Was Riley Strain Drugged? Mom Hints at the Possibility

A new interview with Riley Strain's mom fuels a theory that the 22-year-old's drink was drugged before he disappeared in Nashville last month.

Michelle Whiteid openly wonders if there was something in her son's drink that shouldn't have been.

Police say there were no signs of foul play after an initial autopsy.
Strain's final stop on March 8 was at Luke's 32 Bridge (named after Luke Bryan) on Broadway. The venue said he ordered one drink and a water.
On March 22, his body was pulled out of the Cumberland River several miles from where he was last seen.

"Maybe there was something in it that shouldn't have been," Whiteid says talking to NewsNation for an interview set to air at 10PM ET on Tuesday (April 16).

The University of Missouri student's stepfather is seated next to Whiteid. He'd previously cast doubt on police reports that said Riley's pants were ripped off by the river current. The problem with that theory was the young man was almost always wearing a belt.

"If he wasn't wearing a belt, his pants would have been down around his knees when he was shown running," Chris Whiteid says.

Was Riley Strain Drugged?

Complete autopsy results can take six to 12 weeks, giving the family time to explore every possibility. This new interview focuses on Strain's last text messages to his mother.

"He had sent me a text that said he ... was drinking a rum and Coke and it didn't taste good," she shares in a preview.

"And I said you probably shouldn't drink it. He goes, 'It tastes like barbecue.'"

The clip stops short of confirming Strain did drink it or that it contained any kind of illicit substance.

Witnesses who encountered Strain during his walk from Luke's 32 Bridge to Gay St. and beyond said he admitted he was intoxicated. He was also caught on police body camera having an exchange with an officer and showed no signs of distress.