• Former England rugby captain Phil Vickery has declared himself bankrupt 
• Documents showed his debt to his management consultancy, now in liquidation
• One source said he had amassed debts of ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’

By Dan Sanderson

Published: 17:07 EDT, 28 March 2024 | Updated: 03:21 EDT, 29 March 2024

Former England rugby captain Phil Vickery has been made bankrupt with documents showing he owes £100,000 to a company which is in liquidation.

Mr Vickery, 48, of Bath, who was part of England’s triumphant 2003 World Cup winning side, applied to make himself bankrupt using debtor’s petition, last month.

His management consultancy Vix Limited is in liquidation and he owed the business £97,806. The company also owes HMRC £71,000 in VAT and PAYE and National Insurance payments.

The Office of the Adjudicator granted his request to be made bankrupt on February 21 and on or before that date he stood down from at least four businesses.

One source said he had amassed debts of ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ to a lot of contacts and the HMRC.

Former England captain Phil Vickery (centre) has applied to make himself bankrupt

Documents filed confirm the 48-year-old will remain bankrupt until February next year

Documents filed by the Insolvency Service confirm he will remain bankrupt for 12 months until 21 February next year.

On the day the bankruptcy was made official he also stood down as a director of his business of Killock Limited, a management consultancy based in Cheltenham.

The company, set up 17 months ago, had not filed any accounts. He also quit as a director of No 3 Restaurants Limited on the same day and resigned board positions at Raging Bull Group Limited and Creed Food Service Limited in January this year.

Last year another consultancy business Spring Star Consulting was dissolved after less than two years and not filing any accounts.

Phil Vickery Holdings Limited was also closed in 2023 after three years and only filing dormant accounts.

Vickery was a tight head prop who played in all seven of England’s 2003 World cup matches. He was made an MBE after the victory.

He also captained the team at the 2007 World Cup in France where England lost to South Africa in the final.

Vickery is also one of over 200 retired players now suing over concussions they fear have left them with brain injury, alongside Mark Regan and with former Welsh poster-boy Gavin Henson.

These familiar figures, and others such as Steve Thompson, Alix Popham, Colin Charvis and Sean Lamont, were among those named as claimants at the Royal Courts of Justice during a case management hearing last December. 

Proceedings in the planned Group Litigation Order against World Rugby, the RFU and Welsh Rugby Union are set to resume in April.

His front row team-mate Mark Regan was also involved in the concussion lawsuit against World Rugby, the RFU and the WRU

Former Welsh Rugby poster-boy Gavin Henson was also named as a claimant at the Royal Courts of Justice

With Thompson and other claimants suffering severe post-career health problems such as early onset dementia, their lawyer Susan Rodway, from Rylands Garth law firm, submitted in court that the defendants ‘ought to have known the long-term neurological complications’.

In a statement, World Rugby said: ‘Legal action prevents us reaching out to support the players involved, many of whom are named publicly for the first time today. But we want them to know that we care deeply about their struggles, that we are listening and that they are members of the rugby family. 

‘The court’s ruling for the second time that the claimants’ solicitors must provide information previously asked for is a positive step. Player welfare is rugby’s top priority.’

Meanwhile, as they faced up to the threat of costly legal action against them, the RFU published up-beat results for the 2022-23 financial year, with ‘significantly higher’ revenues of £221.4million – up from £189.1m the previous year. 

In the wake of Dune: Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Legendary/Warner Bros‘ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continues to provide momentum to the box office following a lack of event titles in Q1 due to the strikes. Tonight, sources tell us that the Adam Wingard directed monster mash movie is seeing $8M from previews that began at 3PM Thursday in roughly 3,400 locations. That’s arguably the second-best previews ever for a Legendary’s Monsterverse movie following the first 2014 Godzilla which posted $9.3M. That Gareth Edwards directed lizard movie went on to make $38.4M on its first Friday with a 3-day of $93.1M.

Warner Bros didn’t return request for comment on tonight’s estimates.

Opening domestic projections for Godzilla x Kong earlier this week were at $50M.

