We have acquired fresh information about the murder of 22-year-old Lauren Johansen, who was allegedly battered to death by her ex-boyfriend, Bricen Rivers. WLOX got court documents from our Nashville sister station, WSMV, detailing how the suspected abuser was released from a Tennessee jail and the apparent communication failure that resulted.
We now have a timetable and document trail detailing the conditions that permitted Rivers to get out of jail, return to Mississippi, and find Lauren Johansen—her father describing what transpired as a failure of the criminal justice system. Johansen and Rivers were on vacation together in Nashville. According to court filings, the couple’s fight intensified after they left a bar.
Johansen and Rivers were on vacation together in Nashville. According to court filings, the couple’s fight intensified after they left a bar. Metro Nashville Police officers said they discovered Johansen severely assaulted inside a car with Rivers in Germantown, a Nashville suburb. The interior of the automobile was drenched in blood, and officers found a revolver inside. Rivers was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated stalking, and coercion of a witness. According to Freedom Monitoring, Rivers’ monitor battery dropped to 6%. They say they called him at 10:09 p.m. and told him to charge it, which he did. Around midnight, Rivers called in to say he couldn’t make it to Court in Nashville the next day because he didn’t have transportation.
On this day, Johansen’s father discovers the message left on his phone by the District Attorney on Friday. He claims he could no longer contact her and received a text message that did not appear to be from her. Early Tuesday morning, Johansen’s father received notification that her Life360 tracker had been turned off. Johansen’s sister, with whom she lived, claimed she was not home, and the security camera at their front entrance was smashed.
Hattiesburg police used OnStar to monitor Johansen’s vehicle. They discovered it at Wolf River Cemetery in Harrison County. HPD asks the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department for assistance performing a welfare check at that address. A deputy discovers the automobile and observes Rivers fleeing into the woods. Johansen’s body was found inside her car, shrouded in trash bags and sheets. A six-hour search begins before law enforcement lures Rivers out of the woods and arrests him. He was transported to the Harrison County Adult Detention Center and given a $1 million bond.
