A father had pleaded with a judge to not release his daughter's ex-boyfriend from jail five days before her 'mutilated' body was discovered in the back seat of her car.
22-year-old Lauren Johansen's remains were discovered by authorities at Wolf River Cemetery in an isolated part of Gulfport, Mississippi on Thursday (July 4).
Her ex-boyfriend Bricen Rivers, 23, has now been arrested and charged with her murder.
According to charging documents, Rivers had previously been arrested on charges of aggravated kidnapping on December 12.
Johansen's father Lance alleged to WLOX News that Rivers had held the nursing student hostage and beat her while they were in Tennessee for a vacation, however, it has not been confirmed if Rivers' prior arrest was in relation to this alleged incident.
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It is also unknown if he enter a plea in connection with these charges, PEOPLE reports.
Davidson County District Attorney’s Office says that Rivers' bond was originally $250,000, but was later lowered to $150,000 by Judge Cheryl Blackburn.
“I sat in the courtroom in Nashville and told the judge that if they let him out, he was going to kill her,” Mr Johansen said.
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“He had assaulted her — this was probably the fifth or sixth time where they would get into a fight and he would beat her. We would get her away from him for a while, but he would find a way to weasel back in it.”
Rivers was supposed to be fitted with a GPS ankle monitor upon his release, as well as stay out of Davidson County, The Independent reports.
However, Mr Johansen received a voicemail from the DA's office on Monday (July 1), claiming that 'he did not report to that GPS monitoring company, and he has not been heard from', and they 'wanted to make sure Lauren is safe'.
He then attempted to contact his daughter, but when she texted him, it ‘didn’t really look like the way she talks’, he claimed.
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After her tracking app was switched off and the home's security camera destroyed, the family filed a missing person's report, which later led to authorities tracking down Lauren's car.
Mr Johansen said that he knew 'she was dead', and she was 'wrapped up in sheets and trash bags'.
"She was basically beaten to death. 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 was multiple holes in her head. I helped the coroner lift her body out of the car. It was just mutilated." he said.
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Rivers allegedly fled from authorities who'd arrived on the scene before being arrested several hours later, according to Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
Mr Johansen claimed that criminal justice system had 'failed his daughter and their family'.
UNILAD has contacted the Nashville District Attorney’s Office for comment.
Gerrard Kaonga