Disturbing new details in the grisly case of dismembered remains of a 15-year-old girl found in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla earlier this month may provide investigators with additional links to a popular R&B singer with millions of fans and followers.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner on Wednesday confirmed the victim as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The teen was reported missing from Lake Elsinore in April 2024, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said she had run away from home on at least one previous occasion.
Rivas’ remains, described by authorities as a “head and torso” found inside a bag, were discovered in the trunk of a Tesla impounded at Hollywood Tow on Sept. 8. The vehicle had been at the tow yard for about five days after it was reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.
Police responded to the lot at around 12:30 p.m. only after an employee reported a foul stench coming from the vehicle, which had been parked on the roof of the yard’s parking structure.
The medical examiner’s report noted that the teen’s body was severely decomposed and, at the time, only described the remains as approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing around 71 pounds with dark wavy hair.
The 15-year-old was wearing a tube top and had a distinctive tattoo on her right index finger with the letters “Shhh.”
LAPD said the car, which had Texas plates, was registered to David Anthony Burke, a well-known musician out of Texas who is currently on tour and performs under the name D4vd.
Along with a song entitled “Romantic Homicide,” TMZ reported that in a leaked song, the artist is heard singing about a person named Celeste, with lyrics that include, “Oh Celeste / The girl with my name tattooed on her chest / I hear her voice each time I take a breath / I’m obsessed.”
Leaked in December 2023, the track was titled “Celeste_Demo unfin.”
According to Rivas’ mother, who spoke with TMZ, the 15-year-old had a boyfriend named David before she went missing, with the outlet also saying that a photo of the musician surfaced online Wednesday showing him with a girl in Lake Elsinore, not far from the home the teen lived in with her family.
D4vd also reportedly has a tattoo on his right index finger with the words “Shhh,” similar to Rivas, TMZ reported.
While police are being tight-lipped about the investigation and the musician’s alleged connections to the case, retired Los Angeles Police Department Detective Moses Castillo told KTLA that he expects D4vd will be thoroughly questioned by investigators.
“He’s the registered owner of the vehicle. We need to know where he’s been, cellphone records, where he’s been all this time and connect the dots,” he explained.
D4vd’s show in Seattle on Wednesday evening was cancelled, and the singer is scheduled to perform at The Greek in Los Angeles on Saturday, though it’s unclear if that show will go on as planned.
So far, the artist has been silent on social media, and his team has not responded to multiple requests for comment made by KTLA.
A man who identified himself to KTLA as Rivas’ brother would only say that the family is grieving.
No arrests have been made in the case.
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