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Missing college student’s debit card found along Nashville river; police share new video
As the search for a college student missing in Nashville continues into its second week, authorities are sharing new clues with the hope of learning more about what may have happened to 22-year-old Riley Strain the night he disappeared.
First, his debit card was found Sunday on an embankment of the Cumberland River, which runs through the downtown area where he was last seen on Friday, March 8. Then, on Monday, Nashville police shared body camera footage taken by an officer who briefly interacted with Strain that night, in the same general area.
Strain’s bank card was found Sunday afternoon along a section of the embankment between Gay Street and the river, Nashville police said in an update posted to social media. Strain had previously been seen in surveillance footage crossing an intersection from 1st Avenue onto Gay Street around 9:50 p.m. ET on the night of his disappearance, after being ordered to leave a bar several blocks from there some 15 minutes earlier.
Police detectives, helicopters and boat crews have been searching that area, including the riverbank, for the better part of 10 days. They had not found any signs of Strain or his belongings before the bank card was discovered, but another video clip released on Monday seemed to corroborate, at least, that he was physically there that night.
Police body camera footage showed Strain walking alone along a portion of Gay Street that runs parallel to the Cumberland River near the Woodland Street Bridge, Nashville police said in a social media post with the video clip. It was recorded by Nashville officer Reginald Young, who was at that location on a burglary call and remained there for about 45 minutes. The police department did not specify what time it was when Young interacted with Strain, who was walking past him, although they noted in a subsequent social media update that “no video has been discovered that shows Riley away from Gay St after the 9:52 p.m. timeframe.”
Strain greets Young first in the footage. The officer then replies and asks, “How are you doing, sir?”
“I’m good, how are you?” Strain replies, before continuing to walk past. The exchange is fleeting, and Strain does not turn to look at Young in the video.
Nashville police said they have not found any evidence suggesting foul play was involved in Strain’s disappearance. His parents traveled from Springfield, Missouri, to Nashville after he went missing and “received a full briefing on the work being done” to find him when they met with detectives on Sunday evening, the department said.
Strain is from Missouri and studies at Mizzou, the state university in Columbia. Now in his senior year, he had traveled to Nashville for the weekend with some of his fraternity brothers and booked a downtown hotel not far from the bar where he and his friends were out drinking just before he vanished.
The bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, is owned by the country music artist Luke Bryan. After the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced that it would investigate whether Strain had been “overserved” at the bar, its management company said in a joint statement with Bryan over the weekend that their records show the college student only purchased one alcoholic drink and two waters while he was there. Security at Luke’s 32 Bridge ultimately escorted Strain out the bar at 9:35 p.m., according to the statement, which called the order for him to leave “a decision based on our conduct standards.”
One of Strain’s friends reported him missing about four hours after he was escorted from the bar. Attempts to determine Strain’s whereabouts using Snapchat’s location feature were not successful, and police said they are still working to learn more from his cell phone records. They said earlier in the investigation that his phone last pinged near a cell tower less than two miles from Luke’s 32 Bridge.
Strain is 6 feet 5 inches tall, with blue eyes and light brown hair, and police as well as his friends, family and community members now involved in the search have shared multiple photos of him along with descriptions. Video footage of him taken the night of March 8 showed Strain wearing denim pants and a brown button-up shirt with dark short sleeves and a matching dark front pocket.
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Popular gluten free tortilla strips recalled over possible contamination with wheat
A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.