While Rotten Tomatoes critics gave GxK the second worst reviews for the Monsterverse at 56%, RT audiences currently think it’s the best of the Legendary lizard monkey movies at 92%. We’ll see if that simmers down. Audiences’ previous fave in the series? 2021’s Godzilla v. Kong, which was also directed by Wingard and opened over the Easter holiday period to a $48.1M five-day; that pic reigniting moviegoing following exhibition’s year-long shutdown in major box office markets. GvK was available day-and-date in theaters and on Warner’s streaming service HBO Max.

GxK is expected to play in 3,850 theaters on Friday boosted by Imax, PLFs, ScreenX, D-Box and 4DX. There will also be some sharing of Imax auditoriums with Legendary and Warner’s own Dune: Part Two. That movie is the highest grossing title of 2024 to date with $239.3M stateside, and near $600M worldwide.

• Molly the magpie was found as a lonely chick in a park by his human parents 

By Katherine Lawton

Published: 21:27 EDT, 28 March 2024 | Updated: 02:59 EDT, 29 March 2024

Australian authorities have ordered the seizure of a magpie after the famous internet bird formed an adorable friendship with a Staffordshire bull terrier. 

Molly the magpie was found as a lonely chick in a park four years ago by Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, of Queensland, before they brought the bird home to look after him. 

The pair introduced Molly to their Staffy, Peggy, and the two formed an unlikely but special bond. 

Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen posted photographs showing Molly and Peggy playing together in the park, lying on the floor together and seemingly being the best of friends – with the two animals gathering nearly two million followers on Instagram and Facebook. 

However, animal welfare experts objected to Molly’s housing arrangement, saying it is illegal to take a bird from its natural habitat without permission. 

Molly the magpie with Peggy the Staffordshire bull terrier, who he befriended after being adopted by two humans as a lonely chick 

uliette Wells and Reece Mortensen (pictured) found Molly in the wild when he was a chick, and didn’t think he would survive on his own 

The magpie was then confiscated by officials from Queensland’s environment department on March 1 – leaving his human carers heartbroken. 

It came after a ‘small group of people’ complained about Molly living with the family as a pet, according to Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen. 

More than 700,00 people have signed a petition to have Molly returned to the family. 

One message on Instagram read: ‘This is a classic example of bureaucracy over common sense and humanity.’ 

Premier of Queensland, Steven Miles, echoed the calls for Molly to be reunited with Peggy, saying: ‘I think sometimes common sense needs to prevail. If you look at the story, there is a better outcome possible.’ 

Queensland’s environment department said magpies should not be removed from their natural habitat or kept as pets. 

Officials from Queensland’s Department of Science, Environment and Innovation (DESI) had concerns the couple had no permit to keep the bird which they claimed belongs in the wild.

Premier Miles has waded into the row amid a public outcry and given his backing to an emotional trans-species reunion.

The pair introduced Molly to their Staffy, Peggy, and the two formed an unlikely but special bond

Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen posted photographs showing Molly and Peggy playing together and lying on the floor

‘The environment department stands ready to train Molly’s parents to be wildlife carers, to get that certification, so Molly can be reunited with the family,’ Premier Miles said. 

Mr Miles said he wanted authorities to help the family get a permit and rejected suggestions that the decision would set a bad precedent.

‘What I’m most interested in here is what’s in the best interests of that animal, and if the department can work with the family to reunite them in a way that is legal, I would support that,’ he added.

‘I don’t want to see any of the rules broken, but there has to be a way within the rules to see Molly live out a happy life with [his] family.’

On Wednesday night Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen said they were concerned for Molly’s welfare in government captivity.

‘We’ve had Molly around us and the dogs for many years. And to not have him around – the house is so quiet. We miss him a lot,’ Ms Wells said.

‘I actually don’t know where Molly is. I don’t know if he’s doing ok.’

Ozempic is no laughing matter for the comedian. Handler revealed her “anti-aging doctor” prescribed her the medication without realizing what the drug was.

