Missing woman's body found 'mutilated' and wrapped in trash bags in her car, days after ex-boyfriend's was released from jail

A few days after a woman's ex-boyfriend was let out of jail in Nashville, Tennessee, without an ankle monitor—despite her family's urgent warnings that her life was in danger—22-year-old Lauren Johansen was found dead.

Her body was discovered in her own car in a Mississippi cemetery, "mutilated" and wrapped in sheets and trash bags.

Lauren’s father, Lance Johansen, recounted the horrifying series of events in an emotional interview with local ABC and CBS affiliate WLOX. 

Lance, an orthopedic surgeon, explained that the family had begged a Nashville judge not to release 23-year-old Bricen Rivers from jail. 

They believed he posed a severe threat to Lauren’s life. 

However, the court allowed his release, and tragically, Lauren was murdered as a result.

Lance appeared in court and implored Judge Cheryl Blackburn not to release Rivers, who was facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated stalking, and coercion of a witness from December 2023. 

Lance was certain Rivers "was going to kill" Lauren, who was the victim in the ongoing case. 

Despite this, Judge Blackburn, whose competence has been questioned recently by local defense lawyers, reduced Rivers' bond from $250,000 to $150,000. 

Records show Rivers was released a few days before Lauren's death, despite prosecutors’ objections to lowering the bond.

Rivers reportedly ignored the conditions of his release, which required him to stay in Davidson County, Tennessee, and to wear an ankle monitor. 

He was subsequently arrested and charged with Lauren Johansen’s murder across state lines.

The WLOX news segment aired a chilling message that Lance Johansen received from the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office on July 1, informing him that Rivers had been released from custody. 

“This is Bailey calling from the district attorney’s office in Nashville. Bricen Rivers was released from custody. He was supposed to report straight to a GPS company and be put on a GPS monitor and he was not to leave Davidson County,” the recording stated. 

“But as soon as he was released, he did not report to that GPS monitoring company, and he has not been heard from. I wanted to make sure Lauren is safe.”

By then, it was almost too late to save Lauren. 

Lance texted Lauren but received a response that didn’t sound like her. 

In the early morning hours of July 2, he noticed the tracking feature on Lauren’s Life360 location-sharing app was no longer active.

Lance reported Lauren missing to the police in Hattiesburg after discovering that a security camera at the home where Lauren lived with her sister was no longer functioning, the front door was open, and Lauren and her car were gone.

By the time Lauren’s car was found via OnStar on Wednesday afternoon in “the middle of the cemetery” in Harrison County, Lance feared the worst. 

His fears were confirmed when he arrived at the scene.

“When we got there, her car was in the middle of the cemetery, and she was in the back of the car wrapped up in sheets and trash bags. 

She was basically beaten to death,” Lance Johansen told WLOX. 

“Her face was smashed in, her head was smashed in, she was brutally beaten to the point she couldn’t see out of either eye when she finally died, and there were multiple holes in her head. I helped the coroner lift her body out of the car. It was just mutilated.”

“Everything she did, everything she touched turned to gold—except for this guy,” he added.

When police arrived at the cemetery, Rivers allegedly ran off but was arrested in the woods several hours later. 

Jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Rivers was booked with a $1,000,000 bond shortly after midnight on July 4.

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