The preliminary autopsy carried out after student Riley Strain was found in a Nashville river has been completed.
The young man's body was found on Friday (March 22), weeks after he disappeared when he was kicked out of a honky-tonk bar.
Metropolitan Nashville Police wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "The body of Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown."
They added at the time that "no foul play-related trauma was observed," but that "an autopsy is pending."
The University of Missouri student vanished moments before 10PM on March 8 after he was told by staff to leave the Nashville bar and became separated from his friends.
The 6'7" finance major was last captured on surveillance footage roaming the city streets after leaving the bar.
Despite search efforts, the 22-year-old remained missing for weeks, with only his bank card initially having been found near the Cumberland River in Nashville more than a week after he was last seen.
According to the preliminary autopsy, Strain's death was "accidental" with no foul play, WKRN reports.
His loved ones have since thanked the Nashville community.
“I want to reiterate how thankful we are for everyone and how much we appreciate everyone’s support, love and prayers,” Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, said, per the outlet.
“We are quite thankful for everything you’ve done — the grace you’ve given us,” Chris Whiteid, Strain’s stepfather, said.
The preliminary autopsy comes after family friend Chris Dingman revealed the last text message the then missing student sent.
He told NewsNation that Strain had sent a puzzling message to a girl he was speaking to who “texted him to see how he was doing”. Strain is said to have responded: “Good lops.”
Dingman said both he and the unnamed girl were confused as to what Strain's text message meant, as he went on to add that he believed it may have reflected Strain’s mental state at the time he went missing.
Some social media users have been speculating that “lops” may be an acronym for “low on power, sorry”.
However, Dingman shut down that theory last week, stating that his phone was not, in fact, low on power.
“What we have been told is the phone did not die due to battery capacity,” Dingman told the outlet, going on to say that it “wasn’t even at five percent, which some kids run around on and frustrates us as parents”.
Earlier this month, the Nashville Police Department released footage showing Strain falling over as he walked across the road and continued down Gay Street, close to where he went missing.
Other footage showed him talking to a police officer at around 9:52PM, with the officer asking him how he is, to which Strain replies: “I’m good, how are you?”
Our thoughts are with Strain's loved ones at this difficult time.