“I didn’t even know I was on it,” she said during the Jan. 25, 2023 episode of Call Her Daddy. “She said, ‘If you ever want to drop five pounds, this is good.'”

But while she tried the drug, Handler noted that she didn’t like how it made her feel.

“I came back from a vacation and I injected myself with it,” she recalled. “I went to lunch with a girlfriend a few days later, and she was like, ‘I’m not really eating anything. I’m so nauseous, I’m on Ozempic.’ And I was like, ‘I’m kind of nauseous too.’ But I had just come back from Spain and was jet-lagged.”

Ultimately, Handler stopped using the drug because it wasn’t medically necessary for her, adding that she gave away the remaining doses to friends.

“I’ve injected about four or five of my friends with Ozempic, because I realized I didn’t want to use it because it was silly,” she said. “It’s for heavy people. I have people coming over to my house, and I’m like, ‘OK, I can see you at 1, I can see you at 2.'”

Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock were spotted leaving a well-known Connecticut plastic surgery office on Wednesday with Jason Bateman‘s wife Amanda Anka.  

All three ladies were together as they departed The Retreat At Split Rock which is located in Greenwich, Connecticut. The retreat specializes in expert upper and lower face lifts, which cost about $50,000 to $100,000 each as well as brow and eye lifts that hover around $30,000 each.

‘It is a private fully accredited surgical facility,’ notes the website.

They were specifically seen exiting Dr Neil A Gordon’s office. He oversees the facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. His specialty is ‘facial rejuvenation and rhinoplasty,’ according to his site, but injectables such as Botox and Kybella are also offered. A full face of Botox can cost around $3,000 while Kybella is more expensive at $6,000.

The Los Angeles residents certainly traveled far to look into what Dr Gordon has to offer, and he must be the best in his field as Beverly Hills is chock-a-block with well-known plastic surgeons like Dr Garth Fisher and Dr Paul Nassif who could have done the work without the added travel expense.

All three ladies dressed casually for their trip which looked to be a case of ‘surgery tourism.’

Aniston, 55, had on a floppy black hat to hide her face as they left the white barn-style office with a lush green lawn surrounded by yellow daffodils. She was followed by Bullock, 59, and Anka, 55 – once a star on Buffy The Vampire Slayer – who both tried to keep their heads down.

Jennifer Aniston and her close friend Sandra Bullock were seen leaving a plastic surgery retreat on Wednesday. They were departing The Retreat At Split Rock which is located in Greenwich, Connecticut

They were joined by Amanda Anka (far left in red), who is married to Jason Bateman and was on Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The retreat specialized in expert upper and lower face lifts as well as brow and eye lifts. ‘It is a private fully accredited surgical facility,’ notes the website; Dr Gordon’s sign is seen to the right

Aniston, left, attends the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in LA on February 24. Bullock, right, at the Bird Box screening in New York City in 2018

Jason Bateman and his wife Amanda attend the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on March 10

The Friends veteran was dressed in a black sweater with a black scarf as she had on distressed blue denim jeans with a wide dark brown belt with a brass buckle.

The Morning Show standout also had on black boots as she held on to a black coat as well as a pair of tinted sunglasses. 

Bullock had on a puffy black jacket over a white T-shirt as she added baggy black slacks and white sneakers. The Bullet Train star’s long dark hair was worn down as she added oversized dark sunglasses. 

Gold necklaces with pendants hung over her shirt as she was slightly made up.

Bullock has not been seen in public much since her partner since 2015, Bryan Randall, got sick in 2020 with ALS. He battled the illness for three years before passing away in August 2023 at the age of 57. He helped raise her two children Louis and Laila.

Batmen’s wife Anka wore a bright cherry red sweatshirt with faded blue denim jeans and black boots as she held onto a black purse and coat. She was makeup-free.

Her husband Jason is best known for his Aniston movie Switch as well as his series Arrested Development and Ozark. 

The center is known for their facelifts.

