A Tow Yard Horror Unfolds (Image Credits: Sbsun.com)
Hollywood – Authorities discovered the dismembered remains of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez inside the front trunk of a Tesla registered to pop singer D4vd last fall, thrusting the rising star into the center of a murder investigation.[1][2]
A Tow Yard Horror Unfolds
A foul odor and swarms of insects alerted workers at a Hollywood impound lot to something sinister on September 8, 2025. The Tesla, towed days earlier after sitting abandoned on Bluebird Avenue in the Hollywood Hills, held a grim secret in its front storage compartment.[1]
Detectives obtained a search warrant and unzipped a black cadaver bag crawling with bugs. Inside lay a decomposed head and torso. A second bag beneath contained severed arms and legs. The remains belonged to Rivas Hernandez, dead for weeks and identified through forensics on September 16.[3][4]
LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division took charge immediately. Captain Scot Williams confirmed the body showed no signs of decapitation or freezing, countering early rumors. The vehicle had parked there since late July, around the start of D4vd’s national tour.[2]
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Final Days
The Lake Elsinore teen faced challenges before her death. Riverside County deputies reported her missing three times in 2024, with the last in April. Surveillance captured her alive at home that September, and digital traces placed her in January 2025. Prosecutors estimate she died in spring 2025.[2]
Family members recalled her close ties to a boyfriend named “David,” complete with matching tattoos. Her brother told investigators she vanished after the man picked her up in his Tesla. The community mourned with vigils, and she received a private funeral before burial in October.[2]
- First missing report: February 15, 2024
- Final report: April 5, 2024
- Last family contact: May 2024
- Body found: September 8, 2025 (day after 15th birthday)
- Investigation escalates: November 2025
D4vd’s Shadowed Spotlight
David Anthony Burke, the 20-year-old Houston native known as D4vd, rose fast with hits like “Romantic Homicide” and his 2025 album Withered. The Tesla traced directly to him, and LAPD searched his Hollywood Hills rental on September 18, seizing electronics and noting a burn cage incinerator.[2]
Investigators eyed a spring trip to remote Santa Barbara County and suspect multiple people aided in body disposal. Burke performed in Minneapolis the day after discovery but canceled his U.S. tour amid scrutiny. His spokesperson claimed cooperation, though sources disagreed.[4]
No charges have followed, but the case shifted to homicide status. LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton declared on November 24, 2025, “Accountability is coming,” adding, “no one is off the table, including Burke.”[2]
Grand Jury Pushes Forward
A Los Angeles County grand jury convened in mid-November 2025 to weigh evidence. Subpoenas from Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman labeled Burke the “Target David Burke” for potential murder. Witnesses included label executive Robert Morgenroth and friend Neo Langston, arrested for dodging a summons.[1]
Texas courts compelled Burke’s parents, Colleen and Dawud, plus brother Caleb, to testify on February 11, 2026. An appeals court rejected their challenge on February 9, making documents public and confirming the probe’s focus.[5]
The medical examiner deferred the cause of death amid decomposition and possible cryopreservation effects. A rare security hold sealed autopsy details until November.[2]
Key Takeaways
- Dismembered remains found in D4vd’s impounded Tesla sparked a murder probe still underway.
- Grand jury targets the singer, with family subpoenaed from Texas.
- No arrests yet, but officials promise accountability amid ongoing testimony.
As the grand jury deliberates, Lake Elsinore grieves a young life cut short, while Hollywood watches a promising career hang in the balance. What steps should authorities take next in this chilling case? Share your thoughts in the comments.
