Got injured in an accident? You could be click away from a claim worth millions. You can start your claim now with Morgan & Morgan at ForThePeople.com/lorelodge without leaving your couch. Remember, it's free unless you win. While Aidan Mattis was researching, he was only able to find videos which froze at the point where Riley falls. During the editing process, Aidan Thornbury found a clip which did not freeze, but assumed Aidan Mattis was describing the slow frame rate and a couple of small visual glitches as a “freeze” and so included the unfrozen clip. It was a communication error.
Research an Aussie one. Bradley Murdoch. A drug runner (who would never stop for another person's breakdown) convicted for murder over drop of blood.... The surviving victim said she was throw over front seat into the back of Ute, his vehicle was not designed like that. Then the victim whilst in cable ties ran away from an expert tracker AND his hunting dog in the outback. The driver who rescued her witnessed 2 men stuffing a body sized bag into a boot when he found her.... Of course she didn't kill her bf after their witnessed domestic argument.....
HEY, I totally was in an accident recently. Well a bit over a year ago. Too bad there ain`t nobody to blame but my own stupid arse and the fact I had to have a skateboard that does 40km/h and try to do some 5-0 manuals like in the old days... -but with motorpower. But my femur neck is fooked now, so if you still think you can get me those millions I am all ears! lolol
@@nhvanonerz8244some humor is fine. They aren’t being disrespectful to the victims. People who work with depressing and traumatic things like first responders often use light humor to cope. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be able to do their job.
That footage didnt freeze mid stride.... he was laid out.... on the ground. You can clearly see his leg.... him "bending down to get something" is him getting back up
@NunyaBidness-ld9pv but I feel like either someone was following him or he felt like someone was following. If he knew it I think he would have mentioned something to the cop. The group of people at the intersection he stopped then interacted with them and seemed to walk with them
A really should have had a note put in the video explaining but there a comment explaining that between filming and uploading the complete video without the freeze was found and added in. The comment is now pinned.
it was just released that his last text to his mom said that his rum and coke tasted weird and that it tasted like bbq??? this case is so incredibly sad on so many levels
Someone is drugging those dudes Taking advantage of them and then disposing of their bodies after the search & rescue has scaled way back if at all any longer He’s drugged when he’s running and slams his dome into that light pole base
Another thing you're missing: Riley was apparently staying at the Tempo Hilton hotel. There is a business called Your Tempo in the direction Riley was walking. One theory is that Riley did a phone search for "Tempo", and the map showed him the wrong Tempo.
Went to Nashville and saw a young lady change after one drink. It definitely looked like she was drugged. The plus was she had a group of friends who immediately reported it and left.
I’m a neuropsychologist, and I have to say that kid clearly sustained a head injury when he fell. It’s entirely probable that if he was drunk he didn’t feel the full impact at the moment but that he became more confused and impaired as time went on, eventually leading to an accidental drowning. Closed head injuries (without external bleeding) can be very serious, and the effects don’t always show up immediately, even in people who aren’t intoxicated. It’s completely possible to get up and walk away from a head injury then die later from internal bleeding or to become completely disoriented, which can indirectly lead to accidental death. See Natasha Richardson’s death as an example.
@@Shin_Lona you’re right and I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer about that. Two things. 1) A brain bleed would potentially show up on autopsy and wouldn’t necessary suggest foul play. 2) A concussion, on the other hand, wouldn’t show up on imaging or autopsy but could have led to confusion or loss of consciousness and contributed to drowning in an indirect way.
@@MaggieMay1013 I guess it's also possible they reviewed the camera footage and associated whatever injuries with the fall. Essentially, if there was any injury detected, it could be accounted for.
Im a Nashville native, I've walked down the very street he was last seen on drunk myself many a time. I don't see any scenario where he accidently falls into the river. Not there. You'd have to climb over a barricade to do so, and before climbing you'd clearly see theres nothing for you on the other side except a steep drop to the river bank. Its just odd
I was homeless for awhile and if u go down gay street towards the jail and u go under the overpass look right.theres an old trail with trash everywhere.halfway down there's a steep dropoff.If someone went stumbling down there in the dark it's possible to fall in and not be able to get back up.
@Medi533 That can make sense, people do try to swim in there too, my mom's ex was a cop and he used to talk about how dangerous and gross the Cumberland is. Idk why he'd be down there though.
They also are questioning the fact his boots and pants were gone. He was wearing a belt and his jeans would have been wet. I’m no expert, but taking off wet jeans, while wearing a belt, sounds extremely difficult.
@@fitz2917I've been swimming fully clothed wearing jeans and work boots. Its not easy but doable when sober. Taking them off in the water while keeping your head above water at the same time would be very, very difficult I'd imagine. If they're tight fitting or lace up boots or if you're drunk there's no chance you'd even get one boot off before you started sinking and breathed in water in a panic. At least I cannot imagine myself being able to at all, based on how hard just swimming fully clothed and booted even while sober is
@fitz2917 oh, it's a b**ch. I'm confident I couldn't while in water but we often underestimate the power of the current. My ex BF left me while we were at the dunes in the U.P I was exhausted because I went in the water once we were over the dune and on the beach. On the way back he left me and it felt like I had 100Ib weights on my legs. This is such a horrible thing...makes me sad. B There will be many more that's for certain
The other thing that stood out to me that I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is: at the last bar he ordered 2 waters. To me, that sounds like he acknowledged that he was reaching his limit as far as drinking and needed to start winding down/sobering up. That would mean that he should absolutely not be that drunk and stumbling around immediately following. To me, that makes it seem like he was roofied bc that does kick in very quickly and makes someone black out “drunk” within minutes. Another thing: his watch is clearly an Apple Watch. My question is do the police have a way to check the data on the watch and see when there was no longer a heartbeat and where his location was at that time? Because Apple Watch keeps track of your heartbeat every few minutes at least, and if he has a GPS model then it also keeps track of his location to help enhance the fitness tracker
That honestly seems way more likely here than anything else. If he had a history of getting completely plastered it almost certainly would have been mentioned, so choosing one drink and then just some waters implies he had a fairly good mind to self-limit. Of course that's by no means certainty, but him not having a mentioned history of getting plastered, choosing to have a few waters instead, etc. all combined indicate that he probably did have a decent ability to self-limit, and was trying to. While it's certainly possible to intake more alcohol than you can handle and only realize when it's too late, he had *_one_* drink at the new bar. That means that he and his friends had to stop drinking, walk for several minutes over to the other bar without taking in any more alcohol, and *_then_* have one more drink. That significantly widens the window for any consumed alcohol to absorb into your system. So it's unlikely he got phantom-punched by alcohol that he'd already consumed, and then only *_after_* having one more drink he suddenly starts wanting to wind-down and acting completely blackout drunk. (and then he gets thrown out *_after_* he starts wanting to wind-down? So he had the mind to say "I've had too much, just waters from now on" but got full on belligerent after that, despite only having *_one_* additional drink that could still be unabsorbed in his body?)
A friend of mine once stopped a drunk college kid from walking out of town and into a cornfield. It was below freezing and he was miles away from his dorm. My friend got him home but if he hadn't stopped to check on him that kid would have froze to death.
I have two stories from my parents about their college drinking experiences. 1. My mom never went to another party when she woke up in her dorm and didn't remember how she got there (yes, I know where my risk aversion comes from for sure) 2. They once woke up and were walking from their dorms to the food hall or something similar on a weekend morning and saw the footprints in the snow (middle mitten Michigan) where someone obviously just kind of wandered off the sidewalk and collapsed into the snow. It's terrifying what can happen when we're drunk, for sure. It's the mix of stable running for 6+ strides and stumbling/falling that makes me think this is more than just drunk.
@@gratuitousumlaut1944 He definitely went head first into that pole where the video glitched and hes getting up, could have been a bit drunk already with the weird strides or just unathletic, then hit the pole and lost his equilibrium for the rest of the videos, his equilibrium could have been coming back as he walked passed the police, then he might have got attacked further down the street and in the tussle went over the barricade where the homeless person gave their account. Edit: I believe he might have been roofied, that one reported drink should not have this effect, so drugged not drunk.
Also the same Nashville PD involved in the investigation of the highly suspicious Christmas Day explosion at the ATT data center. It's also important to note that a phone can be triangulated, even when it is turned off. They simply aren't looking for the phone... or they already have it / have gotten rid of it.
Yeah, Nashville PD has no problem burying that manifesto so I don't see it as very likely they'd rush to catch a serial killer who targets white males. That's the demographic these woke/left wing police departments seem to care the least about.
@@Shin_Lona 1st, phones aren't "triangulated" really. Modern cell networks just know your position, triangulation is a technique that you use to identify unknown signals' origins. The exact precision can vary though. On 4g, you're really only looking at "they were within roughly this area code" but 5g can know your position down to a couple of meters. (it uses fancy phasing to basically laser-beam a directed signal to your location, which is why it can, in theory, get much faster speeds. I'm not huge into the signal science of it, but it's fairly involved.) 2nd, *_some_* phone models will continue staying connected to the network even while off, but a broken phone is just broken. If this *_is_* a repeat killer, they know by now that turning a phone off isn't enough.
As someone who has been slipped GBH while drinking, I can assure you, you go in and out of stupors like that. Hard to believe he only had alcohol in his system. Wonder what they tested for?
Regardless of the brief freeze, it is very clear that he tripped and hit his head on that post or aign and fell to the ground. Most likely he recieved a concussion which would explain his odd behavior later. The freeze, to my eye, does not obscure and details outside of those between the moment he trips and the moments right before his head makes contact with the sign/post.
I thought I was going crazy , I watched the clip like 15 times and said clearly he just ran headfirst into that sign and dropped like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t know why he kept saying the video froze and then he was resting on the ground putting something in his pocket
"Your honor, let the record show the video shows that he was calmly jogging, squatted down and ether picked something up _or_ put something in his pocket."
@@aHedgerowFrogobjection! If we play back the video he clearly fell face first into the poll shown in the video. I would like to call up our professional video analyst to explain this in detail.
Facts Someone is drugging those dudes Taking advantage of them and then disposing of their bodies after the search & rescue has scaled way back if at all any longer He’s drugged when he’s running and slams his dome into that light pole base
He definitely fell, clear as day. He checks his head with his hand most likely checking to see if it bleeding . He is doing this in the 2nd clip while holding his head down towards the left. Probably took till he spoke to the cop to shake out the cob webs from the fall
I’m glad that you brought up drinking carefully and keeping track of friends. Back in college in 2018, my fraternity bros went to a conference in Chicago. I wasn’t there for this event. Significantly bigger city than any of us were used to and out of state. Ended up with a buddy getting lost in January and wandering around all night. Phone dead. The next morning, they noticed he was gone and a couple of them went driving around and thank god ended up finding him somewhere after a couple hours.
I am a pathologist and have performed many autopsies- including on drowning victims. We do not expect to find "water in the lungs" in victims who have drowned. Instead, the lungs often have significant congestion, which is detected when the organs are weighed. Congested lungs weigh more than healthy, well- aerated lungs. Considering that he was likely in the water for a week, I would expect that his body was quite edematous and that most of the organs were congested. Regardless, lungs are generally not full of water in drowning cases. I have recently been to Nashville and there is a ton of construction in the Convention Center district. He was clearly impaired as seen in the CCTV footage and he could have easily slipped and ended up in the water. It is very common for victims who drown in a MOVING body of water to lose clothing and shoes. Additionally, it's not really fair to discuss how long it takes for a body to surface in water of varying temperatures. Just because he was found 8 miles away and 2 weeks later doesn't mean that his body had not surfaced. It just means that his body wasn't seen.
People love a good "mystery" It's far more interesting to speculate and come up with their own theories instead of well...the most logical explanation. It's a shame to lose such a young man with his entire life ahead of him like that, and I feel for his family. Edit they released the toxicology report BAC .228 and Delta-9-THC
Thank you for taking the time to comment with your expertise! I believe a drunk kid fell trying to find his way back to the hotel now possibly has a concussion on top of it had to go pee, lost his balance and drowned unfortunately. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Heartbreaking 💔
While I know this is from what... well we would call it "ol'red neck " knowledge. A lot of times alcohol related drowning especially involving males involved unzipped pants. As they tend to drop trou and relieve themselves. The can fall off of things. Once leather is water soaked it expands and I have no doubt his boots would have come off
thanks for your expertise! however, i don't think that "slip and fell" applies here. many commenters in the area have seperately said that place where he assumedly fell and drowned all say there was a barrier, and clearly it was just a drop off into the water below beyond the gate. if it wasnt for that, i'd completely agree, but i dont think he would even have the fine motor control to climb that.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the person who was supposed to leave with him may have said something like “i had to go pay my tab before i left” not as in hes being forcibly held there, but because he didnt want to leave his card at a bar and was going to pay his tab first. I only say that because thats what i would do.
I had the same thought. If I were in that situation, I could see myself telling my friend to wait outside. Then I'd run back in and settle my tab and get my card back. (And that could take a while depending on how busy the bar is!) I feel bad for his friends... I'd feel terribly guilty for the rest of my life if I were them.
I know people in Oregon who said the police aren’t looking into a random leg found across the highway from a landfill, claiming “it’s just biomedical waste that blew away on the wind.” A FOUR LANE HIGHWAY. Biomedical waste that should have been incinerated. When two people are missing.
They’re like that everywhere aren’t they? It’s not like the endless cop drama propaganda we get fed on tv where the detectives really just can’t sleep at night until they solve the case. They’re underpaid, ego driven class traitors and our taxes go to supply them with their brand new speedy cool cars and their super badass shiny military gear so that someone is around to protect the LAWS, not the actual people. Of course there are exceptions. But most police departments won’t even show up to arrest someone who is a danger to others if you fucking CALL THEM and ask them to. This Riley kid literally passed by a cop and spoke to him MOMENTS before going missing, and he went missing directly in front of a fucking jail!! They haven’t solved the case because they simply don’t care to. Too much actual investigation involved for them to care. Big puzzle, small brain. Hey guys, let’s go set up a speed trap instead and see how much weed we can confiscate.
That isn't surprising at all. I'm honestly shocked when police actually their jobs properly at this point, and expect apathy, corruption and incompetence as the default.
I live in Nashville and broadway is literally known for how often people end up roofied. I’m convinced he was drugged and confused and he could’ve fallen into the river in that state.
I agree with your roofie theory. That might have been what he was reporting to the bartender as a 'good samaritan' move, that he witnessed a girl getting roofied or suspected a roofie incident. Maybe he got roofied too, since he was acting more drunk than the 1 reported drink that he had. But I don't think he fell into the river and somehow left his debit card on a rock, but was found without his jeans or boots or wallet. Sounds like he was roofied, robbed and killed to me.