The retreat touts a skillful upper face lift: ‘A forehead lift is a cosmetic surgery procedure that tightens the soft tissue and skin of the entire forehead. The majority effect is often seen around the eyes, especially between the eyebrows and on the drooping soft tissue hanging over the lateral/side of the upper eyelids.’

And they promise their lower face lift takes care of the ‘lost skin on the cheeks and neck.’

All three ladies dresses casually with Aniston, 55, adding a floppy hat to hide her face as they left the white barn-style retreat with a lush green lawn surrounded by yellow daffodils

She was followed by Bullock, 59, and Anka, 55, who both tried to keep their heads down

The Friends veteran was dressed in a black sweater with a black scarf as she had on distressed blue denim jeans with a wide dark brown belt with a brass buckle. The Morning Show standout also had on black boots as she held on to a black coat

Dr Neil A Gordon oversees the facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the upscale retreat. His specialty is ‘facial rejuvenation and rhinoplasty,’ according to his site, but injectables such as Botox and Kybella are also offered

Neil A Gordon, MD. His specialty is ‘facial rejuvenation and rhinoplasty,’ according to his site

The Split Rock retreat recommends getting all of the lifts for the freshest look: ‘Often a facelift is combined with other cosmetic surgery procedures such as a brow or eye lift that offers a balanced, complete, and more natural facial rejuvenation.’ 

The center also offers less invasive services.

They include facial fillers, fat injections and Botox. Then there are the ‘energy devices’ such as Ulthera, Profound, and Exillis.

The website explains: ‘The cause of the appearance of the aged face is due to gravity’s effects in stretching out the soft tissue of the face. 

‘Whether it is a drooping neck, nasolabial folds, or a furrowed forehead, the aged appearance is due to excess facial soft tissue. Energy devices use different forms of energy, such as ultrasound or thermal, to heat up and create burn-like injuries to shrink soft tissue.’

And the center also offers Kybella, which is a newer treatment that is a chemical that dissolves fat. 

 Bullock had on a puffy black jacket over a white T-shirt as she added baggy black slacks and white sneakers

The Bullet Train star’s long dark hair was worn down as she added oversized dark sunglasses. Gold necklaces with pendants hung over her shirt as she was slightly made up

‘The problem is that in many people, the appearance of a double chin is due to redundant, hanging, soft tissue consistent with a stretched-out face,’ the site explains.

‘If just the fat is melted in the neck and the soft tissue redundancy is not tightened by removal, then the neck can look worse.’

And customers can also get Laser Skin Resurfacing.

‘Laser skin resurfacing, commonly called a laser peel, removes the outer, damaged layer of skin to reveal a smoother, younger look,’ the site shared.

‘Laser resurfacing can reduce the appearance of sun damage, wrinkles, fine lines, uneven pigmentation, and superficial scarring, usually on the face.’

Batmen’s wife Anka, 55, wore a bright cherry red sweatshirt with faded blue denim jeans and black boots as she held onto a black purse and coat. She was makeup-free. Her husband Jason is best known for his Aniston movie Switch as well as his series Arrested Development and Ozark

The center is known for their facelifts. The retreat touts a skillful upper face lift: ‘A forehead lift is a cosmetic surgery procedure that tightens the soft tissue and skin of the entire forehead. The majority effect is often seen around the eyes, especially between the eyebrows and on the drooping soft tissue hanging over the lateral/side of the upper eyelids’

None of these ladies has ever admitted to getting a few nip/tucks.

And they have even gotten uncomfortable when asked about injectables like Botox. 

In 2015, Aniston said that she was not a fan of injections.

‘People think that I do a lot of (Botox) injections, but I don’t,’ began the Along Came Polly actress.

‘I’m not saying that I haven’t tried it but I see how it’s a slippery slope. 

‘All that cosmetic stuff looks ridiculous on me,’ she told Yahoo Beauty. 

‘And like we were saying before, they just start to lose perspective, it’s their new normal, so it’s a hard one to come back from.’

Last year the Bruce Almighty star again talked staying youthful looking during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

She said she tried a salmon sperm facial, though she admittedly isn’t sure if it did anything for her skin. 

