Son visiting Nashville on college trip disappears
By Sharon Danquah
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.
Riley Strain, the 22-year-old son of Michelle Whiteid, has been missing in Nashville since Friday night after coming to Music City from Missouri on a fraternity trip.
“It’s so hard,” Michelle Whiteid said on Monday. “I just need to know where my son is.”
The last place Michelle and Chris Whiteid, Strain’s stepfather, believe their son was located is near the Davidson County Court House after his friends said he left a bar on Broadway and was heading to their hotel, six blocks away in the opposite direction.
Michelle Whiteid said Strain came to Nashville on a fraternity trip from the University of Missouri in Columbia.
“Friday night after they had arrived from a bus trip down from Columbia, he and some of his fraternity brothers were out and about,” Chris Whiteid said.
It’s a trip Strain has made before, but this year something went horribly wrong.
“At approximately 9:45 p.m., he was asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar,” Chris Whiteid explained. “They got separated. The boys called him, and he said I’m walking back to my hotel. They didn’t think anything about it.”
When the guys got back to the Tempo Hotel, they saw his Strain’s room key but did not see their fraternity brother. When they tried to call him, his phone was dead.
The boys told Chris Whiteid they went out searching for hours, checking his SnapChat locations, and assumed he made his way back to one of the other 30 fraternity brothers’ rooms.
“They started going through all the fraternity brothers’ rooms and nobody had him, so at that point, they called us,” Chris Whiteid said.
He said chills shot through their bodies. Chris and Michelle Whiteid jumped into the car and drove straight from Springfield, Missouri, to Nashville.
“We talk every day, multiple times a day,” Michelle Whiteid said. “This is the longest I’ve ever gone without talking to him.”
They said his Life360 ping and heads filled with confusion are all they have.
“Riley is a very identifiable young man. He’s 6′7″, he’s 155-160 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes,” Chris Whiteid said. “We’re in a bad dream. Can we wake up? Please, just let us wake up.”
The Metro Nashville Police Department said it searched the area where Strain went missing by helicopter on Monday, including along the banks of the Cumberland River in the downtown area.
“Oh, God bud, we love you so much and we’re all looking for you, all of us,” Michelle Whiteid said. “If anybody knows anything, please just call the police.”
The Whiteids said they hope this is just one big mix-up.
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