Body found in D4vd's Tesla: Teen's cause and manner of death still undetermined

Posted By: Staff
September 30, 2025 @ 7:07 am
ABC National

KABC

(LOS ANGELES) — Police said Monday officials are still trying to determine the cause and manner of death of a teenage girl whose body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer D4vd earlier this month.

The body was discovered in the trunk of the Tesla on Sept. 8, two days after it had been towed from a Los Angeles street, police sources said.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the female body as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The teen, from Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, was reported missing last year, investigators confirmed to ABC News.

In an update on the investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department said Monday that its Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) has been “diligently investigating” Rivas Hernandez’s death over the past several weeks.

Police said the teen may have been dead for several weeks before her body was discovered, and that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause or manner of her death.

“As such, it remains unclear whether there is any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body,” police said. “RHD is thoroughly examining every aspect of this case to uncover the truth and seek justice for Celeste Rivas Hernandez and her family.”

According to a copy of the death certificate obtained by ABC News, her manner of death is pending investigation and her cause of death remains listed as “deferred.” Based on the date of birth listed, her remains were found a day after her 15th birthday. She was not pregnant, nor had she been in the last year, according to the document.

Sources told ABC News that investigators will be relying on lab tests and toxicology in an attempt to determine how she died, and that this remains a death, as opposed to a homicide, investigation.

No additional information is being released at this time, police said.

“We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we continue this investigation,” police said.

Officers responded to an impound lot in Hollywood on Sept. 8 “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.

Authorities located a body in the front trunk of the Tesla that was in a state of decomposition, LAPD sources said.

The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said.

The vehicle is registered to 20-year-old David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, according to a senior LAPD source.

Following the identification of the body, a Los Angeles home where D4vd had been living was searched later that night, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

ABC News has reached out to his representative and lawyer for comment several times, but has not received a response.

D4vd, who first went viral on TikTok, where he has 3.8 million followers, had been on his “Withered” world tour when the body was discovered in his vehicle. The last few shows of the tour, including in San Francisco and Los Angeles, were canceled.

Shows on the European leg of the tour have also been canceled.

Promotion on the deluxe edition of his debut album, which was set to be released on Sept. 19, has also been paused, a source close to the situation told ABC News.