More than a month after her son’s disappearance during night out drinking in Nashville sparked a desperate two week search for him, a Missouri mother says he texted her that night and said his drink “didn’t taste good.”

Michelle Whiteid didn’t say what time that text exchange happened, nor did she say whether she’d shared the information with police. But she told NewsNation’s Brian Entin it made her suspicious.

Riley Strain’s mom says he texted her before disappearing that his rum and coke did “not taste good.” It’s one of the new parts of our interview airing tonight on NewsNation at 10pmET. Also — why Riley’s family is very disappointed in his fraternity. All of it at 10. pic.twitter.com/jSwK98ba6l

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) April 16, 2024

“Maybe there was something in it that shouldn’t have been,” she said.

Whiteid said her son told her the rum and coke “tastes like barbecue.”

“And I said, ‘Well, you probably shouldn’t drink it then,’” she said “And he goes, ‘It tastes like barbecue’ and I go, ‘Well, that sounds awful’ and he said, ‘It sounds good, but it’s not.’”

Authorities in Nashville are still awaiting toxicology reports from the autopsy on Riley Strain’s body, which resurfaced in the Cumberland River eight miles from where he was last known to be two weeks after his March 8 disappearance, as CrimeOnline reported. Strain and a group of his University of Missouri fraternity brothers were in Nashville for a conference, and they headed out drinking that night.

Upon arriving by bus, they checked into The Tempo Hotel, not far from the nightlife, according to E! Online. They visited Casa Rosa, a bar owned by country music star Miranda Lambert, before heading to Garth Brooks’ Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk. Around 7:30 p.m, Strain spoke to his mother via Facetime, continuing the conversation through text for roughly an hour afterwards.

Next, the party proceeded to Luke’s 32 Bridge, owned by another country star, Luke Bryan. The bar reported that he consumed one alcoholic drink and two waters before being escorted off the property due to an unspecified breach of their behaviour policy around 9:30 p.m. Security footage showed him being led out, accompanied down the stairs by one of his fraternity brothers, who then returned to the rest of the group upstairs.

Strain’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, stated that Strain had informed some fraternity brothers that he was “walking back to my hotel.”

“They didn’t think anything about it,” he commented.

Caught on security cameras and a police body cam was Strain, seen initially traversing a parking zone and moving away from his accommodation. Footage from another camera showcased him unsteadily moving across First Avenue North, approximately ten minutes prior to 10 in the night. Engaged in a burglary investigation near the river, a policeman had a short interaction with Strain as he passed. There were no signs of any issues.

The final signal from Strain’s mobile was recorded close to the James Robertson Parkway Bridge above the river, roughly an hour afterwards.

Strain’s acquaintances reported to his parents that they started searching him after returning to the hotel and finding him absent but only informed the police about his disappearance on the following day. Following this, the search operations kicked off. The law enforcement found the recorded videos, recovered Strain’s credit card near the river, and there was no further development until March 22, when an employee working downriver came across a body floating in the water.

The body was identified as Riley Strain. His trousers were missing, something not uncommon for individuals who have been submerged in water for weeks, thus his wallet was not found either. At the time of body recovery, the police stated that the location and time of the discovery were as anticipated.

An autopsy was conducted the next day, and police stated that till now, all the evidence suggested an accident without any instances of foul play. The parents arranged for a second autopsy, which confirmed the same findings. The toxicology results for both autopsies are currently awaited.

In the previous week, a witness surfaced claiming to have seen and spoken to Strain on the night of the incident. However, post a conversation with the police, the witness retracted their statement, asserting that they had mistaken Strain for someone else.

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[Image representation: Riley Strain/family handout]