@@SarahGreen523 So far there's literally no proof of that. I also thought he was roofied but your version suggest someone followed him. Which is not seen on any cameras, police doesn't suspect faul play. Literally every "suspicious" thing here has a simpler explanation, and can be explained by him being unfortunately drugged and accidentally falling to his death. His debit card being found - maybe he was looking through his wallet, the card fell out and since he was roofied, he didn't notice. Then maybe someone wanted to be a good person and placed it somewhere visible. Why would a killer come back and direct the cops into the river? There is no logical reason for it - you're only at a further risk of incriminating yourself. Hell, you would be better off just throwing it into the water. The only truly suspicious thing is the homeless guy and the person in the video omitted, for some reason, a third possibility - he just remembered wrong. Or confused him with some other person. It was dark, and human memory is notoriously unreliable.
It's absolutely right to have grace for Riley's friends who didn't leave the bar with them. The person who took his life is 100% responsible. However, as a female college student in 2010 I would have NEVER let a friend leave a bar alone after drinking. I had had enough negative experiences with people my age but twice my size to know better. It's true that "we should all do better". I just want to point out that, due to our individual and collective experiences, many of those who must do better are young men. They need community and protection too. Look out for your bros!! Ps. This is vid is very well done!!
thats men for ya. use women from birth are taught to be safe from MEN. men dont have to go through that, so it doesnt cross their minds to check on their friends. they will never understand the fear all women have towards men.
These cases are just bizarre. And also shows anyone who gets into a vulnerable situation can suffer tragedy. These young, fit men would normally never be considered at risk. But getting drunk and separated from friends makes anyone vulnerable.
I think it also wouldn't be unlikely that some of these men were drugged or doing drugs and fatal consequences happen. Care for your buddies better people!
Not trying to seem better than all of these guys but every time I’ve ever been way too sauced in public with friends and i lose them for a bit I always ALWAYS stop what I’m doing and wait where I’m at. Either call or text any of my friends where I’m at and wait for them. And these are times that I have been nearly black out drunk. This is a very weird case and I don’t understand his mentality going down the street
True, it's time we all take responsibility for leaving friends behind. If you go out together you stay together! If a friend wants to hook up with someone & u don't know them. No! Give them your no. To set up a date at a later time. Stay together! Times are different, we're not safe. Alot of weirdos out there.
Riley loved his mum, and they were very close. Riley's mum said that Riley was her best friend. On the night Riley disappeared he called and texted his mum, even from the bars they were at. His mum apparently went to bed early at 7:30 pm. But she got a chance to say "I love you" to Riley that evening. If you want to know how close Riley was to his mum, you just have to watch the interviews with her. She can barely talk she is so distressed. And after Riley was found she said "all mums out there, hug your babies tight tonight". 😞 💔
I've lived in Nashville my whole life and 2 things : the Cumberland River is no joke, and the people that hang out by the river aren't either. On top of those factors, in the last few years the people that haunt the establishments downtown have gotten much sketchier. So frankly I'm surprised this doesn't happen every weekend.
@@nomdeplume2213intresting, if it is happening everywhere id suggest that actually points to it being much less suspicious 🤨 it would look much more like “when one lives by a river they run the risk of falling/being pushed in/ being murdered and dumped there in individual unrelated circumstances.” Just my genuine thought based on that which i didnt know, ive only heard about the smiley case theory in the context of other cases.
@@nomdeplume2213 here's my question: Is this a new phenomenon? or have unfortunate young men gotten drunk and fallen into rivers throughout history, but we just didn't notice the pattern before? In other words, is this a genuine phenomenon or is the conspiracy internet simply creating one out of something that has always happened now and then?
As a 30 year scuba diving instructor/rig diver/drift diver, and many other underwater specialties, I believe this was not an accident. Remember, the debit card was found earlier. In all that mess his card was laying undamaged face up on a rock? I did see the video of a guy running away from where Riley was walking towards at the time he disappeared. Crazy how the cop was straight up like “we found his body, no foul play” forgot to mention his pants and boots and wallet were gone .That Sabrina woman is not crazy. They could put his shirt back on before throwing him in the river days after they hid his body. He stumbled into the wrong area sadly. Nashville is just trying to protect their reputation. Riley's friends need to speak up....
Also the diver car that seem to be everywhere and the later video with someone in white tennis shoes and white coat or sweatshirt then more people who all come together … I’m not the only one who noticed these
It was lying undamaged, not dirty, face up on a rock, but also under a leaf and on the "bank" in an area not considered the "bank". Of the 2 women who found it, one never spoke in interviews I've been able to find, while the one bragged about her "steps taken on the first day of searching", and gave an emotionless scripted comment about why she was searching. Both were oddly wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day(though one did take her sunglasses off during the primary interview), and stopped to make a tiktok video before reporting the find.
@@AhranMaoDante I was also immediately suspicious of them. “Suspicious” might be too strong a word, I’m not sure it’s more than just a feeling… but that part really did feel off.
How do you know they're feeling guilty? I beg to differ. Not a single one did an interview or reached out to the family or stayed in Nashville to help out. They just left and continued on with their lives. What a bunch of LOSERS.
Maybe you guys have covered this, but as we were listening, my partner reminded me of a group that was arrested where apparently they’d have a friend bartender put ghb or another substance in a persons drink-they’d have another throw the person out claiming they’d broken the rules or were being too rowdy at the bar (remember Aidan saying that his friends said they were told they couldn’t leave with him-what if the person who threw him out didn’t actually work for the bar?!) They’d follow the person in order to rob them of their money & phone-they were able to do this for a while-they had multiple groups supposedly doing this & they’d travel-apparently in some states you are allowed to bartend from place to place (idk the ends & outs of it, but apparently bartenders would just pick up shifts as needed, so you’d have one bartender working multiple places doing this-& if one is intoxicated, anyone can pretend to be a bouncer & probably convince someone to leave, especially an out of towner.) A group of girls, I believe, were eventually caught bc they overdosed one of these guys. Don’t know if this is something similar that is happening-maybe completely unrelated, but in a place like Nashville, it seems it’d be a place prone to some kind of scam like this. I’d also be checking that homeless guys story too-bc either the police don’t want to release all the footage they have yet, or the homeless guy is lying about there being 2 ppl. And idk why a place would have multiple signs saying that it’s being monitored if it’s not-especially a police department/sheriffs office. Something smells fishy…no pun intended!
they'd go through all that trouble to get the cash out of a dude's wallet?? Seems like way too much effort even if this wasn't in a huge tourist city... definitely way too much effort for bartenders in nashville. Not all that easy to just bartend wherever you want and for those that do work tips for a weekend at these popular places can be equivalent to like ten 'hits' as you describe them... the time investment plus splitting it amongst multiple conspirators?? Very little avg take for so much conspiracy and risk....
I have heard alot about this ring of temp bar workers going state to state and several have been arrested around Atlanta. For doing EXACTLY as you said. I never heard the bars themselves were involved, but the money scams have been in the 10,000 to 30,000 with their cell phone pay apps, credit cards and online ordering scams. By being drugged and wandering out of bars on their own, sitting ducks for part 2 of the scam - the take down crews.
@@Astral_Clover All I remember about this was ATLANTA arrested several and named multiple cities they were sure they had hit. It was, strangely enough, on something I watched here on you tube about the SFK.
Also, he didn’t squat down in the cctv footage. He fell and practically face planted the concrete. They suspect a concussion because he looks like he loses consciousness briefly.
While Aidan Mattis was researching, he was only able to find videos which froze at the point where Riley falls. During the editing process, Aidan Thornbury found a clip which did not freeze, but assumed Aidan Mattis was describing the slow frame rate and a couple of small visual glitches as a “freeze” and so included the unfrozen clip. It was a communication error.
@@TheLoreLodge that makes sense. I think it’s important because I think it explains why he was stumbling so hard in the next clip. Might even explain why he quit breathing before he went into the water?
@@ArtVandelayLovesPretzelswell im listening to the live stream and to them it doesn't make sense cuz the police have the same evidence and could easily say "he hit his head and we believe cuz of it fell in" but they haven't
As a bartender I've heard people say they were drugged & didn't remember anything. But I cld not tell as I thought they were just drinking. They acted buzzed but seemed fine? This happens in the best bars! Trust me! People are evil. I believe he was drugged. He wld have never wondered off so far in the opposite direction. This poor kid. I pray whomever is responsible gets caught & gets his karma in prison!!!
My first video of your channel, I must say, I’m intrigued. When I heard he’d been found and it was assumed an accidental drowning, I thought, so sad. Horrible loss and I’m so sorry for his friends and family. But watching your thoroughness on this, and how you cover it, your obvious knowledge of the area and being close in age, been there done that knowledge, I’m now going to follow this more closely. Looking forward to catching up on your channel. I appreciate good content, intelligent coverage, and thorough study. I’m glad that I found this channel. Thank you.
The freeze he talked about was in the footage they originally found. The one in the video is the version without the freeze they found while editing the video
Just to be clear, he was found wearing the T-shirt, his boxers and his socks. How can tight boots come off in the water without dragging off the socks too? How can tight jeans get ripped off in the water but the boxers stay on? Very suspicious. There is video online taken further along the road, just after the second bridge, that appears to show a figure running from under the second bridge a couple of minutes after Riley went under the bridges and disappeared. The figure is really hard to identify, but it does not appear to be Riley based on clothing colors. Regarding Riley's route, it has been suggested that he was heading towards a business with the same name as his hotel. That business was located at the end of that street he was walking down. He may have searched on his phone for the hotel and got this business address by mistake.
As he gets up at 20:42 he’s working to pull his pants back up. My jeans fall off unless I tighten my belt up real good. As for the boots, if they were slip on and not fit too tightly I can see those coming off real easy once they’re full of water. If you got tight socks, then maybe they don’t come off without some serious help. That’s how mine are, big feet, but my shoes are real loose. If I move quick the shoes come off. Socks ain’t going nowhere though, I gotta roll those suckers off. The shirt could just be luck/chance but I can also see it being harder to come off because the arms (if by the sides) make that pretty hard to do. I still think he got killed but that it’s also realistic for his clothes to come off in the water.
At 6'5" and 160 lbs, he's very skinny. I bet his pants were big on him and maybe even his boots were too. Just bc he's wearing cowboy boots, doesn't mean he's wearing them right.
I watched the clip of him at the stoplight and when he looks disoriented and apparently talks to the two women he’s holding out his phone as he walks and is checking it like he’s using maps and can’t recognize any landmarks. I agree that he was probably headed to the business and was severely lost.
I have watched Jim Smith and William Ramsey call 20 plus of these cases. Man goes missing, college aged, healthy, low BMI, go missing, later to be found in water. William has had many episodes talking about different cults whose membership is dependent on a culling where you have to kill someone and not get caught. One of the cults gives advice that making your victim look like a drowning is the best way they've found so far. Heck William and Jim called Riley strain to the day when he would be found. Pretty interesting they are able to do it time after time after time. Of course William has been researching the occult for 10 years so he knows what to look for and how these cults communicate and why certain things are done. I think a ton of people are going to be embarrassed when this finally breaks. I think this latest rash of drownings is really starting to wake people up.
This evil has been going on since 1997...so that's 27 years now. And yeah, the chain of command on this thing goes WAY up and into the Cop structure. They always say accidental drowning via alcohol intoxication... Like a Mantra. Case Closed. It is Cult.
Pretty much this. If whatever lead they have doesnt pan out, and police are not in on it, or they make an arrest, only then will the public ever see that footage.
I can see that. Not only tipping off the suspect, but it can also get innocent people accused. Like the University of Idaho unalivings where a guy standing near the food truck in surveillance video was accused by Reddit. Or the Boston Marathon boom device case where an innocent kid was accused because Reddit saw a guy with a backpack in photos. You just can't let Reddit get involved.
I'm a Nashville native. The area where he was last seen and his phone turned off is literally swarming with police at all hours. MNPD headquarters, Davidson County courthouse and county jail are all right there at the Robertson bridge on the west bank. Dude had eyeballs and cameras on him the whole time.
Am I not supposed to have been able to see this? It says it's been up for 17 hours and only has 7 views, and it's set to unlisted. EDIT: So this goes out to everyone asking how, and of course to @TheLoreLodge too to help keep your videos safe in future: If you upload a video as unlisted, it's not visible on your channel, but it is still viewable to anyone who has the URL. Which means, if you put a video that is unlisted into a playlist, and this video is in the Smiley Face Killers playlist, then anyone who views the playlist, will be able to watch it. It's better to upload a video as private, as this hides the video from playlists too. I hope this helps everyone to understand how I found this video early. I'm not a member, I'm not a patron, it was just an accident, and I didn't realise I wasn't supposed to be able to watch it, until the video was coming to a close, and that's when I noticed the Unlisted tag.
Thank you man - you're doing the good work. But also lets not forget that we do get drunk to say and do the shit we won't do sober. I'm German and your drinking career here starts basically at 13. So if I think of all the nights I got wasted, broke into or climbed over things, got blackeyed but don't remember where, how or who and arrived home with ripped clothes and stuff i stole from a construction site somewhere on the 15 mile walk from nowhere, it's a miracle I never made it on your show.
I’ll never forget the German exchange student my friend group befriended in junior high. I think we were 14 and would get drunk with booze we stole from our parents liquor cabinet. This girl grabbed our bottle of vodka and just chugged it like it was water. We were all incredibly impressed lol.
@@badinfluence3814 I"m American, also started getting blackout drunk at 13, was doing it multiple times a week by 15, and dozens and dozens of times I have finally come to out of a blackout, walking along some highway 50 miles from the city I was drinking in, memories of hitchhiking, hanging out with homeless people, getting into fights, sleeping with strange women in strange places, doing drugs with very bizarre and dangerous people - sometimes seeking that out specifically when I'm extremely drunk. For whatever reason, I tend to be able to present as reasonably sober through all of these periods - based on what other people have told me. Meaning, I'm not slurring my words or stumbling heavily. But I am making extremely poor decisions almost like I have a deathwish. I think you find people like us anywhere in the world where alcohol is available.
