Back in middle school, Rubi Alonso’s son was close friends with Celeste Rivas Hernandez. He was so broken the day he learned his friend had been found dead, Ms. Alonso recalled, that he had to be temporarily pulled out of school last fall.
Celeste grew up in Lake Elsinore, Calif., only about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles — a two-hour drive, give or take. But the area, in the western part of Riverside County, can at times feel a world away from the sheen of Hollywood, where her body was found.
Those who knew and loved her have had to endure the agony of a monthslong investigation into her death, detached from it all, with little information and less even less closure.
That is, until Thursday, when the police in Los Angeles arrested the musician D4vd in connection with the death of Celeste, whose body was found in the trunk of his Tesla one day after what would have been her 15th birthday.
The police have not offered details about their investigation or said what evidence led them to D4vd, whose real name is David Burke. Prosecutors say they are reviewing the case. And lawyers for Mr. Burke, 21, have said he is innocent, and he has not been charged.
“I know there will be justice up there,” Ms. Alonso said, with a gesture toward the divine. “But let there be justice here, too.”
Amid the media frenzy over the sensational crime, scant attention has been paid to the victim. Repeat attempts to reach members of her family have been unsuccessful.
On Friday, the family home sat quiet in Lake Elsinore. The path leading up to the front step was shaded by rose bushes and a palm tree. On the white double doors hung a rosary. But there were no cars in the driveway, and no one answered the door.
By the afternoon, a makeshift memorial outside the home had fresh additions. Miniature electric candles were lit and had been arranged to spell “Celeste.”
Kayleigh Cortez, a neighbor, started the memorial and has been tending to it since Celeste’s death was announced last year. She initially put up a poster with Celeste’s photo and flowers. In the months since, people have stopped by to leave stuffed toys and other items. Ms. Cortez changes the water when fresh flowers are left, and adds a U.V. protective spray to artificial flowers so they last longer.
TV news vans and cameras crowded the memorial Friday. The occasional neighbor came by to pay their respects.
“The family will thank me if they see me out here,” Ms. Cortez said, “and I’ll just send them like a little wave.”
Celeste was reported missing on April 5, 2024, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. At the time of her disappearance, she was 13. The authorities say they learned on Sept. 17, 2025, that she had been found and was a victim in a death investigation.
In fact, the police in Los Angeles said they had discovered her remains in the front trunk area of a Tesla at an impound lot in Hollywood — an unremarkable beige building. The city had towed the car there after responding to a citizen complaint that it had been abandoned.
Ms. Alonso recalled consoling Celeste’s mother the first time she said her daughter had run away from home. Ms. Alonso helped put up missing posters and spread the word online. Celeste would return on her own, but would run away again, she said.
Despite the turbulence, Celeste was a hard-working student who had won academic achievement awards, she said. “Very studious,” Ms. Alonso said.
Ms. Alonso is friends with Celeste’s mother, Mercedes Martinez. Ms. Martinez works cleaning houses, and Ms. Alonso described her as a diligent parent who looked after Celeste and her older siblings.
“A lot of people criticized her because of what happened,” Ms. Alonso said of Ms. Martinez. “But sometimes it’s not us, it’s our kids who slip away from us.”
More than half of Lake Elsinore’s roughly 73,000 residents are Hispanic, according to census data. Sharing a named with the lake cradled into a corner of town — with 14 miles of shoreline — the town was once known to be a popular retreat for Hollywood actors during the early to mid-20th century.
Today, the city is a hub for outdoor recreation, according to its mayor, Bob Magee. Boaters camp out in R.V.’s along the lake, and dirt bikers go off-roading at a local park. In recent decades, it has become home to younger working-class families who were priced out of homes in nearby Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange Counties.
Little is known about the possible connection between Celeste and Mr. Burke. Around the time her remains were discovered, TMZ said it had talked to her mother, who told the outlet that her daughter had “a boyfriend named David.”
“We’re going to wait to see what happens with the filing,” Alan S. Hamilton, deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said Friday, referring to possible charges filed by the District Attorney’s Office. Then, he said, “whatever we can release to the public, we’ll release.”
Elie Naddaf, 46, who owns a corner store on Celeste’s street, was among the community members who said they celebrated when they heard there had been an arrest in the case.
She was a frequent customer at his store, he said, adding that she and her friends would always stop by to buy snacks after school.
“Everybody in my community is happy,” Mr. Naddaf said, echoing Ms. Alonso’s call for justice. Similar to Ms. Alonso, Mr. Naddaf said he had pulled his teenage daughter out of school for some time after learning of Celeste’s death. He wanted to spend time with his daughter and discuss with her the risks teenagers face today.
Mr. Naddaf said he texted his daughter when news broke about an arrest.
“She came out to the porch, dancing and hugging me,” he recalled.
Celeste’s older sister still shops at his store, he added. Most of the time when Celeste comes up, he said, she cries.
Emmanuel Morgan contributed reporting from Los Angeles. Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
Orlando Mayorquín is a Times reporter covering California. He is based in Los Angeles.
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