NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Riley Strain came to Nashville for a fun time with his fraternity brothers, but the Mizzou college student never made it home. The 22-year-old’s body was found in the Cumberland River two weeks after he disappeared, starting a conversation about safety along the Nashville riverfront.
Some of the last images of Riley Strain show him on March 8, stumbling on the streets of downtown Nashville near the riverfront. The autopsy revealed his death as accidental with no signs of significant trauma. However, Riley’s blood alcohol was two times the legal limit and he had Delta 9 in his system.
His body was recovered from the Cumberland two weeks later.
Click here for complete coverage of the disappearance of Riley Strain.
Strain’s death also has city leaders looking at what changes could be made to the riverfront to make it a safer experience.
“I think what happened with Riley really accelerated that conversation,” said Jacob Kupin, Metro councilmember for District 19.
Kupin, who represents the riverfront neighborhoods, said when it comes to downtown safety, there are several pieces to the puzzle.
“I think it’s a myriad of things. The saddest part part to me was the Nashville of old that I know, multiple people would have stopped him along the way, and said, ‘What’s going on? Why are you stumbling? Are you okay?’ And it didn’t happen. And I’m not blaming anybody for that. It’s more a cultural shift. And people are seeing folks over-inebriated constantly so it’s hard to know who is in trouble and who is not.”
After Riley’s death, Metro installed a chain link fence to keep people away from the cliffside that leads the river. The mayor also allocated $1.5 million in his capital spending proposal to increase riverfront safety.
Ideas include permanent fencing, updated signs showing visitors where to go, clearing brush and installing emergency dock access.
“Statistically, Nashville’s a very safe city. Most people that come here have a very safe and good experience. But also, we are responsive. When we see things, when we see gaps in the system that we can fill, we’re going to fill them,” said Kupin.
One safety concern has to do with overdosing. A new device called ONEbox have been installed in the downtown core.
“It’s a box that has narcan in it, so if someone is at that bar overdosing – and we know there’s a fentanyl crisis going on right now – someone’s in a bar and they think it’s one thing and it ends up having fentanyl or other substances in it, we can revive them with the narcan that’s in bars, so they are working on that effort. We are working on the safe bar effort to combat sexual assault. So I think we are doing a really good job of identifying the challenges and continuing to work on them.”
Red Frogs is seen as one solution. The non-profit sets up shop downtown and helps partiers with everything from charging their cellphone, directions, or just some water. Kupin would like to see it expanded.
“I don’t know if he would have crossed the Red Frogs path, but there’s a decent chance a Red Frogs person would have seen him, grabbed him, and said, ‘Hey are you okay?’ And we would be telling a different tale.”