I went to high school and college with him. We never overlapped but one of my best friends was his neighbor. Our college never made any statement to the students until after his body was found and even that was too little too late. Rip Riley
I’m ever so grateful that you did this post. I’m a retired teacher who has been called to find out as much as I possibly can about Riley’s situation. I just can’t seem to “ let go “. PLEASE continue to fight for Riley since he cannot. My gut (& your video) have convinced me that something is NOT being told. Riley and his family/friends deserve justice and nobody else should have this end IF in fact it’s not an accident.❤️🙏🌹
So I just asked my dad (who was both a cop and paramedic long term with a short stint as a firefighter) if drowning with no water in the lungs is weird and he said no, since the throat would spasm and close due to water trapping the air inside and the spasm wouldn't end meaning no water would ever enter the lungs. So if someone drowned with water in the lungs that's normal but drowning with no water is also fairly normal
Love your channel, the fact you didn't cover this immediately both shows constraint in wanting more information, but also respect for the situation and not wanting to send out false or misleading information. Seriously you guys are amazing keep up the awesome work.
Thanks for covering this so quick. I live in Knoxville TN. As soon as I heard this case, this is the first thing I thought about. All the missing young males after being in a bar. It seems almost fated for him to be in the river.
Aidans, I think in addition to making interesting videos for us, you guys are doing a real kindness to the families of these victims, shining a light and spreading info about these cases. Thank you.
The fact that his belt, boots, and wallet weren’t found with the body makes me think that it was a mugging gone wrong. Someone might have seen him in the bar or struggling to walk on the street and picked him as a target. Whatever happened, his friends and family must be devastated.
Most commonsensical version. In that state you're fair game for desperados of any kind. As for his state, he looks severely intoxicated more than head-injured, albeit a mixture of both can't be excluded. Really, low-hanging fruit for predators. Did they undress him to prevent a pursuit or other defensive measures in the immediate? Not at all unlikely.
My 1st thought when I see him walking is, maaaaan, someone is going to pickup on that and follow him. I would be curious to see all the video after he passed by
That does make some sense, but the no pants doesn't match up. And if the jeans did come off in the water, wouldn't the socks and looser-fitting boxers be more likely to come off too?
FYI, It would be completely normal for any police station to be closed outside of “normal business hours” to the public. Normally, after hours, they lock the doors and dispatch/jail are the primary entities active in the building.
Last year, there were 2 men found by the nearby river within a month of each other after exiting Brooklyn Mirage here in NY and I always wonder what happened with that and this video popped up and now I’m about to go on a deep dive.
It’s possible he went to the edge of the river to take a leak, pulled his pants down way too far because he’s drunk (and it’s so easy to lose a wallet in your back pocket if your pants are loose), and then he fell over while trying to not pee on himself and thus in a prime position to lose his pants and boots if he fell into the water with his pants around his ankles.
Ehh depends on which ones. Some are just easily slipped on and off nowadays so just depends on what kind he has and also if they were the right size. Also if he had his jeans tucked into them, it could make it easier to get off.
See this makes sense to me because I think the boots would easily come off with the weight of bunched up jeans, the only weird thing to me is the way the cops are behaving around this case, super sketchy ESPECIALLY how there was a cop a minute away from where he went missing
This has been happening in Austin, TX for the last 6 years or so. The police keep saying nothing is going on but everyone believes we have a serial killer.
@@colekimball4945 To me it sounds like drunk people falling into the lake and drowning. As far as Riley goes, it sounds like he needed to empty his bladder after drinking so much and went to pee in the river and lost his balance and fell in and drown. Because of his drunken state not many business establishments would probably have allowed him inside to use their bathroom facilities.
@@annmarie2964doesn't track, as a former college student who drunkenly pissed in his fair of bushes, alleys, and between parked cars. Drunk mind doesn't hop a barricade and climb down an embarkment to pee in a river, drunk mind finds the closest dark enough spot for that exact moment.
People tend to pee in the parking garages in Nashville. Also sbarro used to be right there. I moved away several years ago so my knowledge is dated, but they used to have public bathrooms.
@@annmarie2964 couple things that if you are so certain I’d like for you to clarify for me. Why is there no other footage, way was the debit card sitting on a rock before the spot he’s said to fall in, how did wet jeans that were secured with a belt get off his body, and here’s the big one why is there NO WATER in his lungs if he is said to drown.
Good on you for discouraging any harsh reaction to Riley's friends from that night. Honestly, you'd have to be a terrible human being to contact or harass people who have nothing to do with your own business.
I grew up on 62nd and I am telling you as kids we often went swimming in the river exactly where they found his body. We went through the gate in question and we jumped off the barg at the concrete plant. But that was 35 years ago, but you can get access to the river there. And we always went on Sunday because we knew no one would be working at the plant
Been really sick so I haven't been able to watch videos much so now I'm catching up! All of this is so sad 😭 thank y'all for all your research and hard work on every video!
A small point of clarification...in my experience managing bars/restaurants, almost all have a policy of not stopping customers who don't pay their tab/bill, however; it is extremely common for the employees directly impacted, such as servers or bartenders to disregard that policy.
it doesnt look like the video freezes, it looks fully like he falls head first behind/into the sign and concrete thing, takes a second and stands back up.
Yes, that's what I saw too. It looked to me like he landed on his head and it took him a minute to get back up, like it would if you hit your head hard. If he had a concussion then the way he was walking (or struggling to walk) makes sense. It sounds to me like he was accosted, robbed and killed. I'd go out looking at the homeless population in that area to see who has some boots that match the description of the ones missing from the guys feet.
about the friends not leaving, they didn't say they weren't allowed to leave. 'can't leave' most likely means they didn't want to steal drinks and riley wandered off while they tried to settle up
Dry Drowning is INCREDIBLY COMMON! I Literally work in Emergency Services. Dry Drowning is typically the form of drowning that occurs when we pull people out of the water
National Stats say otherwise....only 10 to 15% of cases of drowning show no water in the lungs. Incredibly common? There are tons of experts who argue that dry downing itself is a myth and that victims with no water in the lungs were most likely placed in water after death.
Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is dry drowning, as i've looked it online and from what i understood it was when someone start to drown, then the person is rescued and later they suffocate due to the water they inhale, is my understanding wrong then?
@@kobe9946 Oh yeah, especially depending on how long they’ve been in the water. We’ve pulled people out of the water with one shoe and no shirt and even someone with 2 shoes and no clothes! It’s bizarre for sure, but oftentimes the result of something rather benign. Especially when drugs and alcohol are involved and depending upon the type of water the were in, ie a river or beach with strong currents and a variety of point objects and obstacles involved.
I dunno if anyone already said it, but the first security tape, the camera doesn't really look to freeze. Dude fell over and due to the frame rate of the recording it's not the most clear fall ever, but i mean he was running while intoxicated and fell over. I assume he hit his head on the concrete pillar that it looks like he fell into, which is why he was holding his head in the subsequent clips. Haven't watched past this yet, but seems like he got roofied/drugged and it hit him hard otw to what he thought was home. He prolly started feeling weird at the bar, decided to go home, but didn't wanna seem like he couldn't hold his liquor so just said all was well. this makes perfect sense to me and seems perfectly plausible. Why did someone roofie him? That i couldnt say, but could have been a simple mixup as far as they put it in the wrong drink, or all the way to potential robbery/assault. This doesn't seem like a mystery to me though. **edit, if there's an actual discrepancy in the video file though, then disregard this. but just from watching it, it seems fine to me
I thought the same thing! It looks like he falls face/head first into that pole, and after that he's stumbling and hanging his head. I still think whatever happened is extremely suspicious, but if he had a head injury he'd be even more vulnerable.
Kevin Nguyen went missing in 2018 in Fort Wayne, IN. Theories of the Smiley Face murders circulated online. He was 25 and intoxicated when he went missing. He was last seen on video, leaving a bar on foot. It's eerily similar. So sad. His dad loved him so much, but he passed away not too long ago without any answers about Kevin.
We have a rule in my house: if something happens to me or anyone in my immediate circle, call upon "Mini Mad Dog" because he's one of the best internet sleuths I've encountered. These videos are some of the best I've ever watched. Of any genre, period.
Thanks I will check out mini mad dog. Has he covered these cases of missing guys?. I have returned to the comments because I can not find any YT channel called Mini Mad Dog.
My brother went missing after leaving a bar in Austin, Texas a few months back in February and around the same time a body was also pulled from a nearby lake shortly after he went missing from a bar, thankfully it wasn't him. However, this is apparently a thing that has been happening in Austin for a some time to the point that locals believe a serial killer is involved. Bodies have apparently been getting pulled out of Lady Bird lake for a while now, it reminded me of this case in particular.
@@larsvonrinpoche1229 Thanks for the concern, thankfully we did actually find him. He had been drugged and robbed, and someone tossed him behind a dumpster on 6th street. Had a bad case of pneumonia, but other than that he's all good!
@@TheTijI'm so glad he was (relatively) ok! "Dirty Sixth" is the main part of 6th street, the part downtown where they set up the road blocks - it's been notorious for people getting roofied for at leeeeast a decade. Most locals don't go there unless they have a drinking problem, the bars are known for not cutting people off. East 6th isn't always safer either, my friend was roofied and harmed at one of the first bars on that side. _I really wish people had a way to know this stuff when they come here._ I personally had never heard about there being a serial killer theory (besides the jack the ripper moon tower one) before today and I've lived here for 30-ish years. It's my hometown, I feel weird not tossing in what I know. I think our existing, severe roofie problem hasn't been addressed, and it's more comforting to think it's one person instead of a *bunch* of predators knowing they can drug people in the tourist/getting blackout area and the cops won't do anything. Creeps grab at (or get violent with) people in the middle of the street WHILE THERE ARE HORSE COPS ALL AROUND. It's happened to me while passing through, it's happened to me while working SXSW. The cops literally do NOTHING. Those alleys are *notorious.* Too many of my friends have dumpster stories. Way too many. A lot of us want dirty sixth changed, but it's too profitable for the city to do anything, apparently. Apologies for the long comment. It's just really goddamn upsetting to hear about someone visiting and THAT happening. He didn't deserve that. I am so sorry. If it'll make him laugh, you can tell him he got the true, authentic local experience...?
I think everyone is blazing past the obvious question: how did he get so "drunk" so quickly with one drink charged to his card? Doesn't matter what the bar management says, anyone in there could easily drug him and then pretend to be bouncers that "kick him out" and then stop his friends from leaving. If there was a live band playing with a crowd, you could get away with all of that. And these were young guys without enough experience to recognize a situation that's abnormal.
They were bar hopping I believe. They had started at one bar, he called his mom and talked to her, then went to a new bar, got kicked out, no? So likely he got drunk at the first bar
They've been to two other bars before ending up at that one, not to mention pre-drinking is also a thing. Furthermore, he personally only bought one drink, but anyone else from his group could've bought him drinks too
Hey,the car is a 1974 soap box derby i worked on it back then now getting it ready for the vintage car show they have during race week for the ALL AMERICAN SOAP BOX DERBY in late July. Thanks for asking. Later Tuna
I hear things like, ''why would anyone clamber down a slope and drop their debit card''. I think back to my younger days. My buddy jumped off a 12 ft bridge, into a creek, because he wanted to see how deep it was. He was walking home alone, from a bar, drunk. It was barely 2 ft deep btw. I found out 2 days later when we drove over the bridge, and he told me casually that he jumped off. That was his response when i asked why the hell he would do that. There may have not been a good reason why he would clamber down that hill. That doesn't mean he didn't do it. Kids are dumb... we sure were.
That still doesn’t mean that’s what happened I’ve been shit faced so many times it would make your head spin and I’ve never did anything dumb or irresponsible some people can handle their liquor some can’t we shouldn’t always assume people got themselves killed if it’s possible they didn’t
@@Lolzzz483 by that same token we shouldn't always assume people were killed if it's possible they weren't, its far more likely that someone would do dumb and irresponsible things while drunk then not especially if they are around a age range where doing dumb and impulsive things is already pretty common.
@@Lolzzz483 a great example in my favor btw if you look up stupid drunk decisions complication 2018, by a channel called newsflare at 0:52 a dude tries to hop over a safety gate right next to water that is about the same Hight as the railing separating the him from the water, it would be very easy for that situation to change into one where he falls in and drowns
@@Lolzzz483 here's the catch tho, my buddy could handle his liquor as well as anybody. He was an adrenaline junky. Liked to white water kyak, skydive, ect. He was just a madman, drunk or sober. He was a calculated risk taker. With that being said, sometimes his calculations were a bit off. He died in a skydiving accident. Got a twist in his lines, cut away, and got a twist in his reserve. Life's been a lot less fun since then... i miss ya RJ, RIP.
Thanks for all the work that goes into these videos! Two quick notes with the caveat that I have no expertise or reason to believe that my thoughts are more correct than yours, but for the sake of making sure you've considered everything: 1) Also guessing at a criminal's motives, I do wonder if I found a wallet and wanted its contents whether I'd just chuck the card as useless to me without any passwords/pins/etc. 2) I wonder if the police are withholding the last footage because it _is_ from the jail surveillance cameras. They may be reluctant to give specific information on the exact location of the surveillance cameras so escapees can't use that information to get around it.
Kinda strange that the girl that found Rileys card worked at a bar in nashville and she introduced herself to a youtuber searching for Riley.She joined the search and she found the card while the you tuber was down at the water with her back turned and yelled i found Rileys card. At police conference she walked up and got in the footage and held up a phone with smiley faces all over it. Its just strange to me in my opinion.
Occam’s razor aka my theory: He was partying with his friends and got kicked out for calling out someone spiking the drinks. His friends wanted to stay and party more/go pay their tab. They checked in on him like good friends do and messed up a few details/didn’t make good judgement calls as all people do. He jogs across the parking lot and hits his head on that pole because he was already impaired either from drinking, some other substance he chose to take, or he got roofied. He keeps touching his head as he continues walking because it hurts. He pulled himself together enough to chat with the cop as he kept moving. He sees a possible shortcut in the form of a trail, where the homeless people spot him. One of them sees him stumble and asks if he’s okay while another one says he’s fine, he’s just drunk (could’ve even been a random passerby that saw him walking if not a homeless person). But he was possibly concussed on top of being drunk/drugged. So he’s stumbling his way along the trail and falls in the water. The Ross guy found a similar shirt where he said and was wearing it, red herring. The debit card could’ve washed up on the embankment because there was even another card there. Tidal patterns are weird. He could’ve lost his pants and boots if they either didn’t fit well or if he cracked his pants open to take a leak. Like. I can see it being totally possible that he went down to the secluded area to relieve himself and fell in. And he could’ve been wearing ill fitting cowboy boots because yay Nashville. He could’ve also just lost them in the whirlpools? He also could’ve just had the debit card loose in his pocket. I know I tend to stick mine back in my pocket instead of my wallet when I’m using it pretty often. The part about the walking trail, roofies being common there, and whirlpools I got from other comments. But yeah the homeless guy never said the second guy was with him, and the parents might be wrong about where the video takes place. The cops could also just be saying they tend to find bodies two weeks after they go missing. Like that it’s common in that area. I’m sure there’s an explanation for where he’s walking and why. I know I’ve definitely gotten lost when drunk and didn’t realize it til I opened Google. The smiley face killer theory is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
This looks and sounds like a head injury response. RIP Riley, truly sad. There are so many of these cases where Young people are ending Up deceased after a night out and an accidental drowning seems to be a popular Verdict given by the cops. ❤❤
Thank you for your message about ensuring friends have a plan. I've always been the "mom" of the group when out drinking and make sure that we all have a spot to meet if we get separated. I feel like maybe young guys don't think about that as much. My friends and I will ensure we text each other when we get home safe.
