Bricen Rivers convicted of tampering with evidence, desecration of human corpse
HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WXXV)- Bricen Rivers pled guilty this week to tampering with physical evidence and desecration of a human corpse in connection with the 2024 murder of his former girlfriend Lauren Johansen.
Rivers pled guilty in Forrest County in August of this year to capital murder of Johansen.
According to authorities, the investigation revealed that Rivers transported Lauren’s body in her vehicle from Hattiesburg to the Gulf Coast.
Approximately 31 hours after he left Hattiesburg, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office found the vehicle at Wolf River Cemetery in Saucier.
Upon arrival of law enforcement, Rivers fled into a wooded area. He was apprehended several hours later following a search involving multiple law enforcement agencies.
The investigation further revealed that Lauren’s body was concealed in the area of the vehicle. Investigators also recovered several items of evidence from the vehicle. The autopsy revealed extensive blunt force trauma to Lauren’s head as well as a wound to her neck.
Rivers was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 13 years on these charges in Harrison County. They will run consecutively with his life without parole sentence in Forrest County in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections.
