Vigil held for missing girl, 15, found dismembered in car registered to D4vd

A Lake Elsinore community gathered Sunday evening to mourn the death of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, found dismembered earlier this month in the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to a rising R&B singer with millions of fans and followers.  

Rivas was reported missing in April 2024, when she was only 13, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.  

Her severely decomposed and mutilated remains, a “head and torso,” were discovered by detectives on Sept. 8 after employees at Hollywood Tow reported a foul stench coming from a Tesla that had been in the yard for about five days. The car was towed after being reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.  

Investigators later revealed the Tesla, which had Texas plates, was registered to David Anthony Burke, 20, a hugely popular musician from Texas who performs as D4vd. The vehicle was reportedly found not far from the Hollywood Hills home he was renting for $20,000 a month.  

While the investigation remains ongoing, several disturbing details have emerged that appear to tie the singer to the deceased teen, including alleged matching tattoos on their right index fingers with the letters “Shhh” and a leaked song called “Celeste_Demo unfin.”  

A man who was reportedly Rivas’ former science teacher at Lakeland Village School in Lake Elsinore claimed the then 13-year-old met Burke on social media and had run away to Hollywood to meet up with him months before she was reported missing.  

Since news of the connections to the singer broke, he has lost several endorsements, his new album has been indefinitely held back and both his U.S. and European tours have been cancelled.  

Detectives with the L.A. Police Department have searched the singer’s home in the 13000 block of Doheny Place, though, at least for now, the 20-year-old artist remains free.  

“Several items of evidence were recovered and will be analyzed by detectives in the coming days. This is an ongoing investigation,” an LAPD spokesperson told KTLA last week. “Investigators are following up on several leads.” 

While It’s unclear if the deceased teen’s were there, many of the parents who attended the Sunday night vigil did not personally know the teen, but said they could easily put themselves in the shoes of the 15-year-old’s family.  

“This really hits home as a mom,” one attendee named Evelyn told KTLA. “This could have been anybody’s kid.”  

A former classmate, Aubrey Domingo, told KTLA that she learned about Rivas’ death through another friend and never imagined anything like this would have happened to the 15-year-old.  

“I feel really bad for what happened to her because this story is really messed up,” she said. “I don’t even know what to say.”  

Many of the mourners among the large crowd said they are hoping for clarity and answers in Rivas’ disappearance and tragic death.  

A representative for Burke told KTLA that the singer is cooperating with LAPD investigators.