The mother of Riley Strain is claiming her son may have been drugged on the night of his disappearance, sharing in a new interview he texted her earlier that night reporting his drink “didn’t taste good.”
Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, and other family members sat down with News Nation, which is set to air the full interview at 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
In a preview released earlier in the day, Whiteid recalls texting with her son and encouraging him not to drink the rum and coke he ordered, after saying it tasted off.
“Well it tastes like barbecue,” she remembers him texting back.
News Nation reporter Brian Entin points out that rum and coke typically has “a very consistent taste,” before asking Whiteid if she believes the strange-tasting beverage could have had something to do with his disappearance that night.
“Maybe there was something in it,” she replies, suggesting that Strain was possibly roofied or affected by some kind of drug slipped into his drink.
Strain, a 22-year-old University of Missouri student, was found dead in the Cumberland River on March 22, about two weeks after he disappeared on the night of March 8.
He had been kicked out of country singer Luke Bryan’s bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, in downtown Nashville and told his friends he would walk back to their hotel. He was later seen in surveillance footage walking in the opposite direction from where they were staying.
The bar reported serving Strain only one alcoholic drink and two waters, before kicking him out due to disorderly behavior.
Metro Nashville Police Dept
Riley Strain seen in surveillance video crossing 1st Ave N to Gay St in Nashville on Friday. (Metro Nashville Police Dept.)
It’s unclear if the newly revealed text exchange with Strain’s mother occurred while he was at Luke’s 32 Bridge, or earlier in the night.
Nashville bars have seen multiple drugging attempts in recent years, including one incident from last July in which a woman claimed someone attempted to spike her drink with a date rape drug at Luke Bryan’s bar.