I'll weigh in a little now, and again when I can confirm some information. I used to work right behind Top Golf at what's now Kosmos cement. We, like lafarge, unloaded cement barges. During my time there, we witnessed the recovery of two bodies: one was a swimmer that tried to swim across the Cumberland and then return, but he got washed under our barge, and the second one was a jumper from the walking bridge that used to be the Shelby Street bridge. The jumper bobbed to the surface about a week or so after he jumped, even though the bridge isn't very far from our barge. He got caught (Hung up) underneath our barge. He wasn't released until we moved the barge as part of the unloading process. Riley was not dumped at the site. He was carried by the current and got hung up under the barge. There's always flotsam and jetsam swirling around the upriver side of the barges and he may have been caught, unnoticed, for a while.
The guy who started the Knoxville TN body farm weighed in with News Channel 5s Nick Beres, and said that it was highly unlikely his pants and boots came off in the river.
I'm 30 seconds into this video so I don't know if they think he was conscious when he went into the water, but if he was conscious could he have kicked off his shoes to swim better and taken off his pants to try to make one of those DIY survival flotation devices?
When I’ve swum in street clothes, my pants have almost come off. If they’re not tight fitting pants and you’re not wearing a belt, they get heavy quickly and start to slide down your legs as you kick. I can imagine in a life or death situation where I’m struggling to keep above the water, I would feel my pants start to come off and either not care because I’m drowning, or get them off faster to reduce the hindrance.
Maybe? In the part where there's video that the police didn't release, perhaps he took off his pants and boots to take a 💩 and then had trouble putting them back on because of the inebriation? Just a thought.
~ 22:42 my brother suggested that Riley had maybe fallen earlier & that's why he was stumbling, & then he started feeling a bit better after taking the tumble, & when he saw the cop he thought "Oh crap Better look Not Drunk & Disorderly" & put extra effort into seeming fine.
agree - had cowboy boots on in a bad car crash - 3 other people in car, 2 died, all of them were found shoeless (had tennis shoes on) - my boots stayed on
He took a swim. He took his pants & shoes off to take a swim. He was wasted & thought it would be fun. You’d be surprised how often this happens, cold or not outside. Young people think they’re invincible especially when drunk.
I've been caught in the rain while out riding a motorcycle enough times to know that once your clothes get soaked it's damn near impossible to remove them easily, definitely not without some assistance, especially the pants. I can buy the boots. Not the jeans. Only leather would be more difficult because it isn't as stretchy as denim. And no, when you're going any speed at all is not water proof, in the soaking rain that leather gets pretty darn soaked, it just keeps the rain from feeling like small needles going into you. I just won't believe he had no trace at all left of his pants. When you are in the river and you let the current take you it inevitably becomes dodge rock (I may or may not have played dodge rock a time or two) and yep, maybe your clothes can be torn off bit by bit... but there would be bits left somewhere. There's something rotten in Denmark, as the old folks say.
According to Chris Dingman (the family friend), Riley was wearing a black/off-white shirt, a belt, jeans, boxer underwear, socks and snug-fitting leather cowboy boots when he disappeared. When Riley was found he was wearing the shirt, the boxers, and the socks, but not the belt, jeans and boots. So the LE wants to claim that the river current took off jeans attached with a belt and snug cowboy boots, but not loose-fitting boxers attached with elastic, and socks. LE said in their press conference that Riley was found with his shirt on, and that it looked like an accident. LE did not say that he was found without jeans and boots. The jeans+boots missing was something that came out much later. LE is definitely withholding info. Why are they withholding info if it's an accident? To me it makes no sense that the river current can remove jeans attached with a belt and snug leather boots, but not loose-fitting boxers and socks.
further up in the comments a guys says " I was homeless for awhile and if u go down gay street towards the jail and u go under the overpass look right.theres an old trail with trash everywhere.halfway down there's a steep dropoff.If someone went stumbling down there in the dark it's possible to fall in and not be able to get back up." what if he needed to take a piss and saw that path off the street. starts unhooking his belt and jeans and doesn't see the drop off. falls in with his paints already coming down far enough to take a leak. the current then could have pulled the jeans around is ankles hard enough to yank the boots off. just a thought i had after reading your comment, not trying to say what you said doesnt make me think its odd
Its pretty easy to come up with a reason the pants and boots came off. He might have taken them off on purpose to swim better. He might have been going to the bathroom and fell in, making it even easier to take them off. I dont know what happened, but I dont think its strong evidence for foul play. He was extremely drunk, we cant expect rational behavior. Perhaps he was roofied, like someone said. But unless the roofier roffied witht he intention of leading him to the river.... it probably wasnt intended to be a murder
You missed one little fact. The friends didn't report Riley missing until 16 hours after he left the bar. It was 1 p.m. the next afternoon before they decided to do something. Great show, nice investigative work and great detail.
Remember when Kiely Rodni was found, drowned in her car with no water in her lungs? Same with Riley. Maybe being intoxicated has something to do thing to do with them not having water in the lungs. Laryngospasm may be more common in drunk victims. Idk.
The fact that another individual said oh,he's just drunk is suspicious. They need to check the homeless camp for those boots&jeans. The video footage they won't show is also suspect. They probably don't want to start a panic that would hurt tourism.
I have to agree, especially since the text message said "good lops" Lops is a AAVE slang term, it means he was injured, LOPS: disabled person, a cripple, Someone injured. Usually by a fall, biting the tongue, scraping you knee ect. So yeah. I agree.
I was 23 years old and took a ride from a driver with an evil passenger from a bar to get home. Was there with my friends who didn’t want to leave so I found my own ride. I was beaten and robbed and if I didn’t fight and jump out of a moving car, I might have been murdered. This was 36 years ago but it left me with ptsd when I got sober.
I just found your channel because of this video. This is one of the most thorough, succinct, and informative videos I’ve seen. Excellent job. Thank you for your efforts on this case.
I would just like to say I really appreciate yall content. Lore Lodge and Why Files are my weekly must have shows. The work and research that goes into each video is noticed. The history segments are my JAM never will I skip.
This same scenario is happening right now at Ladybird Lake in Austin Texas. Young men are drowning drunk so regularly there that the public is demanding the police do their job and stop these “serial killers”. But not serial killers in the Ted Buddy sense but in the sense of a ring of individuals drugging and then robbing young men at bars with some of these men dying by overdosing on whatever drugs they are giving them. Multiple young men who survived being drugged and then robbed after leaving a bar have shown up in the ER the next day with no memory of what happened after they had that last drink which immediately made them so woozy they could barely walk and then waking up the next morning with all their money gone. I believe they are at accidental drunk drowning number 5 in less than a year and they are all young men. Not a single female among them. You should definitely cover this case as well.
@@allisonisis My thoughts exactly 👍 I believe a bartender or maybe even more than one bartender would have to be in on it. The bartender probably picks and identifies the “mark” then the others in the group follow the young man until he is alone and severely impaired then they pounce on him. I don’t know if they intend to kill any of them. Maybe that started happening by accident and they grew to like it and are now doing it on purpose, maybe on purpose to specific individuals, or maybe they are all unintentional murders??? Regardless, I definitely don’t think any of these are accidental!
I’m here in Springfield, MO where we just had Riley’s memorial and the community has been rallying around his family. I haven’t talked much about it here because I don’t want to seem insensitive, but I thought this was suspicious before it hit national news. I’m super skeptical about the Smiley Face Killer theory in general, but it was the first thing I thought of. And then it just kept getting weirder!
Only a theory at this point. Theoretically, it’s a serial killer (or plural) abducting and drowning college age men like Riley Strain. This case checks all the boxes in common with the supposed Smiley Face cases. It’s honestly kinda far fetched, but also not something that can be written off completely. I think he said he’s already done a series about it on his channel.
44:49 This is a guess but in my field of work we don't want the public knowing the angles of cameras & such so maybe the jail didn't want individuals who would be visiting criminals to know potential blind spots to assist with an escape. Or perhaps I'm just a fool
Nah definitely a good possibility for sure. I think it was just an accident, but there is definitely some questionable things for sure. I’m also just hoping it was because I will be in the exact same spot in 2 weeks and I definitely don’t want there to be a serial killer or any killer where I’m going to be 🤣. My last name is pretty uncommon so if you see a David biagi goes missing or was found dead by “accidental drowning” just know it wasn’t because 1- I don’t drink 2- I’m not depressed or suicidal and 3- I’m not going to climb over and fences or over any type of structure or go down an embankment to check out the river 🤣
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While Aidan Mattis was researching, he was only able to find videos which froze at the point where Riley falls. During the editing process, Aidan Thornbury found a clip which did not freeze, but assumed Aidan Mattis was describing the slow frame rate and a couple of small visual glitches as a “freeze” and so included the unfrozen clip. It was a communication error.
I'm stuck in the walls again 👍
Please look at Austin TX
Riley STRAIN sounds like a TV Show
Research an Aussie one.
Bradley Murdoch. A drug runner (who would never stop for another person's breakdown) convicted for murder over drop of blood.... The surviving victim said she was throw over front seat into the back of Ute, his vehicle was not designed like that. Then the victim whilst in cable ties ran away from an expert tracker AND his hunting dog in the outback.
The driver who rescued her witnessed 2 men stuffing a body sized bag into a boot when he found her....
Of course she didn't kill her bf after their witnessed domestic argument.....
HEY, I totally was in an accident recently. Well a bit over a year ago. Too bad there ain`t nobody to blame but my own stupid arse and the fact I had to have a skateboard that does 40km/h and try to do some 5-0 manuals like in the old days... -but with motorpower. But my femur neck is fooked now, so if you still think you can get me those millions I am all ears! lolol
“Usually well-educated males in a college town”
Oh no
“Usually popular and good looking”
Oh thank God, I’m safe
Calm down.
@@nhvanonerz8244take a deep breath and realize that this is the internet you are talking to a brick wall
@@nhvanonerz8244some humor is fine. They aren’t being disrespectful to the victims. People who work with depressing and traumatic things like first responders often use light humor to cope. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be able to do their job.
@@nhvanonerz8244 simmer down now son
@@nhvanonerz8244Did someone make messy in their diapy?? 😮
That footage didnt freeze mid stride.... he was laid out.... on the ground. You can clearly see his leg.... him "bending down to get something" is him getting back up
That's what I saw. It looks like he tripped and hit his head.
@@NunyaBidness-ld9pv I know....
@NunyaBidness-ld9pv but I feel like either someone was following him or he felt like someone was following.
If he knew it I think he would have mentioned something to the cop.
The group of people at the intersection he stopped then interacted with them and seemed to walk with them
A really should have had a note put in the video explaining but there a comment explaining that between filming and uploading the complete video without the freeze was found and added in. The comment is now pinned.
That dude ate shit , I’d be walking funny after too
it was just released that his last text to his mom said that his rum and coke tasted weird and that it tasted like bbq??? this case is so incredibly sad on so many levels
Where did you see that?
Yes she said it in the last interview, where they also said the friends still went to the Dance and didnt help look for Riley.@nablaphysics
So he was drugged and lost his mind then.
Someone is drugging those dudes
Taking advantage of them
and then disposing of their bodies
after the search & rescue has scaled way back if at all any longer
He’s drugged when he’s running and slams his dome into that light pole base
@@CSDonohue11 just gotta follow them from a distance and then she's got them too, such a shame the police are as always useless.
Another thing you're missing: Riley was apparently staying at the Tempo Hilton hotel. There is a business called Your Tempo in the direction Riley was walking. One theory is that Riley did a phone search for "Tempo", and the map showed him the wrong Tempo.
Thats interesting. I could not for the life of me understand why he crossed the intersection where church becomes gay st.
That is a huge clue. Makes complete sense. I can’t believe no one has mentioned this.
Heartbreaking if that’s the case.
NO. His phone doesn't indicate that he googled the tempo!!
Was that mentioned somewhere? What if he just searched for it within the gps application?@@michellechellie8310
Went to Nashville and saw a young lady change after one drink. It definitely looked like she was drugged. The plus was she had a group of friends who immediately reported it and left.
I’m a neuropsychologist, and I have to say that kid clearly sustained a head injury when he fell. It’s entirely probable that if he was drunk he didn’t feel the full impact at the moment but that he became more confused and impaired as time went on, eventually leading to an accidental drowning. Closed head injuries (without external bleeding) can be very serious, and the effects don’t always show up immediately, even in people who aren’t intoxicated. It’s completely possible to get up and walk away from a head injury then die later from internal bleeding or to become completely disoriented, which can indirectly lead to accidental death. See Natasha Richardson’s death as an example.
I feel like significant head trauma would have been noted in the autopsy though. They stated there were no injuries suggesting foul play...
@@Shin_Lona you’re right and I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer about that. Two things. 1) A brain bleed would potentially show up on autopsy and wouldn’t necessary suggest foul play. 2) A concussion, on the other hand, wouldn’t show up on imaging or autopsy but could have led to confusion or loss of consciousness and contributed to drowning in an indirect way.
@@MaggieMay1013 I guess it's also possible they reviewed the camera footage and associated whatever injuries with the fall. Essentially, if there was any injury detected, it could be accounted for.
Yess it was so obvious he fell and hit his head!!
I wish I’d read this reply prior to me commenting
I agree with you fully
Im a Nashville native, I've walked down the very street he was last seen on drunk myself many a time. I don't see any scenario where he accidently falls into the river. Not there. You'd have to climb over a barricade to do so, and before climbing you'd clearly see theres nothing for you on the other side except a steep drop to the river bank. Its just odd
Yeah, I've talked about it with my mom, it'd be stupid to jump in that river with all the whirlpools
The police said a lot of bodies are found in that river! In fact one was recovered a few days before Riley was found.
my first thought was the barricades. I also live in Nashville and I'm still confused about this.
