Authorities have identified the dismembered body discovered earlier this month in a car registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who disappeared from Lake Elsinore, California, in April 2024 when she was just 13.
Investigators confirmed on Tuesday that the remains found in the front trunk of the impounded Tesla belong to Hernandez. The grisly discovery was made on 8 September after Hollywood Tow employees on Mansfield Avenue reported a foul odor coming from a vehicle with Texas plates that had been sitting in their lot for five days. According to the Los Angeles Times, the car had been towed from the upscale Bird Streets neighborhood. Due to advanced decomposition, authorities initially could not determine the victim’s gender.
The vehicle is registered to 20-year-old musician D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke. His spokesperson told NBC that “D4vd has been informed about what’s happened. And, although he is still out on tour, he is fully cooperating with the authorities.” Police have not announced any charges or a cause of death.
According to TMZ, D4vd and the victim shared matching “Shhh…” tattoos on their right index fingers—a design popularized by Rihanna in 2008 and also worn by celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan. Hernandez’s mother reportedly told the outlet that her daughter had been dating someone named David. A track titled “Celeste,” credited to D4vd, surfaced on SoundCloud in 2023, The Sun reported.
Hernandez was last seen leaving home around 9 p.m. on a Friday night wearing Hello Kitty sandals, gray pants, a black sweater, and a hat. Police issued a missing-person alert soon after her disappearance.
The shocking case is already affecting the music world. Grammy winner Kali Uchis announced she is withdrawing her collaboration “Crashing,” featured on D4vd’s debut album Withered. Responding to a social media comment calling D4vd her “friend,” Uchis clarified: “Not my friend i did a song with him which is currently in the process of being taken down given today’s disturbing news.”
D4vd, who first gained attention creating Fortnite video montages before launching a music career four years ago, has not publicly commented beyond his team’s statement.
