The Los Angeles police confirmed on Monday that the Tesla, who is registered on the platinum singer D4VD and in the trunk of which the remnants of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were found, was parked at his last location for several weeks before being towed at the beginning of this month. The update confirms a report of September 18 in the Rolling Stone.
Police statement
Sources from the upscale Birds Street district in the Hollywood Hills, where the car was recently parked, Rolling Stone had previously told that the black Tesla Model Y from 2023 unchanged for at least three weeks on the Bluebird Ave. Stand before he was towed on September 5. Previously, the car was occasionally moved and was already seen on a nearby street in May.
“The vehicle was parked for several weeks from which it was towed, so that Ms. Rivas Hernandez could have been dead for several weeks before her body was discovered,” said the new explanation of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), which was released on Monday afternoon. The department said that his Department of Robara Murder investigations had “thoroughly examined” the case, but also waited for an official decision on the cause of death from Rivas. Although many speculated on the Internet that the girl must have been victims of a murder, given the way she was found, the forensic doctor has not yet excluded the possibility of an accident, such as an overdose or suicide.
“The forensic doctor of Los Angeles County has not yet found the cause of death or type of Ms. Riva’s Hernandez. Therefore it remains unclear whether there is a criminal fault beyond the hidden of her body,” said the new explanation of the LAPD on Monday. “RHD examines every aspect of this case thoroughly to uncover the truth and to look for justice for Celeste Rivas Hernandez and her family.”
Find the body
D4VD, born as David Burke, was out of the country on a national concert tour when it became known on September 8 that human remains were found in his Tesla. Rivas’ body was discovered after the employee of the Schlepphof reported that the vehicle “exuded a bad smell and flies”, as can be seen from an affidavit as a search command that Rolling Stone received.
Rivas, who would have turned 15 the day before her discovery, had been reported several times as missing by her family in 2024, according to the online crisis ads. The family did not respond to inquiries about comments, but Riva’s mother is said to have said TMZ that her daughter had a “friend” named David. Photos and videos that are supposed to show Rivas and Burke in close proximity have appeared on social media in the past few weeks, but the police have otherwise not named Burke or anyone as a person of interest in the case. Burke’s lawyer did not respond to several inquiries about comments.
More details
In another turn, Rivas had a tattoo on the right index finger with the inscription “Shhh …”, as the forensic doctor revealed when he identified Rivas as a victim in the Tesla. Burke seems to have a similar tattoo on the same finger as a photo published by People in April shows.
The police later searched a rented house in the Hollywood Hills, one and a half blocks from the place where the Tesla was towed. The homeowner confirmed to Rolling Stone that it was rented to Burke’s manager. The four-bedroom house was the backdrop for photos and content that Burke published online, and it seems that he lived there before going on tour.
In his first interview with the media after the search, the homeowner, Mladen Trifunovic, Rolling Stone on September 18, said that he had no idea that Burke had lived on the property until his real estate manager informed him that day.
“That came as a surprise to me. I only found out about the police presence this morning,” said Trifunovic at the time. “Until then I had no idea that anything had happened in the house or what was going on with D4VD and the missing girl. I didn’t know D4VD and didn’t know that he had ever lived in the house.”
Tenacy and manager
Trifunovic said his rental agreement was with Burke’s manager Josh Marshall. The rental agreement began in February 2024, he said. Marshall did not respond to inquiries about comments.
Burke, 20, has not publicly commented on the death of the girl. A day after the gruesome discovery of Rivas’ remains, Burke appeared at a show in Minneapolis and threw into a label toys. The rest of his tour was canceled later.
Identification and autopsy
It took more than a week for the investigators to identify Riva as a victim. Her body was so “strongly decayed” that the forensic doctor of Los Angeles County was neither able to determine her eye color nor her breed and set her weight with £ 71. “It seems to have been dead in the vehicle for a longer period of time before it was found,” said the forensic doctor’s office in an online report. The girl’s cause of death continues to be “open”.
When the body was initially discovered, a source from the law enforcement authorities confirmed that the Tesla was registered on Burke at an address in Hempstead, Texas. Burke was informed about the investigation and “cooperated” with the authorities, confirmed a source from the singer’s area towards Rolling Stone.
Career and consequences
Although Burke looked unimpressed until Rivas was identified, the fashion companies withdrew Crocs and Hollister from a campaign that showed the musician when presenting a collaboration of the popular brands. “We are aware of this current story. In view of the current situation, we have removed campaign content with D4VD, while the investigation continues,” the brands explained in a joint statement to Footwear News.
Burke, born in New York, became known for the first time as a Fortnite gamer and musician with the self-produced song “You and I”, which was published online. He made the breakthrough into the mainstream in the summer of 2022 with the hit singles “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me”, which received so much attention on Tiktok that they rose to the billboard charts. In May 2023 he published his debut EP Petals to Thorns. His debut album Withered was released in April 2025.