I was homeless for awhile and if u go down gay street towards the jail and u go under the overpass look right.theres an old trail with trash everywhere.halfway down there's a steep dropoff.If someone went stumbling down there in the dark it's possible to fall in and not be able to get back up.
@Medi533 That can make sense, people do try to swim in there too, my mom's ex was a cop and he used to talk about how dangerous and gross the Cumberland is. Idk why he'd be down there though.
Also he didn’t mention that the family has already requested a second autopsy. This implies they are not convinced it’s an accident either.
So far there’s been no full results released from either unfortunately
They also are questioning the fact his boots and pants were gone. He was wearing a belt and his jeans would have been wet. I’m no expert, but taking off wet jeans, while wearing a belt, sounds extremely difficult.
@@fitz2917I've been swimming fully clothed wearing jeans and work boots. Its not easy but doable when sober. Taking them off in the water while keeping your head above water at the same time would be very, very difficult I'd imagine. If they're tight fitting or lace up boots or if you're drunk there's no chance you'd even get one boot off before you started sinking and breathed in water in a panic. At least I cannot imagine myself being able to at all, based on how hard just swimming fully clothed and booted even while sober is
Well, it makes sense most families will do anything to somehow make sense of such a horrific tragedy!
My family did the same with my eldest brother.
@fitz2917 oh, it's a b**ch. I'm confident I couldn't while in water but we often underestimate the power of the current. My ex BF left me while we were at the dunes in the U.P
I was exhausted because I went in the water once we were over the dune and on the beach. On the way back he left me and it felt like I had 100Ib weights on my legs.
This is such a horrible thing...makes me sad.
B
There will be many more that's for certain
The other thing that stood out to me that I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is: at the last bar he ordered 2 waters. To me, that sounds like he acknowledged that he was reaching his limit as far as drinking and needed to start winding down/sobering up. That would mean that he should absolutely not be that drunk and stumbling around immediately following. To me, that makes it seem like he was roofied bc
that does kick in very quickly and makes someone black out “drunk” within minutes.
Another thing: his watch is clearly an Apple Watch. My question is do the police have a way to check the data on the watch and see when there was no longer a heartbeat and where his location was at that time? Because Apple Watch keeps track of your heartbeat every few minutes at least, and if he has a GPS model then it also keeps track of his location to help enhance the fitness tracker
Good point, also two waters seems even a little desparate and being thirsty is also a sign of some drugs
That honestly seems way more likely here than anything else. If he had a history of getting completely plastered it almost certainly would have been mentioned, so choosing one drink and then just some waters implies he had a fairly good mind to self-limit.
Of course that's by no means certainty, but him not having a mentioned history of getting plastered, choosing to have a few waters instead, etc. all combined indicate that he probably did have a decent ability to self-limit, and was trying to. While it's certainly possible to intake more alcohol than you can handle and only realize when it's too late, he had *_one_* drink at the new bar. That means that he and his friends had to stop drinking, walk for several minutes over to the other bar without taking in any more alcohol, and *_then_* have one more drink. That significantly widens the window for any consumed alcohol to absorb into your system. So it's unlikely he got phantom-punched by alcohol that he'd already consumed, and then only *_after_* having one more drink he suddenly starts wanting to wind-down and acting completely blackout drunk. (and then he gets thrown out *_after_* he starts wanting to wind-down? So he had the mind to say "I've had too much, just waters from now on" but got full on belligerent after that, despite only having *_one_* additional drink that could still be unabsorbed in his body?)
A friend of mine once stopped a drunk college kid from walking out of town and into a cornfield. It was below freezing and he was miles away from his dorm. My friend got him home but if he hadn't stopped to check on him that kid would have froze to death.
I have two stories from my parents about their college drinking experiences.
1. My mom never went to another party when she woke up in her dorm and didn't remember how she got there (yes, I know where my risk aversion comes from for sure)
2. They once woke up and were walking from their dorms to the food hall or something similar on a weekend morning and saw the footprints in the snow (middle mitten Michigan) where someone obviously just kind of wandered off the sidewalk and collapsed into the snow.
It's terrifying what can happen when we're drunk, for sure. It's the mix of stable running for 6+ strides and stumbling/falling that makes me think this is more than just drunk.
Your friend is a really decent human being.
A friend of mine wasn't so lucky. Major props to your friend.
@@gratuitousumlaut1944 He definitely went head first into that pole where the video glitched and hes getting up, could have been a bit drunk already with the weird strides or just unathletic, then hit the pole and lost his equilibrium for the rest of the videos, his equilibrium could have been coming back as he walked passed the police, then he might have got attacked further down the street and in the tussle went over the barricade where the homeless person gave their account. Edit: I believe he might have been roofied, that one reported drink should not have this effect, so drugged not drunk.
Happens at burning man all the time too..
We're talking about the same Nashville PD that is still withholding the Covenant school manifesto, so i wouldn't hold my breath.
Also the same Nashville PD involved in the investigation of the highly suspicious Christmas Day explosion at the ATT data center.
It's also important to note that a phone can be triangulated, even when it is turned off. They simply aren't looking for the phone... or they already have it / have gotten rid of it.
Yeah, Nashville PD has no problem burying that manifesto so I don't see it as very likely they'd rush to catch a serial killer who targets white males. That's the demographic these woke/left wing police departments seem to care the least about.
Damn they still haven’t released that?! Y’all need better cops.
@@Shin_Lona 1st, phones aren't "triangulated" really. Modern cell networks just know your position, triangulation is a technique that you use to identify unknown signals' origins. The exact precision can vary though. On 4g, you're really only looking at "they were within roughly this area code" but 5g can know your position down to a couple of meters. (it uses fancy phasing to basically laser-beam a directed signal to your location, which is why it can, in theory, get much faster speeds. I'm not huge into the signal science of it, but it's fairly involved.)
2nd, *_some_* phone models will continue staying connected to the network even while off, but a broken phone is just broken. If this *_is_* a repeat killer, they know by now that turning a phone off isn't enough.
As someone who has been slipped GBH while drinking, I can assure you, you go in and out of stupors like that. Hard to believe he only had alcohol in his system. Wonder what they tested for?
Regardless of the brief freeze, it is very clear that he tripped and hit his head on that post or aign and fell to the ground. Most likely he recieved a concussion which would explain his odd behavior later. The freeze, to my eye, does not obscure and details outside of those between the moment he trips and the moments right before his head makes contact with the sign/post.
That's what I though. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought he tripped and hit hard.
I agree with both of you. If you look at the background you can see lights and cars moving
I thought I was going crazy , I watched the clip like 15 times and said clearly he just ran headfirst into that sign and dropped like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t know why he kept saying the video froze and then he was resting on the ground putting something in his pocket
He 100% took a header into that post. I would not be surprised to find out he knocked himself unconscious while he was down.
Yeah, I had to go back like 5 times and rewatch it...he definitely fell and knocked his head.
What I saw did not line up at all with the narration
Riley was running and lost his footing and fell. He didn't squat down to pick something up
"Your honor, let the record show the video shows that he was calmly jogging, squatted down and ether picked something up _or_ put something in his pocket."
@@aHedgerowFrogobjection! If we play back the video he clearly fell face first into the poll shown in the video. I would like to call up our professional video analyst to explain this in detail.
Facts
Someone is drugging those dudes
Taking advantage of them
and then disposing of their bodies
after the search & rescue has scaled way back if at all any longer
He’s drugged when he’s running and slams his dome into that light pole base
It looked like he fell
He definitely fell, clear as day. He checks his head with his hand most likely checking to see if it bleeding . He is doing this in the 2nd clip while holding his head down towards the left. Probably took till he spoke to the cop to shake out the cob webs from the fall
I’m glad that you brought up drinking carefully and keeping track of friends. Back in college in 2018, my fraternity bros went to a conference in Chicago. I wasn’t there for this event. Significantly bigger city than any of us were used to and out of state. Ended up with a buddy getting lost in January and wandering around all night. Phone dead. The next morning, they noticed he was gone and a couple of them went driving around and thank god ended up finding him somewhere after a couple hours.
I am a pathologist and have performed many autopsies- including on drowning victims. We do not expect to find "water in the lungs" in victims who have drowned. Instead, the lungs often have significant congestion, which is detected when the organs are weighed. Congested lungs weigh more than healthy, well- aerated lungs. Considering that he was likely in the water for a week, I would expect that his body was quite edematous and that most of the organs were congested. Regardless, lungs are generally not full of water in drowning cases.
I have recently been to Nashville and there is a ton of construction in the Convention Center district. He was clearly impaired as seen in the CCTV footage and he could have easily slipped and ended up in the water. It is very common for victims who drown in a MOVING body of water to lose clothing and shoes. Additionally, it's not really fair to discuss how long it takes for a body to surface in water of varying temperatures. Just because he was found 8 miles away and 2 weeks later doesn't mean that his body had not surfaced. It just means that his body wasn't seen.
People love a good "mystery" It's far more interesting to speculate and come up with their own theories instead of well...the most logical explanation. It's a shame to lose such a young man with his entire life ahead of him like that, and I feel for his family. Edit they released the toxicology report BAC .228 and Delta-9-THC
Thank you for taking the time to comment with your expertise!
I believe a drunk kid fell trying to find his way back to the hotel now possibly has a concussion on top of it had to go pee, lost his balance and drowned unfortunately.
My heart goes out to his family and friends. Heartbreaking 💔
@@primer50yep. This is a big stretch to try to turn this into a “mystery”. It’s really not one, like not at all.
While I know this is from what... well we would call it "ol'red neck " knowledge. A lot of times alcohol related drowning especially involving males involved unzipped pants. As they tend to drop trou and relieve themselves. The can fall off of things. Once leather is water soaked it expands and I have no doubt his boots would have come off
thanks for your expertise! however, i don't think that "slip and fell" applies here. many commenters in the area have seperately said that place where he assumedly fell and drowned all say there was a barrier, and clearly it was just a drop off into the water below beyond the gate. if it wasnt for that, i'd completely agree, but i dont think he would even have the fine motor control to climb that.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the person who was supposed to leave with him may have said something like “i had to go pay my tab before i left” not as in hes being forcibly held there, but because he didnt want to leave his card at a bar and was going to pay his tab first. I only say that because thats what i would do.
That’s a very good point
I had the same thought. If I were in that situation, I could see myself telling my friend to wait outside. Then I'd run back in and settle my tab and get my card back. (And that could take a while depending on how busy the bar is!) I feel bad for his friends... I'd feel terribly guilty for the rest of my life if I were them.
The bar didn't keep open tabs. It's pay as you drink
That's the first thing I thought.
I was thinkin the same. I like this channel but sometimes he spends way too much time on very obviously explainable stuff
I know people in Oregon who said the police aren’t looking into a random leg found across the highway from a landfill, claiming “it’s just biomedical waste that blew away on the wind.” A FOUR LANE HIGHWAY. Biomedical waste that should have been incinerated. When two people are missing.
They’re like that everywhere aren’t they? It’s not like the endless cop drama propaganda we get fed on tv where the detectives really just can’t sleep at night until they solve the case. They’re underpaid, ego driven class traitors and our taxes go to supply them with their brand new speedy cool cars and their super badass shiny military gear so that someone is around to protect the LAWS, not the actual people. Of course there are exceptions. But most police departments won’t even show up to arrest someone who is a danger to others if you fucking CALL THEM and ask them to. This Riley kid literally passed by a cop and spoke to him MOMENTS before going missing, and he went missing directly in front of a fucking jail!! They haven’t solved the case because they simply don’t care to. Too much actual investigation involved for them to care. Big puzzle, small brain. Hey guys, let’s go set up a speed trap instead and see how much weed we can confiscate.
That isn't surprising at all. I'm honestly shocked when police actually their jobs properly at this point, and expect apathy, corruption and incompetence as the default.
I live in Nashville and broadway is literally known for how often people end up roofied. I’m convinced he was drugged and confused and he could’ve fallen into the river in that state.
I agree with your roofie theory. That might have been what he was reporting to the bartender as a 'good samaritan' move, that he witnessed a girl getting roofied or suspected a roofie incident. Maybe he got roofied too, since he was acting more drunk than the 1 reported drink that he had. But I don't think he fell into the river and somehow left his debit card on a rock, but was found without his jeans or boots or wallet. Sounds like he was roofied, robbed and killed to me.
@@SarahGreen523 So far there's literally no proof of that. I also thought he was roofied but your version suggest someone followed him. Which is not seen on any cameras, police doesn't suspect faul play. Literally every "suspicious" thing here has a simpler explanation, and can be explained by him being unfortunately drugged and accidentally falling to his death.
His debit card being found - maybe he was looking through his wallet, the card fell out and since he was roofied, he didn't notice. Then maybe someone wanted to be a good person and placed it somewhere visible.
Why would a killer come back and direct the cops into the river? There is no logical reason for it - you're only at a further risk of incriminating yourself. Hell, you would be better off just throwing it into the water.
The only truly suspicious thing is the homeless guy and the person in the video omitted, for some reason, a third possibility - he just remembered wrong. Or confused him with some other person. It was dark, and human memory is notoriously unreliable.
But why no water in his lungs? Even roofied people still breathe.
@@mandyg8022 The video answers the question. Dry drownings are common when theyre intoxicated.
I'm middle-aged, so I don't know this; do you know if the people who are roofied are sexually assaulted, robbed or nothing else happens to them?
So glad this show comes on weekly makes the Friday night shift liveable!
Good luck friend
Amen brother. Hang in there.
It's absolutely right to have grace for Riley's friends who didn't leave the bar with them. The person who took his life is 100% responsible.
However, as a female college student in 2010 I would have NEVER let a friend leave a bar alone after drinking. I had had enough negative experiences with people my age but twice my size to know better. It's true that "we should all do better". I just want to point out that, due to our individual and collective experiences, many of those who must do better are young men. They need community and protection too. Look out for your bros!!
Ps. This is vid is very well done!!
thats men for ya. use women from birth are taught to be safe from MEN. men dont have to go through that, so it doesnt cross their minds to check on their friends. they will never understand the fear all women have towards men.
These cases are just bizarre. And also shows anyone who gets into a vulnerable situation can suffer tragedy. These young, fit men would normally never be considered at risk. But getting drunk and separated from friends makes anyone vulnerable.
I think it also wouldn't be unlikely that some of these men were drugged or doing drugs and fatal consequences happen. Care for your buddies better people!