Aniston then said she liked peptide injections. 

Peptides are strings of molecules called amino acids, which are the ‘building blocks’ of proteins. Peptides are basically short proteins that are about 2-100 amino acids long. Peptide supplements may have anti-aging, muscle growth, and fat loss benefits, according WebMD.

Bullock has also talked about surgery.

After she was seen with a fuller face at the 2018 Oscars, she told InStyle the next year she was puffy due to allergies.

The Retreat At Split Rock used to be a barn but has been converted into one of the plastic surgery facilities

It is welcoming with a lush lawn, a pond and flowers with mature trees

The retreat also has an inn so patients can recover in peace away from prying eyes

There is cozy New England charm in the inn with wingback chairs that face a fireplace. There are also gold wall sconces and oil paintings

Aniston with Amanda, far right, as they wish Molly McNearney, who is Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, a happy 46th birthday this year

‘This past Oscars I was sick and had allergies, but I was like, “I’m just going to go.” It’s part of my job, and I’m happy to be there,’ the Miss Congeniality star began.

‘Then the next day they were saying, “Oh, she has cheek fillers and implants.” When I saw the photos and how swollen I was, I got it. But I was like, “Well, if I got injections, I only got them on the top,” which was not very good,’ she joked.

Anka is not as high profile of a star as Jennifer and Sandra, but she has acted before. The New York City native is known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Lost Highway (1997) and Taxi (2004). 

She has been married to Jason Bateman since July 3, 2001. They have two daughters, Francesca and Maple. 

• Photo agency AP won the world’s oldest photojournalism award for its picture of Shani Louk’s dead body on the morning of the October 7 attack
• The agency has denied claims its photographers collaborated with Hamas to get the winning shots 
• Friends of the 22-year-old said she should be remembered as she was when she was alive  

By Dominic Yeatman For Dailymail.Com

Published: 02:32 EDT, 29 March 2024 | Updated: 02:32 EDT, 29 March 2024

A prestigious university has been branded a ‘disgrace’ after it awarded the world’s oldest photojournalism prize for a picture of a mutilated and murdered October 7 victim.

Shani Louk, 22, became a symbol of the brutal Hamas attack after the world saw the picture of gunmen rushing her half-naked corpse back to Gaza on the back of a pick-up.

That photo was the centerpiece of the submission that won photo agency AP the Team Picture Story of the Year category from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.

‘RJI thinks a horrifying picture of Shani Louk’s half-clothed, dead body is award-winning work,’ tweeted GOP House whip Tom Emmer.

‘Disgusting.’

The winning AP  photograph of Shani Louk’s lifeless body being transported back to Gaza by her killers 

Friends and family of the 22-year-old said she should be remembered as she was 

The German-Israeli was attending the SuperNova Festival with her boyfriend Orion Radoux

The 22-year-old German-Israeli was among 364 people killed at the SuperNova Festival which she was attending with her boyfriend.

Family photos of the young woman showed a happy and carefree spirit at the outset of her adult life and friends of her family have said that that is how she should be remembered.

‘This is how we choose to remember the beautiful Shani Louk,’ wrote one. ‘We will not allow her memory to be trampled by the inhuman thugs celebrating the AP photo of her tragic murder.’

‘I am horrified,’ wrote another. ‘This is a picture of terrorists parading a dead body of a Jewish woman after they murdered her. Shame on you.’

Louk’s family and other victims of the SuperNova killings sued AP and fellow news agency Reuters in February accusing them of collusion in the atrocities they documented.

They claim that agency freelancers were ‘longstanding Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack’, who knew it was about to take place.

Lobby group HonestReporting, which raised concerns about the coverage posted its ‘congratulations’ to AP for winning the award.

‘How does it feel to do so on the back of Palestinian photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 and took photos like the one below of Shani Louk’s dead body in a Hamas pickup?’ they demanded.

‘Was RJI bothered about that before bestowing the award?’

