Missing Florida GOP leader wrecked Kissimmee hotel room, later found near Disney, report says

A leader of the Florida Republican Party reported missing by his family was kicked out of a hotel in Kissimmee for “excessive drinking” and trashing his room, according to an Osceola County Sheriff’s office report.

George Riley Jr., reappointed executive director of the Florida GOP last month after serving in that job from 2016 to 2019, was eventually found at a hotel outside Walt Disney World and reunited with his family.

Riley did not respond to requests for comment from the Orlando Sentinel but told the Tampa Bay Times he was “deeply sorry.”

“I have been dealing with alcoholism and mental health issues,” Riley told the Times. “I will pay for any damages that were caused. I apologize to the employees for my bad behavior and I will be seeking help soon.”

“I’ll be seeking help so I can be a better father, a better person and a better all-around employee,” he added.

Riley, of Tallahassee, was reported missing on Friday after his sister, Ellen, told the Sheriff’s Office that she hadn’t spoken to her since March 29, one week earlier.

He said he had been headed to a Hampton Inn on Centerview Boulevard in Kissimmee for what she said was a business meeting, the report stated. His father, George Riley Sr., said he also hadn’t spoken to him in a week.

Both his sister and father added that Riley had a medical condition and that he was taking medication, the specifics of which were both retracted in the report.

A deputy went out to the motel on Friday, where a front desk employee said Riley had checked in on Thursday, March 28 as usual, but then checked out at 2 a.m. the next day, created a new reservation, and checked into a different room.

The assistant general manager for the motel told the deputy that he visited Riley with a maintenance worker on  April 2, telling him that he had “broken the electric blinds in the room and had urinated and vomited throughout,” the report stated.

Riley was “regularly purchasing alcohol, and he purchased so much from the store inside thehotel that he had to order more,” the assistant manager said, according to the report.

The assistant manager told Felipe told Riley he would be charged extra due to the room needing a deep cleaning.

Riley later asked the front desk employee on Wednesday, April 3 to extend his stay, but she “had to politely decline due to George’ s excessive drinking and damage caused to the room,” according to the report.

Riley then left the hotel without saying anything. The employee said Riley “appeared to be of sound mind and did not appear under the influence.”

The next day, Thursday, was Riley’s 43rd birthday.

He eventually was found on Saturday at the B Resort & Spa in Lake Buena Vista outside Walt Disney World by pinging his cellphone, the report said.

Riley was “under the influence of alcohol,” but the Osceola Sheriff’s deputy and other Orange County deputies determined after an evaluation that he did not meet the criteria to be held under Baker Act or Marchman Act, which permit law enforcement to intervene if someone is deemed a threat to themselves or others due to addiction or mental illness.

Riley was able to “state his location, name, date, and stated he did not want to hurt himself,” the report stated, adding that he was not erratic and answered all questions. He was reunited with his family soon after.

According to the Republican Party of Florida, Riley had served since 2020 as executive director for Conservatives for Clean Energy-Florida and as a senior adviser to the party before his reappointment.

Florida GOP chair Evan Power, who named Riley to his position on March 8, did not return a request for comment.