Not trying to seem better than all of these guys but every time I’ve ever been way too sauced in public with friends and i lose them for a bit I always ALWAYS stop what I’m doing and wait where I’m at. Either call or text any of my friends where I’m at and wait for them. And these are times that I have been nearly black out drunk. This is a very weird case and I don’t understand his mentality going down the street
True, it's time we all take responsibility for leaving friends behind.
If you go out together you stay together!
If a friend wants to hook up with someone & u don't know them. No!
Give them your no. To set up a date at a later time.
Stay together! Times are different, we're not safe.
Alot of weirdos out there.
I dont actually find this case bizarre. Alcohol is a very dangerous drug
Because people are protecting a serial unaliveer
Riley loved his mum, and they were very close. Riley's mum said that Riley was her best friend. On the night Riley disappeared he called and texted his mum, even from the bars they were at. His mum apparently went to bed early at 7:30 pm. But she got a chance to say "I love you" to Riley that evening. If you want to know how close Riley was to his mum, you just have to watch the interviews with her. She can barely talk she is so distressed. And after Riley was found she said "all mums out there, hug your babies tight tonight". 😞 💔
Really glad I found your channel, I love the way you present this story. Great format ! 👍🏻
I've lived in Nashville my whole life and 2 things : the Cumberland River is no joke, and the people that hang out by the river aren't either. On top of those factors, in the last few years the people that haunt the establishments downtown have gotten much sketchier. So frankly I'm surprised this doesn't happen every weekend.
But doesn't explain why this is happening in almost every large city to men his age race IQ economic status etc 🤔
@@nomdeplume2213intresting, if it is happening everywhere id suggest that actually points to it being much less suspicious 🤨 it would look much more like “when one lives by a river they run the risk of falling/being pushed in/ being murdered and dumped there in individual unrelated circumstances.” Just my genuine thought based on that which i didnt know, ive only heard about the smiley case theory in the context of other cases.
@@nomdeplume2213 It's a war that only one side knows they are fighting. A war on us.
@@nomdeplume2213 here's my question: Is this a new phenomenon? or have unfortunate young men gotten drunk and fallen into rivers throughout history, but we just didn't notice the pattern before? In other words, is this a genuine phenomenon or is the conspiracy internet simply creating one out of something that has always happened now and then?
@@kaseyremer Yeah exactly, if this is happening in more than one area this just makes it wayyy less suspicious.
As a 30 year scuba diving instructor/rig diver/drift diver, and many other underwater specialties, I believe this was not an accident. Remember, the debit card was found earlier. In all that mess his card was laying undamaged face up on a rock? I did see the video of a guy running away from where Riley was walking towards at the time he disappeared. Crazy how the cop was straight up like “we found his body, no foul play” forgot to mention his pants and boots and wallet were gone .That Sabrina woman is not crazy. They could put his shirt back on before throwing him in the river days after they hid his body. He stumbled into the wrong area sadly. Nashville is just trying to protect their reputation. Riley's friends need to speak up....
Also the diver car that seem to be everywhere and the later video with someone in white tennis shoes and white coat or sweatshirt then more people who all come together … I’m not the only one who noticed these
I think I read that there was no water in his lungs, too.
It was lying undamaged, not dirty, face up on a rock, but also under a leaf and on the "bank" in an area not considered the "bank". Of the 2 women who found it, one never spoke in interviews I've been able to find, while the one bragged about her "steps taken on the first day of searching", and gave an emotionless scripted comment about why she was searching. Both were oddly wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day(though one did take her sunglasses off during the primary interview), and stopped to make a tiktok video before reporting the find.
@@AhranMaoDante I was also immediately suspicious of them. “Suspicious” might be too strong a word, I’m not sure it’s more than just a feeling… but that part really did feel off.
How do you know they're feeling guilty? I beg to differ. Not a single one did an interview or reached out to the family or stayed in Nashville to help out. They just left and continued on with their lives. What a bunch of LOSERS.
Maybe you guys have covered this, but as we were listening, my partner reminded me of a group that was arrested where apparently they’d have a friend bartender put ghb or another substance in a persons drink-they’d have another throw the person out claiming they’d broken the rules or were being too rowdy at the bar (remember Aidan saying that his friends said they were told they couldn’t leave with him-what if the person who threw him out didn’t actually work for the bar?!) They’d follow the person in order to rob them of their money & phone-they were able to do this for a while-they had multiple groups supposedly doing this & they’d travel-apparently in some states you are allowed to bartend from place to place (idk the ends & outs of it, but apparently bartenders would just pick up shifts as needed, so you’d have one bartender working multiple places doing this-& if one is intoxicated, anyone can pretend to be a bouncer & probably convince someone to leave, especially an out of towner.) A group of girls, I believe, were eventually caught bc they overdosed one of these guys. Don’t know if this is something similar that is happening-maybe completely unrelated, but in a place like Nashville, it seems it’d be a place prone to some kind of scam like this. I’d also be checking that homeless guys story too-bc either the police don’t want to release all the footage they have yet, or the homeless guy is lying about there being 2 ppl. And idk why a place would have multiple signs saying that it’s being monitored if it’s not-especially a police department/sheriffs office. Something smells fishy…no pun intended!
Do you have any more info? That sounds…really appropriate
What is the group called? Or where did this happen?
Sounds legit or possible…. Scary!
they'd go through all that trouble to get the cash out of a dude's wallet?? Seems like way too much effort even if this wasn't in a huge tourist city... definitely way too much effort for bartenders in nashville. Not all that easy to just bartend wherever you want and for those that do work tips for a weekend at these popular places can be equivalent to like ten 'hits' as you describe them... the time investment plus splitting it amongst multiple conspirators?? Very little avg take for so much conspiracy and risk....
I have heard alot about this ring of temp bar workers going state to state and several have been arrested around Atlanta. For doing EXACTLY as you said. I never heard the bars themselves were involved, but the money scams have been in the 10,000 to 30,000 with their cell phone pay apps, credit cards and online ordering scams. By being drugged and wandering out of bars on their own, sitting ducks for part 2 of the scam - the take down crews.
@@Astral_Clover All I remember about this was ATLANTA arrested several and named multiple cities they were sure they had hit. It was, strangely enough, on something I watched here on you tube about the SFK.
Also, he didn’t squat down in the cctv footage. He fell and practically face planted the concrete. They suspect a concussion because he looks like he loses consciousness briefly.
While Aidan Mattis was researching, he was only able to find videos which froze at the point where Riley falls. During the editing process, Aidan Thornbury found a clip which did not freeze, but assumed Aidan Mattis was describing the slow frame rate and a couple of small visual glitches as a “freeze” and so included the unfrozen clip. It was a communication error.
@@TheLoreLodge that makes sense. I think it’s important because I think it explains why he was stumbling so hard in the next clip. Might even explain why he quit breathing before he went into the water?
@@ArtVandelayLovesPretzelswell im listening to the live stream and to them it doesn't make sense cuz the police have the same evidence and could easily say "he hit his head and we believe cuz of it fell in" but they haven't
It's clear, he Hauling down the sidewalk running and he trips bad. Hit his head on planter I think.
As a bartender I've heard people say they were drugged & didn't remember anything. But I cld not tell as I thought they were just drinking. They acted buzzed but seemed fine? This happens in the best bars! Trust me! People are evil.
I believe he was drugged. He wld have never wondered off so far in the opposite direction.
This poor kid. I pray whomever is responsible gets caught & gets his karma in prison!!!
Good to know that people should always be hyper vigilant. Here I was naively thinking that the better bars wouldn’t have those incidents. 😔
My first video of your channel, I must say, I’m intrigued. When I heard he’d been found and it was assumed an accidental drowning, I thought, so sad. Horrible loss and I’m so sorry for his friends and family. But watching your thoroughness on this, and how you cover it, your obvious knowledge of the area and being close in age, been there done that knowledge, I’m now going to follow this more closely.
Looking forward to catching up on your channel. I appreciate good content, intelligent coverage, and thorough study. I’m glad that I found this channel. Thank you.
The freeze he talked about was in the footage they originally found. The one in the video is the version without the freeze they found while editing the video
Just to be clear, he was found wearing the T-shirt, his boxers and his socks. How can tight boots come off in the water without dragging off the socks too? How can tight jeans get ripped off in the water but the boxers stay on? Very suspicious.
There is video online taken further along the road, just after the second bridge, that appears to show a figure running from under the second bridge a couple of minutes after Riley went under the bridges and disappeared. The figure is really hard to identify, but it does not appear to be Riley based on clothing colors. Regarding Riley's route, it has been suggested that he was heading towards a business with the same name as his hotel. That business was located at the end of that street he was walking down. He may have searched on his phone for the hotel and got this business address by mistake.
As he gets up at 20:42 he’s working to pull his pants back up. My jeans fall off unless I tighten my belt up real good.
As for the boots, if they were slip on and not fit too tightly I can see those coming off real easy once they’re full of water. If you got tight socks, then maybe they don’t come off without some serious help. That’s how mine are, big feet, but my shoes are real loose. If I move quick the shoes come off. Socks ain’t going nowhere though, I gotta roll those suckers off.
The shirt could just be luck/chance but I can also see it being harder to come off because the arms (if by the sides) make that pretty hard to do.
I still think he got killed but that it’s also realistic for his clothes to come off in the water.
At 6'5" and 160 lbs, he's very skinny. I bet his pants were big on him and maybe even his boots were too. Just bc he's wearing cowboy boots, doesn't mean he's wearing them right.
@@JuniperWhiskeytartkinda weird he was wearing a belt tho. And why would wet jeans come off and a t shirt.
@@TwitchingHourwet jeans tho? Idk about you, but anytime I try to take off wet jeans it’s a downright process.
I watched the clip of him at the stoplight and when he looks disoriented and apparently talks to the two women he’s holding out his phone as he walks and is checking it like he’s using maps and can’t recognize any landmarks. I agree that he was probably headed to the business and was severely lost.
I have watched Jim Smith and William Ramsey call 20 plus of these cases. Man goes missing, college aged, healthy, low BMI, go missing, later to be found in water. William has had many episodes talking about different cults whose membership is dependent on a culling where you have to kill someone and not get caught. One of the cults gives advice that making your victim look like a drowning is the best way they've found so far. Heck William and Jim called Riley strain to the day when he would be found. Pretty interesting they are able to do it time after time after time. Of course William has been researching the occult for 10 years so he knows what to look for and how these cults communicate and why certain things are done. I think a ton of people are going to be embarrassed when this finally breaks. I think this latest rash of drownings is really starting to wake people up.
Maybe they are involved...
This evil has been going on since 1997...so that's 27 years now.
And yeah, the chain of command on this thing goes WAY up and into the Cop structure.
They always say accidental drowning via alcohol intoxication...
Like a Mantra.
Case Closed.
It is Cult.
maybe the police arent releasing the video because it does contain a clue in it that they dont want the person responsible to realize they have.
Pretty much this. If whatever lead they have doesnt pan out, and police are not in on it, or they make an arrest, only then will the public ever see that footage.
I can see that. Not only tipping off the suspect, but it can also get innocent people accused. Like the University of Idaho unalivings where a guy standing near the food truck in surveillance video was accused by Reddit. Or the Boston Marathon boom device case where an innocent kid was accused because Reddit saw a guy with a backpack in photos. You just can't let Reddit get involved.
Yes that is so cool and exactly what they have done every thing for
I'm a Nashville native. The area where he was last seen and his phone turned off is literally swarming with police at all hours. MNPD headquarters, Davidson County courthouse and county jail are all right there at the Robertson bridge on the west bank. Dude had eyeballs and cameras on him the whole time.
Am I not supposed to have been able to see this? It says it's been up for 17 hours and only has 7 views, and it's set to unlisted.
EDIT: So this goes out to everyone asking how, and of course to @TheLoreLodge too to help keep your videos safe in future:
If you upload a video as unlisted, it's not visible on your channel, but it is still viewable to anyone who has the URL. Which means, if you put a video that is unlisted into a playlist, and this video is in the Smiley Face Killers playlist, then anyone who views the playlist, will be able to watch it. It's better to upload a video as private, as this hides the video from playlists too.
I hope this helps everyone to understand how I found this video early. I'm not a member, I'm not a patron, it was just an accident, and I didn't realise I wasn't supposed to be able to watch it, until the video was coming to a close, and that's when I noticed the Unlisted tag.
Damn bro was extra early
Patriots have access it to it now.
Patrons
It means Bigfoot has your ssn
🖖👽
Austin Texas too. Ladybird Lake 10 men in water after leaving a bar
Thank you man - you're doing the good work. But also lets not forget that we do get drunk to say and do the shit we won't do sober. I'm German and your drinking career here starts basically at 13. So if I think of all the nights I got wasted, broke into or climbed over things, got blackeyed but don't remember where, how or who and arrived home with ripped clothes and stuff i stole from a construction site somewhere on the 15 mile walk from nowhere, it's a miracle I never made it on your show.
Damn you're a menace!😅 Dennis Wolf?
I'm English but you sound like me and many people I have known. Similar drinking cultures in Germany and the U.K. I think!
I’ll never forget the German exchange student my friend group befriended in junior high. I think we were 14 and would get drunk with booze we stole from our parents liquor cabinet. This girl grabbed our bottle of vodka and just chugged it like it was water. We were all incredibly impressed lol.
The US is also just generally more dangerous than Germany, though, especially the Southern US.
@@badinfluence3814 I"m American, also started getting blackout drunk at 13, was doing it multiple times a week by 15, and dozens and dozens of times I have finally come to out of a blackout, walking along some highway 50 miles from the city I was drinking in, memories of hitchhiking, hanging out with homeless people, getting into fights, sleeping with strange women in strange places, doing drugs with very bizarre and dangerous people - sometimes seeking that out specifically when I'm extremely drunk. For whatever reason, I tend to be able to present as reasonably sober through all of these periods - based on what other people have told me. Meaning, I'm not slurring my words or stumbling heavily. But I am making extremely poor decisions almost like I have a deathwish. I think you find people like us anywhere in the world where alcohol is available.
In that clip of riley running, he definitely tripped and fell. He wasnt picking something up off the ground
Exactly, he definitely ate shit and probably cracked his head hard, makes sense
I caught that too, he totally fell.