The sentiment was echoed by Israeli MP and diplomat Danny Danon who tweeted: ‘This photo captures Hamas terrorists desecrating the body of Shani Louk, may her soul rest in peace.

‘Yet the AP news agency proudly received an award for it. Their continued pride in their photographers’ ‘work’ and involvement in the atrocities is shameful.’

Senior politicians from across the world joined in the chorus of protest against the prize

The young tattoo artist was among 364 people killed at the SuperNova Festival

The festival site in the Negev Desert was just three miles of the Gaza border and was overrun within minutes of the attack taking place on October 7

Parts of Louk’s skull were later found near the entrance to the festival site

More than journalists have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the ground invasion of Gaza began, according to Reporters Without Borders, making the conflict one of the deadliest on record for news gatherers.

The photo of Louk taken by AP freelance Ali Mahmud, was the first in a group of 20 submitted by the agency for the competition.

Both AP and Reuters have denied any collusion with the attacks, and AP issued a statement last month saying it had the ‘deepest sympathy for those affected’ but insisting the allegations were ‘baseless’.

‘AP had no advance knowledge of the October 7 attacks, nor have we seen any evidence — including in the lawsuit — that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did,’ they wrote.

‘Allegations like this are reckless and create even more potential danger for journalists in the region.

‘Documenting breaking news events around the world — no matter how horrific — is our job.

‘Without AP and other news organizations, the world would not have known what was happening on October 7.’

Billy Ray Cyrus Moves on With Firerose

Billy Ray quietly got engaged to Australian singer Firerose, who’s 27 years his junior, in August 2022 but waited to confirm the news until that November.

“Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything,” Firerose told People. “I’ve known his music since forever.”

What started as a friendship turned into more during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore,” Billy Ray said. “A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist.”

A forensic expert has claimed Riley Strain’s pants would not have come off themselves but would have likely been removed by another person before he entered the river where he was found. 

The half-naked body of the 22-year-old student was hauled from the Cumberland River in Tennessee on Friday, 14 days after he vanished in Nashville on a night out.

An initial police autopsy found no signs of foul play, but no signs that he drowned either after leaving Luke’s Bridge Food and Drink at 9.30pm on March 22.

A second autopsy ordered by the family confirmed there was no water in his lungs, increasing fears that he was dead when he entered the water.

Now world-renowned forensic expert Dr. Bill Bass has weighed in claiming Strain’s pants ‘would not come off by themselves.’ 

Mom Michelle Strain Whiteid with her son Riley Strain before his disappearance on March 8

Riley, 22, was wearing this distinctive black and white shirt when he disappeared after being kicked out of a bar in downtown Nashville on a night out with friends  

World-renowned forensic expert Dr. Bill Bass claimed Strain’s pants ‘would not come off by themselves’ 

‘I would say somebody took them off,’ Bass, who founded the University of Tennessee’s famed Body Farm, told News Channel 5. 

‘If you do research on this, it would be very difficult because you’ve got to kill a person to do it, but it is difficult to get your pants off’ he explained.  

‘It’s difficult when you are alive to get your pants off. 

‘It is unusual. Normally if you fall in the river, it’s very difficult to get your pants off,’ he added. 

The family also want answers on why he was missing his trousers, boots, and billfold when his body was finally spotted under a rock eight miles downstream at 7.28am on Friday.

‘Unfortunately, the only thing that was found with him, as the Police stated in the report was the watch and the shirt’ family friend Chris Dingman told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports. ‘Everything else was not with him when he was found’ Dingam added. 

The University of Missouri student was in the city with Delta Chi fraternity members for their annual spring formal when he was kicked out of the bar just after 9.30pm.

