The body of a 15-year-old Lake Elsinore girl who vanished more than a year ago was discovered earlier this month in the trunk of a Tesla registered to singer D4vd, prompting a wide-ranging Los Angeles Police Department investigation.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner on Sept. 16 identified the victim as Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She had been reported missing in April 2024. Officials listed her date of death as Sept. 8, the day her remains were found, but the cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
According to LAPD, officers were called Sept. 8 to a Hollywood tow yard after reports of a foul odor coming from an impounded Tesla. The vehicle’s front trunk contained human remains later confirmed to be Rivas.
Detectives from the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division assumed the case. On Sept. 17, investigators served a search warrant at a Hollywood Hills home associated with the singer and seized several pieces of evidence, LAPD said in a statement. “This is an ongoing investigation. Investigators are following up on several leads,” the department noted.
The car is registered to 19-year-old recording artist David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd. Authorities have not named any suspect, and no arrests have been made.
Riverside County Sheriff’s officials had previously handled Rivas’ missing-person case before it shifted to Los Angeles investigators.
The teen’s discovery has drawn widespread attention, but authorities cautioned that the case has not yet been classified as a homicide, pending the Medical Examiner’s findings.
LAPD encouraged anyone with information to contact Robbery-Homicide Division detectives at (213) 486-6860, call the department’s 24-hour tip line at 877-LAPD-24-7, or submit anonymous tips through LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
