The Los Angeles Police Department has identified the musician D4vd as a prime suspect in the gruesome death of Celeste Rivas, a 15-year-old teenager whose dismembered body was found in the front trunk of the singer's black Tesla in September. According to sources from the NBC4 Investigates, D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, had likely aided in the dismemberment and disposal of Rivas's body, who was likely deceased in the spring.
The decomposed remains of Rivas were discovered on 8 September in the Tesla, which had been ticketed in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood and subsequently impounded in a tow yard in Los Angeles. Rivas, who was reported missing from Lake Elsinore, 60 miles from Los Angeles, in April 2024, was last heard from in May 2024, according to reports by ABC 7. Images surfaced online of her with D4vd, and her mother had told investigators that Rivas had a boyfriend named David at the time of her disappearance.
The Houston-based singer had been given a ticket just 11 days before Rivas's body was found in the car for overstaying the three-day parking limit. Residents of Hollywood Hills told NBC News Los Angeles that the Tesla had been parked in the neighborhood for over a month. D4vd, a New York-born singer-songwriter known for hits like Romantic Homicide and Here With Me, was on tour at the time but cancelled his appearances following the discovery of Rivas's body.
Despite being contacted by The Guardian, the LAPD did not immediately respond, but their investigation into Rivas's death is ongoing, with homicide being considered as the cause of her demise. The medical examiner's office has yet to determine the exact cause of death, but they stated in a statement that Rivas "appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found." The family of Rivas has been aware that she knew D4vd and that she was on her way to see a movie with him just before she disappeared, according to Rivas's brother who spoke to NBC Los Angeles earlier this year.