Nashville Police searched a homeless encampment on the water’s edge after people living their reported having seen the missing student on the night of his disappearance 

Strain, 22, was  seen leaving  Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink on Broadway on March 8, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department 

Nashville police released this haunting image of Strain walking along the sidewalk after he left the bar, as he asked a cop how he was before telling him that he was ‘doing good’

Michelle Strain Whiteid, left, and her husband, Chris Whiteid, speak to the media during a press conference to update the public about the disappearance of Riley Strain

Anna Clendening, a musician, and Brandy Baenen, an artist, are both true crime enthusiasts who are passionate about bringing Strain home. The livestreamed the moment they found Strain’s card along the riverbank

The pair found the card as they searched the Cumberland River’s steep embankment and the James Robertson Parkway bridge 

Strain told his friends that he would meet them back at their hotel, but was nowhere to be seen when the group returned from their night out.

His friends tried contacting him, but received no response and they reported Strain as missing as they failed to locate him via his Snapchat location.

Surveillance footage collected by police from Downtown Smoke & Vape Shop on Church Street showed Strain near the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Church Street.

The seemingly intoxicated student was wearing a two-toned black and brown shirt and blue jeans and took a tumble, then quickly got back up and continued down the street.

Another camera caught near the intersection of Gay Street and 1st Avenue North just before 10pm taking large strides with his head down as he stumbled through the streets.

The student had reportedly FaceTimed his mom Michelle Whiteid that evening, and she said nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Police previously shared footage on X showing Strain walking along the sidewalk past an officer, who appeared to be inspecting a car with a smashed window.

Homeless people living in an encampment on the nearby riverbank reported seeing a man answering Stains’ description stumble into their camp.

Authorities said that no foul play-related trauma was observed on Strain, who was last seen on March 8

He was found by a worker for a local building materials company that unloads barges at the river

‘We heard a commotion. We looked back up. He almost fell over. The last bush right there caught him,’ an unidentified man who lives in the camp told WZTV.

‘He was very, very, very intoxicated. I never seen anybody stumble that hard before,’ the man said. ‘I yelled get up. They said, ‘He’s just drunk. He’s okay’.’

Concerns about the police investigation grew when two amateur sleuths on TikTok discovered Strains’ bank card in debris outside the camp, and a social worker reported seeing a homeless man wearing a shirt identical to Strain’s distinctive black and white one days after the disappearance.

His involvement appears to have been ruled out after Strain was found still wearing the shirt in which he disappeared, but his family back in Missouri are concerned investigators are not focusing on those people who may have been the last to see their son alive.

‘One of the people of interest, an hour after Riley was found, I was back at that scene and just happened to see that person,’ Dingman said.

‘And so we had a group of volunteers that kind of followed the gentleman. 

‘We called the police let them know that we had found him because we hadn’t been notified they talked to yet and was told by the police that you know, that was no longer Person of Interest.

‘They had somebody else who were interested in,’ he added.

‘But we know from the homeless people that live there, that was the person that was supposedly on the road when Riley fell into the bushes or whatever happened, and he yelled back down that this was just somebody that had been drinking it was okay.

‘So once again, a little more confusion. I just I hope that the ball hasn’t been dropped on this.

‘I think there’s somebody out there that knows what actually happened that night. And we would love for him to come forward. You know, and we need some more info.’

After finding their leading lady, TVD needed the two male components of the essential love triangle. No easy task.

“We looked high and low to cast Stefan and Damon,” Julie explained, noting Nina “did chemistry read after chemistry read with multiple actors.”

Some of the actors who read for either (and sometimes both!) roles? Zach Roerig (who would go on to play Matt Donovan), Michael Trevino (who would land the role of Tyler Lockwood), Nathanial Buzolic (later cast as Kol), and 7th Heaven star David Gallagher, with Julie admitting of the latter, “He impressed us so much originally…but the whole 7th Heaven thing, I wonder if he’ll ever be able to get past that.” (She would later cast him as a werewolf after seeing Super 8.)

And then, finally, they found their guys: Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder.

“Paul and Ian kind of came in late in the process. Paul auditioned like 15 times, and Ian kind of appeared out of the blue,” Julie said. For her part, Nina recalled Paul (who first read for Damon!) standing out from the rest of the guys reading opposite her in the chemistry reads: “The only one who wasn’t trying too hard, that didn’t speak to me at any point unless we were filming, was Paul Wesley—so it’s funny to think that he did the right thing,” she told EW.