I went to high school and college with him. We never overlapped but one of my best friends was his neighbor. Our college never made any statement to the students until after his body was found and even that was too little too late. Rip Riley
I’m ever so grateful that you did this post. I’m a retired teacher who has been called to find out as much as I possibly can about Riley’s situation. I just can’t seem to “ let go “. PLEASE continue to fight for Riley since he cannot. My gut (& your video) have convinced me that something is NOT being told. Riley and his family/friends deserve justice and nobody else should have this end IF in fact it’s not an accident.❤️🙏🌹
So I just asked my dad (who was both a cop and paramedic long term with a short stint as a firefighter) if drowning with no water in the lungs is weird and he said no, since the throat would spasm and close due to water trapping the air inside and the spasm wouldn't end meaning no water would ever enter the lungs. So if someone drowned with water in the lungs that's normal but drowning with no water is also fairly normal
Yep its caled dry drowning
@@vicvega3614Which Aidan talks about in this video.
@@bitchlasagna1 yea i commented that before i heard that part
Never ever leave a friend alone.
Fantastic overview and analysis.
You have truly become one of, if not THE best resource for learning about these types of cases.
Love your channel, the fact you didn't cover this immediately both shows constraint in wanting more information, but also respect for the situation and not wanting to send out false or misleading information. Seriously you guys are amazing keep up the awesome work.
this breaks my heart we need to look out for each other :( was gonna cry watching him trying to walk
Thanks for covering this so quick. I live in Knoxville TN. As soon as I heard this case, this is the first thing I thought about. All the missing young males after being in a bar. It seems almost fated for him to be in the river.
Got my dog, my blanket, pizza in the oven....waiting on the Lore Lodge doors to open!
My cat and I are doing the same thing.
Sounds like a damn good time. My dog lives with my mom but I've got a blanket and a big bowl of soup!
I read that wrongly. I thought you'd written "blanket in the oven" Hahahaha
@@PerryCJamesUK Lol!
get your dog out of the oven dude wtf?
Aidans, I think in addition to making interesting videos for us, you guys are doing a real kindness to the families of these victims, shining a light and spreading info about these cases. Thank you.
The fact that his belt, boots, and wallet weren’t found with the body makes me think that it was a mugging gone wrong. Someone might have seen him in the bar or struggling to walk on the street and picked him as a target. Whatever happened, his friends and family must be devastated.
Most commonsensical version. In that state you're fair game for desperados of any kind. As for his state, he looks severely intoxicated more than head-injured, albeit a mixture of both can't be excluded. Really, low-hanging fruit for predators. Did they undress him to prevent a pursuit or other defensive measures in the immediate? Not at all unlikely.
My 1st thought when I see him walking is, maaaaan, someone is going to pickup on that and follow him. I would be curious to see all the video after he passed by
That does make some sense, but the no pants doesn't match up.
And if the jeans did come off in the water, wouldn't the socks and looser-fitting boxers be more likely to come off too?
FYI, It would be completely normal for any police station to be closed outside of “normal business hours” to the public. Normally, after hours, they lock the doors and dispatch/jail are the primary entities active in the building.
Last year, there were 2 men found by the nearby river within a month of each other after exiting Brooklyn Mirage here in NY and I always wonder what happened with that and this video popped up and now I’m about to go on a deep dive.
It’s possible he went to the edge of the river to take a leak, pulled his pants down way too far because he’s drunk (and it’s so easy to lose a wallet in your back pocket if your pants are loose), and then he fell over while trying to not pee on himself and thus in a prime position to lose his pants and boots if he fell into the water with his pants around his ankles.
Do you know how hard it is to take cowboy boots off?
Why no water in his lungs, though?
Ehh depends on which ones. Some are just easily slipped on and off nowadays so just depends on what kind he has and also if they were the right size. Also if he had his jeans tucked into them, it could make it easier to get off.
See this makes sense to me because I think the boots would easily come off with the weight of bunched up jeans, the only weird thing to me is the way the cops are behaving around this case, super sketchy ESPECIALLY how there was a cop a minute away from where he went missing
We kept his pants
This has been happening in Austin, TX for the last 6 years or so. The police keep saying nothing is going on but everyone believes we have a serial killer.
To me it seems like someone is drugging these at the bar guys to rob them when they leave and then dumping the ODs in the river.
@@colekimball4945 To me it sounds like drunk people falling into the lake and drowning. As far as Riley goes, it sounds like he needed to empty his bladder after drinking so much and went to pee in the river and lost his balance and fell in and drown. Because of his drunken state not many business establishments would probably have allowed him inside to use their bathroom facilities.
@@annmarie2964doesn't track, as a former college student who drunkenly pissed in his fair of bushes, alleys, and between parked cars.
Drunk mind doesn't hop a barricade and climb down an embarkment to pee in a river, drunk mind finds the closest dark enough spot for that exact moment.
People tend to pee in the parking garages in Nashville. Also sbarro used to be right there. I moved away several years ago so my knowledge is dated, but they used to have public bathrooms.
@@annmarie2964 couple things that if you are so certain I’d like for you to clarify for me. Why is there no other footage, way was the debit card sitting on a rock before the spot he’s said to fall in, how did wet jeans that were secured with a belt get off his body, and here’s the big one why is there NO WATER in his lungs if he is said to drown.
I immediately thought of the smiley face killers when I heard of this case on the news
Good on you for discouraging any harsh reaction to Riley's friends from that night. Honestly, you'd have to be a terrible human being to contact or harass people who have nothing to do with your own business.
I grew up on 62nd and I am telling you as kids we often went swimming in the river exactly where they found his body. We went through the gate in question and we jumped off the barg at the concrete plant. But that was 35 years ago, but you can get access to the river there. And we always went on Sunday because we knew no one would be working at the plant
Also there is about 150 steps that you have to go down to get to the barg
Been really sick so I haven't been able to watch videos much so now I'm catching up! All of this is so sad 😭 thank y'all for all your research and hard work on every video!
A small point of clarification...in my experience managing bars/restaurants, almost all have a policy of not stopping customers who don't pay their tab/bill, however; it is extremely common for the employees directly impacted, such as servers or bartenders to disregard that policy.
it doesnt look like the video freezes, it looks fully like he falls head first behind/into the sign and concrete thing, takes a second and stands back up.
Exactly what I was thinking. I don't see a freeze, just a drunk stumble, fall, and pause before he's back on his feet.
While researching, every video I could find froze. Thornbury found one that didn’t.
Yes, that's what I saw too. It looked to me like he landed on his head and it took him a minute to get back up, like it would if you hit your head hard. If he had a concussion then the way he was walking (or struggling to walk) makes sense. It sounds to me like he was accosted, robbed and killed. I'd go out looking at the homeless population in that area to see who has some boots that match the description of the ones missing from the guys feet.
Freeze or not he clearly hit his head and most likely got a concussion which would explain his behavior
Thank you! Thought I was going crazy but yes, he obviously falls hard and maybe hits head?
about the friends not leaving, they didn't say they weren't allowed to leave. 'can't leave' most likely means they didn't want to steal drinks and riley wandered off while they tried to settle up
Dry Drowning is INCREDIBLY COMMON! I Literally work in Emergency Services. Dry Drowning is typically the form of drowning that occurs when we pull people out of the water
Same here. I've only seen it once. Talking to the swift water rescue guys on my SAR team they say they see it in their rescues
Is it common for jeans and shoes or clothing to be absent as well?
( I’m not trying to sound a like douchebag, I’m just curious)
National Stats say otherwise....only 10 to 15% of cases of drowning show no water in the lungs. Incredibly common? There are tons of experts who argue that dry downing itself is a myth and that victims with no water in the lungs were most likely placed in water after death.
Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is dry drowning, as i've looked it online and from what i understood it was when someone start to drown, then the person is rescued and later they suffocate due to the water they inhale, is my understanding wrong then?
@@kobe9946 Oh yeah, especially depending on how long they’ve been in the water. We’ve pulled people out of the water with one shoe and no shirt and even someone with 2 shoes and no clothes! It’s bizarre for sure, but oftentimes the result of something rather benign. Especially when drugs and alcohol are involved and depending upon the type of water the were in, ie a river or beach with strong currents and a variety of point objects and obstacles involved.
I dunno if anyone already said it, but the first security tape, the camera doesn't really look to freeze. Dude fell over and due to the frame rate of the recording it's not the most clear fall ever, but i mean he was running while intoxicated and fell over. I assume he hit his head on the concrete pillar that it looks like he fell into, which is why he was holding his head in the subsequent clips. Haven't watched past this yet, but seems like he got roofied/drugged and it hit him hard otw to what he thought was home. He prolly started feeling weird at the bar, decided to go home, but didn't wanna seem like he couldn't hold his liquor so just said all was well. this makes perfect sense to me and seems perfectly plausible. Why did someone roofie him? That i couldnt say, but could have been a simple mixup as far as they put it in the wrong drink, or all the way to potential robbery/assault. This doesn't seem like a mystery to me though. **edit, if there's an actual discrepancy in the video file though, then disregard this. but just from watching it, it seems fine to me
Yeah the versions I was able to find froze, looks like Thornbury found one that shows the part which was frozen on the news
Thank you…I had to go back a couple times like what froze? The cars in the background are still moving and nothing jumps like it was edited out 😂😅
I thought the same thing! It looks like he falls face/head first into that pole, and after that he's stumbling and hanging his head. I still think whatever happened is extremely suspicious, but if he had a head injury he'd be even more vulnerable.
I read that Riley did not have a history of getting sloppy drunk. I believe he was drugged, followed, and …..
Kevin Nguyen went missing in 2018 in Fort Wayne, IN. Theories of the Smiley Face murders circulated online. He was 25 and intoxicated when he went missing. He was last seen on video, leaving a bar on foot. It's eerily similar. So sad. His dad loved him so much, but he passed away not too long ago without any answers about Kevin.
We have a rule in my house: if something happens to me or anyone in my immediate circle, call upon "Mini Mad Dog" because he's one of the best internet sleuths I've encountered. These videos are some of the best I've ever watched. Of any genre, period.
Thanks I will check out mini mad dog. Has he covered these cases of missing guys?. I have returned to the comments because I can not find any YT channel called Mini Mad Dog.
@@deborahhenderson149 I think that's their nickname for this channel (Aiden)
Yes because Aiden is distantly related to Mad Dog Matis lol.
My brother went missing after leaving a bar in Austin, Texas a few months back in February and around the same time a body was also pulled from a nearby lake shortly after he went missing from a bar, thankfully it wasn't him. However, this is apparently a thing that has been happening in Austin for a some time to the point that locals believe a serial killer is involved. Bodies have apparently been getting pulled out of Lady Bird lake for a while now, it reminded me of this case in particular.
Your brother still missing? Push the info to some of these channels by email and get some eyes on the situation!
@@larsvonrinpoche1229 Thanks for the concern, thankfully we did actually find him. He had been drugged and robbed, and someone tossed him behind a dumpster on 6th street. Had a bad case of pneumonia, but other than that he's all good!
@@TheTijI'm so glad he was (relatively) ok! "Dirty Sixth" is the main part of 6th street, the part downtown where they set up the road blocks - it's been notorious for people getting roofied for at leeeeast a decade. Most locals don't go there unless they have a drinking problem, the bars are known for not cutting people off. East 6th isn't always safer either, my friend was roofied and harmed at one of the first bars on that side. _I really wish people had a way to know this stuff when they come here._
I personally had never heard about there being a serial killer theory (besides the jack the ripper moon tower one) before today and I've lived here for 30-ish years. It's my hometown, I feel weird not tossing in what I know.
I think our existing, severe roofie problem hasn't been addressed, and it's more comforting to think it's one person instead of a *bunch* of predators knowing they can drug people in the tourist/getting blackout area and the cops won't do anything.
Creeps grab at (or get violent with) people in the middle of the street WHILE THERE ARE HORSE COPS ALL AROUND. It's happened to me while passing through, it's happened to me while working SXSW. The cops literally do NOTHING. Those alleys are *notorious.* Too many of my friends have dumpster stories. Way too many.
A lot of us want dirty sixth changed, but it's too profitable for the city to do anything, apparently.
Apologies for the long comment. It's just really goddamn upsetting to hear about someone visiting and THAT happening. He didn't deserve that. I am so sorry.
If it'll make him laugh, you can tell him he got the true, authentic local experience...?
i’m convinced there’s a serial killer here as well
I think everyone is blazing past the obvious question: how did he get so "drunk" so quickly with one drink charged to his card? Doesn't matter what the bar management says, anyone in there could easily drug him and then pretend to be bouncers that "kick him out" and then stop his friends from leaving. If there was a live band playing with a crowd, you could get away with all of that. And these were young guys without enough experience to recognize a situation that's abnormal.
Many think he was r00fied.
@@nian60his last text to his mom was that his drink tasted weird.
They were bar hopping I believe. They had started at one bar, he called his mom and talked to her, then went to a new bar, got kicked out, no? So likely he got drunk at the first bar
They've been to two other bars before ending up at that one, not to mention pre-drinking is also a thing. Furthermore, he personally only bought one drink, but anyone else from his group could've bought him drinks too
Hey man, just an old dude working on an old race car waiting for the show to start.Later Tuna
What’s the old race car? Watching this while doing an oil change on my twin turbo 5.0 race truck!
Hey,the car is a 1974 soap box derby i worked on it back then now getting it ready for the vintage car show they have during race week for the ALL AMERICAN SOAP BOX DERBY in late July. Thanks for asking. Later Tuna
I hear things like, ''why would anyone clamber down a slope and drop their debit card''. I think back to my younger days. My buddy jumped off a 12 ft bridge, into a creek, because he wanted to see how deep it was. He was walking home alone, from a bar, drunk. It was barely 2 ft deep btw. I found out 2 days later when we drove over the bridge, and he told me casually that he jumped off. That was his response when i asked why the hell he would do that. There may have not been a good reason why he would clamber down that hill. That doesn't mean he didn't do it. Kids are dumb... we sure were.
It’s what frustrates me the most when they say stuff like 46:51 people do stupid shit all the time sober or drunk.
That still doesn’t mean that’s what happened I’ve been shit faced so many times it would make your head spin and I’ve never did anything dumb or irresponsible some people can handle their liquor some can’t we shouldn’t always assume people got themselves killed if it’s possible they didn’t
@@Lolzzz483 by that same token we shouldn't always assume people were killed if it's possible they weren't, its far more likely that someone would do dumb and irresponsible things while drunk then not especially if they are around a age range where doing dumb and impulsive things is already pretty common.
