Body in D4vd’s Tesla Identified as Missing 15-Year-Old Girl

18 September 2025

D4vd, pronounced “David,” is a 20-year-old singer at the heart of a grisly missing person case. Getty Images for Support + Feed

On September 8, 2025, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to reports of a foul odor coming from a Tesla that had been towed to an impound lot in Hollywood. When officers opened the front trunk of the vehicle registered to singer David Anthony Burke, better known as d4vd they found the body of a teenage girl wrapped in a bag. The remains were badly decomposed.

Yesterday the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner officially identified the girl as Celeste Rivas, age 15. She had been reported missing from Lake Elsinore, California in April 2024, when she was 13. The medical examiner listed her cause of death as “deferred,” meaning the precise cause is still under investigation. Authorities believe that the body was placed inside the vehicle about five days before it was towed to the impound lot.

Details about the case are still emerging. The car was found abandoned in the Hollywood Hills and had been sitting there for a period of time before being towed. Neighbors in the area noticed the car parked for about a month. Once in the impound yard, it remained there for two days after being towed. Detectives say they are scrutinizing the timeline: when the car was abandoned, who last had access to it, and how Celeste came to be inside it.

D4vd is cooperating with investigators. He is on tour promoting his debut album Withered and continues his performances in cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, although a show in Seattle scheduled for September 17 was cancelled following the body’s identification. His team has issued statements saying that he was informed of the discovery and is working with police. No charges have been filed yet, and it is not clear whether Celeste had any known connection with the singer.

Public reaction has been swift. The story has raised many questions about responsibility, accountability, and potential connections tattoos, missing persons reports, and social media speculation have fueled both concern and rumor. Some collaborators and brands have moved to distance themselves from Burke in response to the unfolding investigation.

At the moment investigators are focusing on gathering forensic evidence, tracing the history of the vehicle, and establishing exactly when and how Celeste disappeared. Authorities have described the incident as a homicide investigation. Whether new suspects will emerge or whether more definitive cause-of-death findings will be released remains to be seen.

Celeste Rivas’s family and community members are reeling from the identification. She had been missing for more than a year. The case underscores the urgency of missing minors cases, and the lingering questions many families face about what happens after their child disappears. For many, the case is becoming a deeply personal reminder of fragility and loss.