The intense rain that soaked much of Queensland and the Northern Territory over the last week will move south but capital cities will avoid a wet Easter long weekend. 

The rain will form a band through the red centre of the country on Saturday and move east but rain isn’t likely to strike Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne until Tuesday.

Adelaide and Perth will also avoid the rain, though Darwin will likely be wet. 

‘Most of the country will have a near perfect weekend, the only people who might need a brolly are in the NT,’ Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said.  

‘For the rest it will be a warm and sunny weekend.’

Rain is on the way for the east coast but it shouldn’t arrive until after the Easter long weekend so picnics and beach trips can go ahead

An accumulated rainfall map for the 24 hours leading into Tuesday, April 2 forecasts a rain band forming over the centre of the country will have moved east over Victoria and NSW

New South Wales 

The western part of the state might see some showers in the early part of the Easter long weekend while rain could hit the coast by Tuesday or Wednesday next week. 

Good Friday will be a pleasant and fine 25C in Sydney with the rest of the weekend including Monday to follow suit reaching highs of 27C and 28C.

Queensland

While not in the band of heavy rain that will form over the centre of the country, the Queensland coast could get some lighter showers.

Brisbane will reach highs of 27C and 28C with scattered showers likely during the weekend.

Victoria

Melbourne will see a cooler Easter weekend with tops in the mid-20s.

The rain band should hit eastern Victoria by Monday and Melbourne by Tuesday bring rainfall totals of up to 30mm.

South Australia

SA is in for a fine and sunny start to the weekend further south around Adelaide with the rain band only reaching the northern half of the state.

There could be heavy cloud and showers by Monday, however, dropping the temperature from a high of around 30C down to 24C.

Tasmania

Hobart will see a windy weekend with south-easterlies up to 20km/h sweeping across from the ocean.

It will be cloudy with highs in the low 20s but most of the state – barring the northeast – will avoid the rain.

Northern Territory

The one state in for a wet Easter is the NT with Darwin experiencing humid days with temperatures in the low 30s and showers followed by possible afternoon storms each day.

The southern half of the NT will see heavy rain early on in the weekend with a risk of flash flooding.

Western Australia

WA will be dry across almost the entire state for the long weekend.

Perth will have warm temperatures hovering at highs around 28C but cloud cover should provide UV protection.

Those wanting to hit the beach should be fine over the Easter break with most of the country’s south avoiding any rain (pictured is Bondi)

There might be a few light showers on the Queensland coast (pictured is the Gold Coast) but nothing like the rain over the last week

Weatherzone’s Ashleigh Lange said the reason for the rain band is two-fold. 

During the week ending on Wednesday, March 27, Rabbit Flat in the NT recorded 277 mm, contributing to its wettest March on record.

The moisture from ex-Tropical Cyclone Megan and a low-pressure trough combined to cause an extremely wet week with large rainfall totals across the Territory.

The tropical moisture should link up with a cold front that will sweep across southeastern Australia in the back end of the Easter long weekend, dragging the rainband eastward into western and central Vic on Monday.

In the NT, remote communities are calling on the government to do better after a severe weather event tore through northeast NT on March 17, bringing heavy wind and rain and cutting off townships.

An evacuation of the remote community of Borroloola on March 18 was called off after Australian Defence Force planes could not land as the eye of the cyclone neared.

Northern Land Council chair Matthew Ryan said the government response was inadequate and put residents in danger.

‘Imagine being out there stranded, surrounded by rising water, not getting any clear direction, and seeing planes circle but then just leave,’ Mr Ryan said in a statement.

‘The federal and NT governments’ emergency response support has been appalling … lessons are not being learned and as a result our communities continue to suffer.’

The land council said staff met with federal government officials on March 12, warning them of the ongoing telecommunications issues and black holes accompanying severe weather events in remote areas.

The issues were noted, though when Cyclone Megan hit the week after, the council says communication was poor.

Several official emergency notices posted to Facebook diverted people seeking information to as many as eight different numbers or websites, the council said.