@@Lolzzz483 a great example in my favor btw if you look up stupid drunk decisions complication 2018, by a channel called newsflare at 0:52 a dude tries to hop over a safety gate right next to water that is about the same Hight as the railing separating the him from the water, it would be very easy for that situation to change into one where he falls in and drowns
@@Lolzzz483 here's the catch tho, my buddy could handle his liquor as well as anybody. He was an adrenaline junky. Liked to white water kyak, skydive, ect. He was just a madman, drunk or sober. He was a calculated risk taker. With that being said, sometimes his calculations were a bit off. He died in a skydiving accident. Got a twist in his lines, cut away, and got a twist in his reserve. Life's been a lot less fun since then... i miss ya RJ, RIP.
Thanks for all the work that goes into these videos!
Two quick notes with the caveat that I have no expertise or reason to believe that my thoughts are more correct than yours, but for the sake of making sure you've considered everything:
1) Also guessing at a criminal's motives, I do wonder if I found a wallet and wanted its contents whether I'd just chuck the card as useless to me without any passwords/pins/etc.
2) I wonder if the police are withholding the last footage because it _is_ from the jail surveillance cameras. They may be reluctant to give specific information on the exact location of the surveillance cameras so escapees can't use that information to get around it.
Anyone want to bet his decomposition does not match with his time of disappearance?
Kinda strange that the girl that found Rileys card worked at a bar in nashville and she introduced herself to a youtuber searching for Riley.She joined the search and she found the card while the you tuber was down at the water with her back turned and yelled i found Rileys card. At police conference she walked up and got in the footage and held up a phone with smiley faces all over it. Its just strange to me in my opinion.
I saw that and she gave me the creeps.
wow..alright that's weird. And guess where she would have gotten the card...from the bar!
That's weird, for sure.
Before his body was found, chic that found card said "look for size 15 boots and blue wallet". How did she know he was seperated from those items?
The person who found the card DOES NOT work at a bar downtown. False info.
Occam’s razor aka my theory:
He was partying with his friends and got kicked out for calling out someone spiking the drinks. His friends wanted to stay and party more/go pay their tab. They checked in on him like good friends do and messed up a few details/didn’t make good judgement calls as all people do.
He jogs across the parking lot and hits his head on that pole because he was already impaired either from drinking, some other substance he chose to take, or he got roofied. He keeps touching his head as he continues walking because it hurts. He pulled himself together enough to chat with the cop as he kept moving.
He sees a possible shortcut in the form of a trail, where the homeless people spot him. One of them sees him stumble and asks if he’s okay while another one says he’s fine, he’s just drunk (could’ve even been a random passerby that saw him walking if not a homeless person). But he was possibly concussed on top of being drunk/drugged.
So he’s stumbling his way along the trail and falls in the water. The Ross guy found a similar shirt where he said and was wearing it, red herring.
The debit card could’ve washed up on the embankment because there was even another card there. Tidal patterns are weird.
He could’ve lost his pants and boots if they either didn’t fit well or if he cracked his pants open to take a leak. Like. I can see it being totally possible that he went down to the secluded area to relieve himself and fell in. And he could’ve been wearing ill fitting cowboy boots because yay Nashville. He could’ve also just lost them in the whirlpools? He also could’ve just had the debit card loose in his pocket. I know I tend to stick mine back in my pocket instead of my wallet when I’m using it pretty often.
The part about the walking trail, roofies being common there, and whirlpools I got from other comments.
But yeah the homeless guy never said the second guy was with him, and the parents might be wrong about where the video takes place. The cops could also just be saying they tend to find bodies two weeks after they go missing. Like that it’s common in that area.
I’m sure there’s an explanation for where he’s walking and why. I know I’ve definitely gotten lost when drunk and didn’t realize it til I opened Google.
The smiley face killer theory is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
You do a great job digging into the details and trying to present all sides.
Now this is how you cover a mystery.
Proper
This looks and sounds like a head injury response. RIP Riley, truly sad. There are so many of these cases where Young people are ending Up deceased after a night out and an accidental drowning seems to be a popular Verdict given by the cops. ❤❤
Thank you for your message about ensuring friends have a plan. I've always been the "mom" of the group when out drinking and make sure that we all have a spot to meet if we get separated. I feel like maybe young guys don't think about that as much. My friends and I will ensure we text each other when we get home safe.
I'll weigh in a little now, and again when I can confirm some information.
I used to work right behind Top Golf at what's now Kosmos cement. We, like lafarge, unloaded cement barges. During my time there, we witnessed the recovery of two bodies: one was a swimmer that tried to swim across the Cumberland and then return, but he got washed under our barge, and the second one was a jumper from the walking bridge that used to be the Shelby Street bridge. The jumper bobbed to the surface about a week or so after he jumped, even though the bridge isn't very far from our barge. He got caught (Hung up) underneath our barge. He wasn't released until we moved the barge as part of the unloading process.
Riley was not dumped at the site. He was carried by the current and got hung up under the barge. There's always flotsam and jetsam swirling around the upriver side of the barges and he may have been caught, unnoticed, for a while.
The guy who started the Knoxville TN body farm weighed in with News Channel 5s Nick Beres, and said that it was highly unlikely his pants and boots came off in the river.
He took them off to take a swim.
I'm 30 seconds into this video so I don't know if they think he was conscious when he went into the water, but if he was conscious could he have kicked off his shoes to swim better and taken off his pants to try to make one of those DIY survival flotation devices?
When I’ve swum in street clothes, my pants have almost come off. If they’re not tight fitting pants and you’re not wearing a belt, they get heavy quickly and start to slide down your legs as you kick. I can imagine in a life or death situation where I’m struggling to keep above the water, I would feel my pants start to come off and either not care because I’m drowning, or get them off faster to reduce the hindrance.
Maybe? In the part where there's video that the police didn't release, perhaps he took off his pants and boots to take a 💩 and then had trouble putting them back on because of the inebriation? Just a thought.
Aiden's little grand voila gesture after wrenching off your cowboy boot: fabulous.
Appreciate the appreciation - Thornbury
~ 22:42 my brother suggested that Riley had maybe fallen earlier & that's why he was stumbling, & then he started feeling a bit better after taking the tumble, & when he saw the cop he thought "Oh crap Better look Not Drunk & Disorderly" & put extra effort into seeming fine.
The strongest evidence I think is the boots....I've been wearing cowboy boots my whole life and they don't come off by accident
agree - had cowboy boots on in a bad car crash - 3 other people in car, 2 died, all of them were found shoeless (had tennis shoes on) - my boots stayed on
@@sdrizaClint Eastwood was looking over you that day
Leather cracks and falls apart if they are exposed for a prolonged period of time, this is the least convincing proof
Yeah usually a boyfriend takes them off.
He took a swim. He took his pants & shoes off to take a swim. He was wasted & thought it would be fun. You’d be surprised how often this happens, cold or not outside. Young people think they’re invincible especially when drunk.
I've been caught in the rain while out riding a motorcycle enough times to know that once your clothes get soaked it's damn near impossible to remove them easily, definitely not without some assistance, especially the pants. I can buy the boots. Not the jeans. Only leather would be more difficult because it isn't as stretchy as denim. And no, when you're going any speed at all is not water proof, in the soaking rain that leather gets pretty darn soaked, it just keeps the rain from feeling like small needles going into you. I just won't believe he had no trace at all left of his pants. When you are in the river and you let the current take you it inevitably becomes dodge rock (I may or may not have played dodge rock a time or two) and yep, maybe your clothes can be torn off bit by bit... but there would be bits left somewhere. There's something rotten in Denmark, as the old folks say.
The rain is different than river currents helping. It's quite common for clothes to be removed on drowning victims
Excellent job well done on this case. Hello from Canada 🇨🇦
I’ll be keeping my eye on this case. Strange and there’s too many of these cases that seem eerily similar. I’m glad to see that you have covered it.
According to Chris Dingman (the family friend), Riley was wearing a black/off-white shirt, a belt, jeans, boxer underwear, socks and snug-fitting leather cowboy boots when he disappeared. When Riley was found he was wearing the shirt, the boxers, and the socks, but not the belt, jeans and boots. So the LE wants to claim that the river current took off jeans attached with a belt and snug cowboy boots, but not loose-fitting boxers attached with elastic, and socks. LE said in their press conference that Riley was found with his shirt on, and that it looked like an accident. LE did not say that he was found without jeans and boots. The jeans+boots missing was something that came out much later. LE is definitely withholding info. Why are they withholding info if it's an accident? To me it makes no sense that the river current can remove jeans attached with a belt and snug leather boots, but not loose-fitting boxers and socks.
They're withholding details so a possible perp thinks they're clueless.
The police are protecting the killer!
If he peed by the river, his belt would be off etc
Makes sense now
further up in the comments a guys says " I was homeless for awhile and if u go down gay street towards the jail and u go under the overpass look right.theres an old trail with trash everywhere.halfway down there's a steep dropoff.If someone went stumbling down there in the dark it's possible to fall in and not be able to get back up." what if he needed to take a piss and saw that path off the street. starts unhooking his belt and jeans and doesn't see the drop off. falls in with his paints already coming down far enough to take a leak. the current then could have pulled the jeans around is ankles hard enough to yank the boots off. just a thought i had after reading your comment, not trying to say what you said doesnt make me think its odd
Its pretty easy to come up with a reason the pants and boots came off. He might have taken them off on purpose to swim better. He might have been going to the bathroom and fell in, making it even easier to take them off. I dont know what happened, but I dont think its strong evidence for foul play. He was extremely drunk, we cant expect rational behavior. Perhaps he was roofied, like someone said. But unless the roofier roffied witht he intention of leading him to the river.... it probably wasnt intended to be a murder
You missed one little fact. The friends didn't report Riley missing until 16 hours after he left the bar. It was 1 p.m. the next afternoon before they decided to do something. Great show, nice investigative work and great detail.
Remember when Kiely Rodni was found, drowned in her car with no water in her lungs? Same with Riley. Maybe being intoxicated has something to do thing to do with them not having water in the lungs. Laryngospasm may be more common in drunk victims. Idk.
Babe wake up
Lore Lodge dropping some new hot fire
What is she doing smh 🤦
@@capaintroll2266
Daytime nappin'
Worse than a cat lol
@@torinsmith5202 GET THE SPRAY BOTTLE THEN YALL GOTTA WATCH LORE LODGE AS A COUPLE
@@torinsmith5202when she does sleep but her finger in a glass with warm water.
The fact that another individual said oh,he's just drunk is suspicious. They need to check the homeless camp for those boots&jeans. The video footage they won't show is also suspect. They probably don't want to start a panic that would hurt tourism.
It could not possibly be more obvious that he fell, hit his head and that’s why he was stumbling, I saw absolutely zero evidence that the camera froze
During the research process, I was unable to locate a video which didn't freeze. Seems Thornbury found one while editing.
Well my apologies then, great video regardless!
@@kaiyafaldetta8974I was wondering what freezing he was talking about as well you’re totally good!
I was wondering the same thing LOL
I have to agree, especially since the text message said "good lops" Lops is a AAVE slang term, it means he was injured, LOPS: disabled person, a cripple, Someone injured. Usually by a fall, biting the tongue, scraping you knee ect. So yeah. I agree.
After watching this I was pretty wild when I was a kid and I am extremely lucky this never happened to me. Take care of your people.
I was 23 years old and took a ride from a driver with an evil passenger from a bar to get home. Was there with my friends who didn’t want to leave so I found my own ride. I was beaten and robbed and if I didn’t fight and jump out of a moving car, I might have been murdered. This was 36 years ago but it left me with ptsd when I got sober.
I just found your channel because of this video. This is one of the most thorough, succinct, and informative videos I’ve seen. Excellent job. Thank you for your efforts on this case.
I would just like to say I really appreciate yall content. Lore Lodge and Why Files are my weekly must have shows. The work and research that goes into each video is noticed. The history segments are my JAM never will I skip.
The 911 call said his last location was at 11 pm in front of sheriffs office.
You’re a really smart guy. I enjoyed your take on this.
This same scenario is happening right now at Ladybird Lake in Austin Texas. Young men are drowning drunk so regularly there that the public is demanding the police do their job and stop these “serial killers”. But not serial killers in the Ted Buddy sense but in the sense of a ring of individuals drugging and then robbing young men at bars with some of these men dying by overdosing on whatever drugs they are giving them. Multiple young men who survived being drugged and then robbed after leaving a bar have shown up in the ER the next day with no memory of what happened after they had that last drink which immediately made them so woozy they could barely walk and then waking up the next morning with all their money gone. I believe they are at accidental drunk drowning number 5 in less than a year and they are all young men. Not a single female among them. You should definitely cover this case as well.
There's definitely several killers of there right now.
💯
If bar staff were in on it, that would explain the friends being held back... This would mean the friends weren't lying.
@@allisonisis
My thoughts exactly 👍 I believe a bartender or maybe even more than one bartender would have to be in on it. The bartender probably picks and identifies the “mark” then the others in the group follow the young man until he is alone and severely impaired then they pounce on him. I don’t know if they intend to kill any of them. Maybe that started happening by accident and they grew to like it and are now doing it on purpose, maybe on purpose to specific individuals, or maybe they are all unintentional murders??? Regardless, I definitely don’t think any of these are accidental!
I’m here in Springfield, MO where we just had Riley’s memorial and the community has been rallying around his family.
I haven’t talked much about it here because I don’t want to seem insensitive, but I thought this was suspicious before it hit national news. I’m super skeptical about the Smiley Face Killer theory in general, but it was the first thing I thought of.
And then it just kept getting weirder!
What’s the smiley face killer?
Only a theory at this point. Theoretically, it’s a serial killer (or plural) abducting and drowning college age men like Riley Strain. This case checks all the boxes in common with the supposed Smiley Face cases.
It’s honestly kinda far fetched, but also not something that can be written off completely.
I think he said he’s already done a series about it on his channel.
This exact thing happened more than a dozen times in Austin Tx.
44:49
This is a guess but in my field of work we don't want the public knowing the angles of cameras & such so maybe the jail didn't want individuals who would be visiting criminals to know potential blind spots to assist with an escape.
Or perhaps I'm just a fool
Nah definitely a good possibility for sure. I think it was just an accident, but there is definitely some questionable things for sure. I’m also just hoping it was because I will be in the exact same spot in 2 weeks and I definitely don’t want there to be a serial killer or any killer where I’m going to be 🤣. My last name is pretty uncommon so if you see a David biagi goes missing or was found dead by “accidental drowning” just know it wasn’t because 1- I don’t drink 2- I’m not depressed or suicidal and 3- I’m not going to climb over and fences or over any type of structure or go down an embankment to check out the river 🤣
I also don’t do any drugs so if any drugs or alcohol is in my system, I did not take them by choice 🤣