Woman found dead in her own car days after ex-boyfriend bonded out of Nashville jail

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Mississippi father said that his daughter was murdered just days after her ex-boyfriend bonded out of jail in Nashville.

Her body was found in the back of her car in Harrison County, Mississippi. Her father, Lance Johansen, described the body as “brutally mutilated.” Lance told News 2 that the Nashville court system had failed his family.

Lauren Johansen, 22, was a college student at Mississippi University, working towards her degree as a registered nurse.

“She just knew how to make things feel at ease and how to make people happy,” Lance said. “She was one of those people who would just create a glow in the room.”

She also helped care for her two brothers, sister and mother. Her dad said that Lauren dated Bricen John Rivers in high school, but she eventually broke off the relationship. Rivers’ violence began to escalate from there.

“She was dating somebody else, so he came over there and beat the person up really bad and then grabbed her and dragged her down the stairs of her apartment,” Lance said. “and “The police came, and then he came back later with a gun. She had a restraining order against him. And then the next year he did another episode in a similar fashion.”

An affidavit from December 2023 said that Rivers beat her again while they were on vacation in Nashville.

“I guess a switch in his head turned evil, and he kidnapped her and started driving her around the town and started beating on her,” Dr. Johansen expressed.

At one point Lauren’s father said she was able to call for help. Her parents contacted the police.

“I called the Nashville Police Department I don’t know how many times,” Dr. Johansen said. “I wouldn’t hang up, and I wouldn’t leave them alone.”

Rivers was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and interference with an emergency call.

“After she was beaten so badly her vision wasn’t so good,” Lance explained. “The trauma to her brain, she had sustained a brain injury.”

“Being a physician and a surgeon for thirty years, I’ve seen just about everything bad that can come into the emergency room, and I am used to seeing this in other people but not my daughter,” Dr. Johansen expressed.

Lance said that his daughter had told him if Rivers got out of jail, he would kill her.

“I tried to keep her motivated that she had a good life ahead of her, that she had a good head on her shoulders,” Dr. Johansen said. “This wasn’t her fault, and she could overcome this.”

After seven months, Rivers’ bond was lowered from $250,000 to $150,000.

“I told them that he is going to kill her if y’all let her out,” Lance said. “This wasn’t just in court; this was before court, and this was after court.”

Rivers was released on June 24.

On July 1, Lance received a voicemail from the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office warning him about Rivers’ release. They added that he’d already violated the terms of his bond:

“This is Bailey calling from the District Attorney’s Office here in Nashville. I’m giving you a call because I was trying to get in touch with Lauren and I just wasn’t able to reach her this morning. But I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible that 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. 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 and that you all take the proper precautions just in case he does return to Mississippi.”

Part of the voicemail from the Davidson County Attorney’s Office

“When I got the voicemail, I already knew he was coming to kill her,” Dr. Johansen said.

The next day, Lance filed a missing person’s report after his daughter’s front door was left open. Not only that, but the home security video was destroyed and she didn’t show up for work.

“What we ended up with was trying to track down a savage animal,” Lance said. “We were unable to do it until he killed her.”

On July 3, her body was found in the back of her own car, wrapped in trash bags and blankets.

“Her body was like someone took her to the punching bag and just punched her 2- or 300 hundred times, and there were punches and bruises all over her body,” Lance said.

Hours later, Bricen John Rivers was arrested and charged with murder. His bond is set at $1 million. Lance told News 2 that Nashville’s justice system failed Lauren.

“In this particular situation, Lauren was allowed to die because of negligence from the criminal justice system in Nashville, Tennessee,” Lance said.

As the family awaits the autopsy results, her father said that he wants the community to know she had a bright future ahead of her.

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“She was one of the most kind, loving, caring, smart, engaging, and compassionate young future nurses whose life was taken away from a psychopathic murderer who should not have been on the street,” Lance said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help support the Johansen family.

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