09/07/2026
💔 HER DAD WARNED THEM: “IF YOU LET HIM OUT, HE IS GOING TO KILL HER.”
Eight days after Bricen Rivers walked out of jail, 22-year-old Lauren Johansen was dead.
And knowing what we know now makes Lauren’s story almost unbearable.
Lauren was a nursing student at the University of Southern Mississippi. She loved animals, adored her family and was especially close to her siblings with disabilities. She had an entire life waiting for her.
But for years, according to her father, Lauren had been trapped in an abusive relationship with Bricen Rivers.
And months before he murdered her, Lauren had already survived him once.
In December 2023, Lauren and Rivers were in Nashville when he became enraged over his belief that she had given her phone number to a bartender.
What followed was horrifying.
Lauren actually managed to record part of the attack.
On that recording, Rivers can be heard threatening Lauren’s life while she struggles to breathe. Police eventually found her severely beaten inside a vehicle.
Rivers was arrested on serious charges including aggravated kidnapping and stalking.
Lauren’s father, Dr. Lance Johansen, went to court. He begged them to understand how dangerous this man was. He later recalled telling the judge that if Rivers was released, he was going to kill Lauren.
Rivers remained jailed for months. Then his bond was reduced. On June 24, 2024, he was released.
What happened next involved a stunning series of failures. Rivers was supposed to remain in Davidson County, Tennessee, and be GPS monitored. Instead, problems with his release paperwork and monitoring allowed him to return to Mississippi.
Lauren and her family were not immediately notified that he had been released.
And Rivers went looking for Lauren.
Investigators say that on July 1, he tried calling and texting Lauren more than 200 times. She wasn’t responding.
So in the early morning hours of July 2, Rivers found someone to drive him back to Hattiesburg. At approximately 4:48 a.m., surveillance cameras captured him walking toward Lauren’s home.
Lauren had cameras around her house. Investigators say Rivers spent time near her bedroom window. He noticed one of the cameras, walked away, then returned with his shirt pulled over his face and removed it.
Lauren was inside with her younger sister and a friend. They apparently had no idea he was outside.
Investigators believe Rivers eventually coaxed Lauren outside and that something happened inside her vehicle.
Less than an hour after he was first captured walking toward Lauren’s home, cameras showed Rivers leaving the area. Then he returned.
Investigators say he collected surveillance cameras he had removed from Lauren’s property.
One of those motion activated cameras began recording again.
And investigators said Rivers appeared to have blood on his pants. He drove away in Lauren’s car.
Lauren never showed up for work that afternoon.
Her family and coworkers knew something was wrong. The following day, police used OnStar to locate Lauren’s vehicle at Wolf River Cemetery.
When a deputy arrived, Rivers was standing near the car. He ran.
Inside Lauren’s own vehicle, police found Lauren. She had been brutally killed and her body had been wrapped in sheets.
While officers searched the woods for Rivers, he began calling family members.
And this is one of the details that makes my stomach turn.
According to investigators, Rivers called his mother and admitted that he had killed Lauren. But when he spoke with his brother, investigators say his demeanor was different.
They described him as arrogant and cocky. And according to Major Jamie Humphrey, Rivers referred to the 22-year-old woman whose life he had just taken as “that b**.”**
After a six-hour manhunt, Rivers was captured.
And just last month, more than two years after Lauren was murdered, Bricen Rivers finally pleaded guilty to capital murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
During sentencing, Rivers apologized and acknowledged that Lauren did not deserve what happened to her.
No. She didn’t.
She was 22 years old.
She wanted to become a nurse.
She loved animals.
She loved her family.
She was someone’s daughter and someone’s sister.
And when the system had an opportunity to protect her, her own father stood in a courtroom and warned them exactly what he feared would happen.
Eight days after Rivers was released, his greatest fear became reality.
Bricen Rivers will now spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Lauren should have gotten the rest of hers. đź’”
I’ll put the photo of the loser who took her life, in the comments. May he live his worst days in prison.
