigate the case in depth. Along the way, "important" surveillance evidence was uncovered.

The family spoke to People Magazine, expressing yet again that they think there is more to the story. "We're trying to get some answers,” Riley's stepfather, Chris Whiteid, told the outlet. “I don’t know that we’ll ever get answers, but at least once we see everything that they have that we haven't seen, we'll have a better idea. So that's where we're at with it.”

“We took a little break from everything and cleared our heads a little bit, then everything started blowing up again. And so it's day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Just some days are better than others," he later added. "And it seems like every time something blows up, it brings all the emotions back and all the questions."

"So we're just here. I mean, that's the best way to put it, is we're just here," Riley's stepfather admitted.

Earlier this week, Steve Fischer posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to announce he had completed his investigation.

His report to the family is 281 pages long and is accompanied by a 49-minute video presentation containing “important pieces of surveillance” footage.

"There is over 104 hours of surveillance video from more than 20 cameras. Riley can be tracked throughout the entire evening, from dinner until 9:58 PM," he shared in his post. "This includes rooftop surveillance in downtown Nashville, where Riley is seen along his route without encountering anyone. No person approaches him and no vehicles approach him."

As The Blast reported, video surveillance footage from the night Riley went missing has been leaked, showing the 22-year-old student stumbling down the stairs after he was asked to leave the Nashville bar.

After he was escorted out of Luke Bryan's establishment, he was seen alone under the bridge, per video footage obtained by Fischer. "Two homeless individuals are seen more than 30 yards away—one in a wheelchair and asleep, the other not looking in Riley's direction," he said in his post. "No vehicles are under the bridge except the police car that captured the image at 9:58 via dash cam."

The private investigator claimed that "initial witness reports were incorrect" as it "was a different individual who stumbled into the homeless encampment around 1:30 AM, causing confusion."

"The homeless in the area were essentially told what time certain events happened, and they went along with that timeline, but it was an incorrect timeline, and that is proven by video surveillance," Fischer added.

According to Fischer's findings, "Riley is visible on video the entire time inside the bars, including when he is asked to leave," which is what The Blast has previously reported as well.

"He is in a different area of the bar from his friends (except for one), and the group is unaware of what is happening. The friend who witnessed Riley being thrown out tried to diffuse the situation, but was unsuccessful," Fischer added, as seen in the footage leaked on social media. "By the time this friend was able to get to the other side of the rooftop where the group is and inform the others, Riley was already outside the bar, but they did try to catch up to him."

Contrary to earlier reports, Riley did not attempt to enter two other bars. He did try to re-enter Luke's but was refused entry.

“What's in it? I really don't know because we really haven't had a chance to look at it. We're still waiting on getting the police report since they've closed the report now,” Riley's stepfather told People of the private investigator's report. “We’d like to see what they have."

According to Whiteid, the family has been informed that they can receive up to one hour free, but the total estimate for all the information is at least $1,600 to $1,800.

"We've seen cases that reach as high as $10,000 to $15,000 for complete information in situations like this," he told People.